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A little boy was
walking down the street rejoicing in the
possession of a bright new penny. He was going
to buy some candy with it. He could almost taste
it already, but just then he dropped his penny
upon the sidewalk. An older boy seized it and
started off. The little boy began to cry and
demanded his penny, but the other boy only
laughed derisively. It was a mean trick. It
spoiled the whole day for the boy, and ever
after when he thinks of the incident, he will
have an unpleasant feeling. The older boy put a
dark cloud over the little fellow's sun that
day, and the shadow will be cast upon him
through other days.
A number of
persons were sitting in a room talking over a
matter. During the conversation one man made a
charge against another, comparing him half
contemptuously with a man whose conduct had been
quite unbecoming.The charge was like a dagger in
the man's heart. He knew it was both untrue and
unjust. He was conscious of the uprightness of
his conduct. He had always held the other man in
high esteem, and to be thus publicly wounded by
him was almost unbearable. He made no defense,
but he went out of that room with an aching
heart, humiliated and wronged. His friend had
put a great cloud over his sun. Years have
passed but the darkness of that cloud has not
yet all passed away. When he thinks of the
injustice, there is still a pang in his heart.
He does not feel bitter toward the other; he has
forgiven; but the close tie has been broken. He
has never since been able to confide in the one
who did such an injury.
A faithful
minister labored for years for souls. He had
been succesful; he had been a blessing to many.
One day a certain person spoke of him half
jestingly in a manner that aroused the suspicion
of some others who were present. These suspicion
grew till they became open charges. The minister
could not prove them to be false. They hindered
his labors. They bowed down his head with
sorrow. Someone had put a cloud over his sun and
over his name, and for years the dark shadow of
it rested upon his life.
How easy it is to
pout a cloud over some one's sun, to make some
life dark that migth have been bright! It may
seem only a little thing, but sometimes a little
cloud can make a dark shadow, We may not see
either the cloud or the shadow, but the heart
that is darkened both sees and feels. How many
times parents, by unkind words of action,
becloud their children's sky! One way in which
parents do this is by telling the faults of
their children to visitors, in the presence of
the children. There is scarcely anything more
disheartening to a child than this. He feels
humiliated and hurt. He feels and justly feels,
that he has been mistreated. It sinks down into
his souls and rankles there. It discourages him,
and if it is often repeated he comes not to care
if he is at fault. Constant reproof and
faultfinding make a child's life gloomy and sad.
That is not the way to cure faults; it is the
way to make then worse.
I once knew a
young saint who had a rich experience of
salvation. A certain relative who opposed her
religion began finding fault with her and kept
doing so at every opportunity. The result was
that that young life was beclouded and a deep
melancholy settled down over her. Her
cheerfulness gave way to sadness and moroseness.
The song of joy, once so often upon her lips,
was stilled. Someone had put a cloud over her
sun, and her life was never what it otherwise
might have been.
Children may
darken the hearts and lives of their parents.
How many times is the mother-heart or father
grieved by the conduct of the children.! It
maybe that they are only thoughtless, or they
may be disobedient and wilful. Young people,
cherish your parents, try to make their lives as
bright as you can. They have many cares. These
are enough for them to bear without your adding
a single one. When you have grown older and they
have gone out of your life, you may look back
with a pang of regret at the times when you
caused their hearts ti ache. Brighten their
lives while you may; then when you look into the
open grave where Father or Mother is being laid
to rest, your conscience will not smite you.
We are told that
" no man liveth unto himself." There is a circle
of influence about our lives that affects every
other life that we touch. We brighten or darken
the lives about us. We lighten or make heavier
the burden of others. Every unkind word or look
makes a shadow on some life. Every slighting
remark, every sarcastic fling, every
contemptuous smile, puts a cloud over somebody's
sun. Lack of appreciation has darkened many a
life. How much better it would be to take away
the clouds to banish the gloom! You can do this
just as easily as you can bring clouds. It is
just as easy to speak kind words as to speak
unkind ones, and you will feel much better over
it yourself. You can encourage and help, you can
speak words of appreciation. When people please
you, let them know it. When people do well, or
even when they try to do well and fail, you can
be cheerful nd courteous and kind. That will
make sunshine for others. There are not enough
clouds in life at best in this world of sorrow.
Be a sunshine-bearer. Drop a little good cheer
into every life you touch. No matter what you
are by nature, you can form the habit of being
cheerful and encouraging. Even when you have
heavy burdens, you can be encouraging and
helpful to others.
Do not let your
troubles be mirrored on your face. One's face
can smile and his words can be cheery if his own
heart does ache. I am not writing a mere theory.
I know what pain and gloom and heaviness are. I
know what burdens are. During the first few
months of my illness everyone knew how I felt.
My face told the story without words. I finally
saw that that would not do, and deliberately set
to work to get the gloom out of my face and out
of my words, You who read what I write know
something of my success. You can do the
same. |
