The Washington herald., 1915-05-19
THE JOY OF LIVING.
ALspays Eook for that Nome
By ORIsON SWEET MARDEN.

4 On1SON nDENs
Il have never got over my surprise
| that should have been born in the most
estimable place In the world and in the
| very nick Of time said Thoreau.
Every human being ought to exult in
the Joy of living as Thoreau did. Every
thing, especially in this glorious spring
time. every bud and tree and opening
flower. brings us message from the
Creator. tells us to enjoy the beauty He
has spread so lavishly on every side. to
be happy and rejoice. Yet we are not
| happy. Most of US are discontinued.
anxious. worrying, fretting, unhappy.
Our minds are so absorbed, our tastes
and perceptions SO blunted that We do
not even see the marvelS of loneliness
packed into every nook and corner Of
the universe.
Emerson said that II We take into our
selves the beauty We admire from every
possible source we shall radiate this
beauty. this sublimity to others.
Everything We see is colored by our
mental attitude. 1t looks like our
thoughts. what the mind dwells on. what
We feel. what we believe. what We ex-
Fpect. Our general outlook on life is a
pretty good measure of ourselves. We
are made UP of our beliefs, our preju-
dices. our habits.
II you are always complaining about
your lot, about your misfortunes, your
hard luck. If You are habitually migrate
full for what you receive, IL you are pes
simistic your life will be patterned and
colored accordingly. On the other hand.
II You are kind and generous and mag
unanimous and helpful toward others, see
the best in people and believe that good
things are for you, these things will form
your life picture. What you think. what
you feel, what you do. what you believe.
the way you look at life. these are the
materials out Of which you weave your
life pattern.
The very air We breathe is alive with
benefits, full of marvellous beauties of
which we are ignorant because We have
never put ourselves In the proper atti-
tude to perceive them. We are morally
color blind. II We could only open our
eyes and see the handwriting of God all
about us We would then realize that
every flower, every plant. every tree
every living creature Is a message Of
love from Him. the Source of all things
II We would quit dwelling on gloomy
thoughts. fearing ind expecting sorrow
and trouble. We would then be able to
see and enjoy the wonders and beauties
Of life. But the trouble with US is we
do not realize what a boon our very ex-
istence is. what a wonderful meaning
our lives were intended to have. We are
part Of a great divine plan. a neces-
sary part Of 1t. We are here to cooper
ate with our Creator in adding to the
Joy and efficiency Of life. But most Of
US botch our work and thus make the
great human web so defective.
Did you ever realize that the thing you
fear. that you have a terror of. seldom
comes to you? 1t most always vanishes
before you get to it, How needless then
is all this suffering. anticipating trouble.
worrying about things that experience
shows you rarely ever happen! How
foolish to turn your thoughts inward to
darkness and gloom of your own making.
to turn your back deliberately on all the
happiness and beauty you were intended
to enjoy. to condemn yourself to a dun
geon when you might live In a palace.
We ourselves create the condition we
are In at any given time.
Look out. then. not in. Trust GOD.
nor be afraid" He Is always ready to
cooperate with us in making life beau
tful. happy. Nothing can rob US of the
happiness intended for US but ourselves.
Thousands Of years ago Plato said
Truth is God, and God is Truth" Edi-
son says today THAI electricity might
just as well be spelled god as the way
We spell it. and that the time will come
when gravitation and love will be found
to be identical. These are manifestations
Of Gods power andsiove. He expresses
himself In the multitude OF ways and
things that help and serve US, that do
our drudgery and emancipate US from
the hard conditions of life. that give us
comfort and enjoyment Everywhere We
60 we see universal laws In operation.
divine messages-to the children Of the
Father Motherhood. IL We could only
get rid of the scales which sin. mistakes.
greed. hatred, envy, jealousy. and re-
venge have drawn over our spiritual
vision we would see God In everything.
we would rise to the heights for which
we are destined.
Copyright. lsisJ