Year: 1869

secret Sorrows.


How many persons into whose faces


we look, as we walk on the streets, have


sorrows the existence of which wonld


never be imagined from anything that


we can see! Strangers to US, we pass


them by with a buried glance which


reveals naught of the pent up emotions


that struggle in their souls for the


mastery With countenances placid as


the unruffied bosom Of quiet lake,


they look smilihgly on all around, and


pass on their way Could we but see


their hearts as easily as we see their


faces, bow much of sorrows history it


would be ours to know! These secret


sorrows are not monopolized by stran-
gers. Even our friends, intimate
though we may be with them, often
have troubles that we know not of.


The origin Of these may date beyond


the time of our acquaintance; they
care not now to speak of them, even 10


us. Yet the hidden grief is 10 their
hearts, and in secret, tears fall. which


our eyes are never permitted to see.


There are also some of their troubles


which are known to US, but we never


mention them in their presence the


subject is altogether too painful for
conversation, and, by a tacit under


standing is carefully ignored. These


heavy burdens they must bear alone, as


far as human aid is concerned; our


sympathies may be felt, but cannot be


expressed.


And even in those cases where we


may speak freely concerning the grefs


which oppress the soul, we cannot al


ways enter into full symp athy with the


sufferers. Our own situation for the


time may be Of an opposite character,


and we may not feel ia a sympathetic


mood or the story of grief may have


been SO often repeated to US as to be-


come unaffecting, though to the sufferer


the sorrow may be as heavy as when it


was new. Then in solitude must these


griefs be borne, and the tears they


force be shed in secret The soul is


thrown back upon its own resources.


Human sympathy has reached its limit,


and has failed to fully meet the case.
No. blame is 10 be attached to it for
| this, for, like all other human attri-


butes, it is finite. The soul thus left


alone, with the consciousness that it is
+ beyond the power of friends to help,


finds its strength severely tested. Phi


losophy may brace its falling energies,


but cannot supply the aid required


Where philosophy fails, faith tri-
umphs; SO that the secret sorrows be-


come a means of developing the heart


by the strength they furnish to faith.


The soul learns its utter helplessness,
.. and is cast upon its God. There it


feels as safe as a child Nesting 10 its


mothers arms


This, after all, is the ultimate resort
. OF the troubled heart. God would have
: us feel our dependence on him, and be
has therefore so ordered it that nothing


short of himself can satisfy the wants
!; Of the soul One resource after an
}, other is tried and fails, until the heart
comes back to God as instinctiveIy as
} the dove returned to Noah in the ark,
3 having '4ound no rest for the sole of
t her foot" Here we may find rest and
{ strength, and thus the great burdens of
life which threaten at times to break
r us down are made the means of estab-
fishing US in all that is noble and true,
because they drive us to God for help
Many are the tears which fall and the
9 sighs which rise in secret. The mother


sits alone in her childles house, hold


ing in her hands a little lock of golden


hair. The one whose head it once


adorned isnow with angels ndredeem-
ing spirits. Who can Tell the agony
B of her heart as she bows before God in
a her closet, and prays for strength to
i sustain her, while all around reminds
E her of her loss u And what a tide of
sorrow comes rushing to our hearts
e otttimes when, at some quiet hour, we
a take from their hiding-place a packet
of old letters, yellow and faded like
b autumn-leaves, As we hold them in
I our hands, they bring to our minds
a some of the most hallowed recollections
? of the past 1t seems somewhat akin
$ to saorilege to open them; or is it a
want Of courage that keeps the tremb-
: ling hand from loosening the string
f which binds them atogether1 We
+ open, we read Oh how the tears
t fall like rain-drops as we see once more
t the old familiar words! The hand
that shaped them is dust in the grave
I yard the soul that prompted them is
Z with its Savior We weep as we think
i OF the dear one gone before land pledge
t ourselves anew to the service of the
y Master, looking for blessed reunion
e in better land We put the old let
| ters carefully back again with loving
e hands, and feel almost as though We
T; Mad held communion with the departed
J, We are strengthened for life's battle.
it by the "reminiscences of the past, ant
g though the outer world knows nothing
e of the inward workings of the heart
e we are better prepared for life's dutie,
9 and responsibilities.


k Our secret sorrows may thus be made
: to us a means of the souls growth il
j holiness and in usefulness They neet
n not weioh us down to the ground AM