The Washington herald., 1917-01-02
The Wounded People
~ JOHN u. BARRY.

I'm pretty badly sbroken up. Some
times think shall never be right again.
But Tn able TO keep in the picture. and
that's something"
The words came In . letter from one
who had been wounded. not In the war.
but IN the world Of affairs, In some of
its aspects. as ruthless as war. II was
q betrayal OF a state OF mind that the
casual observer would never have sus-
pected. that even the close observer
might not have been able TO detect. II
gave me q new appreciation Of the
strength in a character that ] had long
admired and a confidence that the wounds
received. no matter how much weakness
and pain they might have brought. would
some day be healed.
There are people about us who. like
the writer OF those words, have been
wounded. Often they are betrayed by
their faces or their voices or their walk
or by their attitude toward life. IL we
understood how much they were suffer
ing we should be sorry for them and II
they were friends or acquaintance we
should try TO treat them with special
consideration. But. in some ways, II may
be better for them TO be let alone. Spe-
cial consideration may be Just what they
need least They must get back TO the
] place In the human family where they
can feel at ease and where they can
meet the mischances OF the day like
the rest of the world II often long 10
have my mother take me in her arms
and rock me as she used to do when
I was a child" a woman once said TO
me. while she was slowly walking to-
ward the recovery OF her health. She
had sense enough to know that she must
not yield to this kind Of weakness. She
kept up and she regained her poIse and
| II was as II she had not been wounded
at all, save for an increase in her SYM
pathy for all suffering people.
| by the time man has reached "
the chances are that something has hap
pened TO him to destroy his peace OF
mind and make happiness impossible for
him. The words were spoken by one
| of the wounded people who didn't know
| how to take care of his mind. He kept
the wound from healing by letting his
mind dwell upon II, by making it a con-
| trolling circumstance in his life. Re-
covery was possible for him. He might
even have been a better man for the
wound. But he chose to take harm out
of II instead of taking good
| Here lies the greatest danger for the
wounded people. II they let the wound
poison the whole system II will indeed
spoil their lives. But there is always
| something else 70 do, to put the system
| into such a condition that the wound
shall inevitably heal and perhaps not
leave even a dishguring trace on the
mind.
| There are kinds of sickness that clear
| the system and there are kinds that
spread through the system a subtle in
fection. There are wounds that heal from
the outside and that tester within. In
the mind and the spirit there may be
| conditions precisely similar. Now every.
| thing depends on the treatment, upon get
. ting at the deepest causes. sometimes SC
| far away as to be almost b%ond detcc-
ton. When we trace the causes we are
almost certain to find them associated
with some defect of character It is this
defect that must be treated. The wound
may be only the clsmoring of health,
under the circumstances, a blessing in
disguise. bringing warnings and incen-
| tives.
Continually the good in nature called
| by many names, is trying to influence the
mind and to secure control over the body
| Often II seems almost personal. II will
even speak in words. telling the people
| of the track that they must beware and
find the right way. The wounded people
| understand well enough. Their wounds
! they can recognize as the records of their
disobedience. MY scars are my best
| possessions" says woman who ha,
| passed through agonies which she knew
| how to meet and to overcome. They're
my landmarks to peace"