Joy and Strength 03/15
Let all that ye do be done in love.
1 Cor. xvi. 14 (R. v.).
If thou art blessed.
Then let the sunshine of thy gladness rest
On the dark edges of each cloud ‘that lies
Black in thy brother’s skies.
If thou art sad,
Still be thou in thy brother’s gladness glad.
Anna E. Hamilton.
WHAT can be more unkind than to communicate our low spirits to others, to go about the world like demons, poisoning the fountains of joy? Have I more light because I have managed to involve those I love in the same gloom as myself? Is it not pleasant to see the sun shining on the mountains, even though we have none of it down in our valley? Oh, the littleness and the meanness of that sickly appetite for sympathy, which will not let us keep our sorrows to ourselves! Let us hide our pains and sorrows. But, while we hide them, let them also be spurs within us to urge us on to all manner of overflowing kindness and sunny humor to those around us. When the very darkness within us creates a sunshine around us, then has the spirit of Jesus taken possession of our souls.
Frederick Wm. Faber.
She now rarely lost the sacred opportunity of giving pleasure.
Sarah W. Stephen
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