The Washington herald., 1917-03-15
Antidoting 4 Grudge.
By oRIsoN SWEPT sfARDEN.

cent each. The wording of her will
showed that for many years she had
been holding agrudge against all her
living relatives. 81 limit these be-
quests" the testator said, because IN
life Of fifty years | never have re-
ceived from them single kindness
or courtesy"
Think of the influence upon this
woman's mind of holding such men
tai attitude toward all her relatives!
What difference it would have made
if she had held the love thought all
those years instead of the prejudice
thought. the. resentful thought, per-
haps the hatred thought 1t would
not only have sweetened and enriched
her own life, but it would have neu-
tralized any i'll feeling on the part of
her relatives-if there had really been
any. And this is doubtful. The i'll
feeling may have existed only in her
own mind. .-..
l know of case where a man had
held grudge for years against an
other for what he considered an in
suit. The man who he thought had
insulted him and whom he looked
on as his enemy, had meantime be-
come interested in New Thought,
and tried to practice the Christ pre-
cept of loving our enemies. He re-
fused to believe that his former friend
was carrying grudge against him,
although he would not recognize or
speak to him on the street when he
met him. Finally, the man who held
the grudge found himself in financial
straits, and feared he was going to
fail in business. After exhausting all
of his resources to try to save himself,
in his desperation he sought assist
ance from the man he had hated so
long. He went to him and frankly
confessed that it was very humiliating
for him to come to one toward whom
he had not felt right for many years,
but that he was desperate, and wished
to ask his advice because of his great
er experience in business matters. The
supposed enemy not only advised him
to the best of his ability, but indorsed
his note for quite a sum, and so en-
abled him to get on his feet again.
Now, here was one who for a fan
cied insult had built up a wall of
hatred between himself and another
and treated this other as a bitter
enemy, when in reality he proved to
be his best friend in an emergency.
Could anything better illustrate the
folly and injustice of holding a
grudge?
What a wonderful revolution would
take place in society, in the person
ality and character, in the entire ma
ture of most of US, if we could form
the habit of never condemning. of
never antagonizing, or denouncing,
never being suspicious of othersl
If we would form the habit of re-
fusing to see or think evil of others,
and would learn instead to look for
and see only the good, the change in
our mental attitude would change our
whole outlook upon life.
I know of nothing that is so deadly
to all that is finest and best in US,
nothing which so poisons the very
source of life as holding a grudge,
which, of course, means that we hope
some time for an opportunity to get
square" with those we fancy have
injured US.
The best way to pay back one who
has injured us is to give him just the
opposite to what we imagine he has
given us. Let the antidote for injury
be the spirit of friendliness and kind
ness.
We all know how much better we
feel when conscious that our own
kindly attitude has disarmed an enc
my 1t is not difficult to kill or de-
stroy the sting of some fancied wrong
done us. The love essence is the su-
preme antidote for the poison. Re-
turn kindness for unkindness, love
for cruelty, and you will neutralize
the hardest and most bitter feelings.
No matter how people may slandcr
you, misjudge you, or misrepresent
you, hold the manly, kindly attitude
yourself and time will do the rest.
Love will ultimately transform the
bitterest enemy into friend.
People who are determined to make
the most and the best of everything in
life, who look for the roses instead
of the thorns, who are always ready
to lend a hand and say kind things
about others; people who always see
the best and never look for the worst,
who instead of discouraging and de-
nouncing, encourage and inspire
these are the builders, the boosters,
the people who help the world along.
These are the people that are wanted