The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1917-09-13
HELPFUL SYMPATHY.
(Written for The Review by w. A
Gattis FOSter.)


: taneous outflow of the hearts re
!, sponsive feelings going out to an
: other in trouble or responding il
unison with other aspirations AM
efforts to acquire some coveted priz1
or reach some desired goal in life.
sorrows with those who sorrow anC
rejoices with those who rejoice 1t il
welcomed in the sunshine of joy a.
we'll as in the night of sorrow.
And sympathy may be shown il
so many ways hat are welcomed
:: sunbeams of comfort and happiness
in the darkened and joyless hours Of
suffering. 1t is ever On guard in sen
sitive attention in the time Of need.
1t does not require in its effective
expressions eloquence and fluency
of speech, or great and snowy deeds,
yet however small and homely the
act, however simple and prosaic the
language, they become, when sim
cerely and lovingly offered, beauti-
full and eloquent to the weary, lone
ly sufferers.
Sympathy is always gentle, ten
der and kind. 1t cannot he rude. 1t
cannot be rough. I.cannot be I'm
kind. 1t is never selfish. In the suf-
ferings of others sympathy forgets
self and thinks only to help.
Sympathy is real. 1t cannot sham
Flowing out from the purest and
tenderest emotions of the heart, it is
of the heart itself. 1t may, in a way,
be counterfeited and SO clearly imi-
tated as to be, for a time, easily
passed off on the trusting and inno-
cent, but that is not the real coin
and must sooner or later be detect
ed in its foreign ring and short
weight. The thing offered is not SYM
pathy at all and bears no true reIa.
ton to it. 6.
Sympathy should never be feigned.
The attempt to substitute the false
for the true is always dishonest and
no lasting happiness can come from
it. Whatever benefit there 'nayem-
Eanate from such an attitude~can
Eonly be short-lived, to be followed
by aI added, and may be, a deeper
pain SAsapp ppointment III a mis-
shapened sympathy. AThus tfn5 sor-
row sought to be ameiiorated is but
intensified in the aftermath. of its
repeated purpose and a clearer un-
derstalding of its true character, No
deception is permissible with any
one and least of all with one who is
living under the sharp hammer
strokes of bodily pain or mental an
guish.
Sympathy calls for a sensitive
realization of the companionship
condition existing between the bond
age of aff1iction and sorrow and the
freedom of health and happiness, be-
tween weakness and strength, be-
tween failure and success. To know
fully how to sympathize with an
other through the medium of the
imagination" there needs be, or
must have been, a similar expert
ence in the life of the comforter or
him who would seek to extend con-
dolence and sympathy to another.
Trained in the school of suffering
and made acquainted with the sor-
rows of misfortune and It's uncOm.
Portable presence, we can thus the
better and the more easily under
stand the importance of human
sympathy and its need in the trying
hours of denial and sorrow. No one
could fully understand the bitter an,
guish of bereavement or the deep
sorrow of suffering unless he himself
has suffered and lost. Tn the pres
ence of inexperienced suffering we
might have a premonitiOn of the Bit
terness such an experience might
bring, but not until we have passed
through the fiery ordeal of suffering
and been made to experience and
feel its reality in all its severity
could we understand and realize
clearly the full meaning of its ag-
Ony.
But in this life where so many
evils abound, so many mistakes are
made and death is stamped upon all
things mortal, none is left without
the discipline of loss,- suffering and
sorrow, though limited it sometimes
may seem and small when brought
into comparison with the greater
losses and sufferings of others. In
the life of every person there is
possessed a wealth of comfort which
may be given out to some one in
time of need, enriching and making
happier both him who gives and the
one who receives it. Each heart
alone may know the bitterness of its
its own sorrow, but who does not
know the meaning of a tear who
has not Wept? Ard in the sad coun-