What The Redbird Told Me
It was a cold winter morning. Snow
covered the ground. The frost on the trees sparked in the
brightness outside seemed to find no reflection in me. I had
been confined t my bed for more than six months. I was gloomy
and despondent. It seemed as though all the light and joy had
gone out of my life and that the only pain and suffering and
sorrow were left to me. I had no desire to live. Again and
again I prayed that I might die. I should have welcomed any
form of death, even the most horrible. I have grown morbid,
and almost despaired. I had been prayed for again and again,
but the healing touch came not. Life seemed to hold for me no
ray of hope, no gleam of sunshine.
As I
lay brooding in my melancholy state, a red grosbeak, with his
bright red plumage, alighted on a tree a few feet from my
window. His eyes sparkled as he gazed with me with interest.
He turned his head now this way and now that, apparently
studying me intently, and then gave mea cheery call and hopped
as near to me as he could get and repeated his cries over and
over. Somehow his cries took the form of words in my mind.
This is what he said to me: "You, you, you, cheer up, cheer
up, cheer up." He hopped about from limb to limb, wiping his
beak, picking at pieces of bark, but ever and anon hopping
back to look at me and cry again. "Cheer up, cheer up, cheer
up." This he did for a long time, then he flew away, only to
return soon and to peer at me again, crying his merry "You,
you, you, cheer up, cheer up, cheer up. " for more than two
hours he continued to repeat this and then went away, and far
in the distance I heard the last echoes of his notes still
saying, "Cheer up, cheer up."
It
seemed as though God had sent the bird to bring a message to
my souls; and as I thought of the cold and the snow and the
winter winds, of the bird's uncertain supply of food, of his
many enemies, and considered that, in spite of all this, he
could be so cheerful and gay, it made me feel ashamed that I
should be so melancholy and despondent. His message, enforced
by his example, sank into my heart. I began to think over the
favorable side of my situation. I began to consider how many
things the Lord had bestowed upon me in the past-his mercy,
his kindness, and his blessings. My heart took courage, hope
began to lift herself up from the dust. I reflected over the
way I had yielded to discouragement. I saw that if I was ever
to rise above it I must set myself resolutely to the task of
looking upon the bright side and of overcoming the gloom and
heaviness. The message of the bird made me ashamed to submit
longer to my feelings. I resolved then and there that I would
be different. And from that day I began to act and think and
speak more cheerfully. Many times I had to act contrary to the
way I felt, but I found out that this was having an influences
upon my feelings, and the more I practised being cheerful the
more cheerful I became. Many times I have been sorely pressed
down in spirit, but I have found that I can act cheerfully and
talk cheerfully even in the midst of depression, and that this
is not hypocrisy, but the true way in which to meet such
things and conquer them.
Cheerfulness is largely a matter of habit. We must do
one of two things-either yield to our feelings and let them be
our master or compel our feelings to yield to us that we may
be their master. It is a case of conquering and being
conquered. So many persons are at the mercy of their emotions.
If they do not feel well in body, or their mind is troubled,
or their spiritual sky is clouded, they yield themselves to
gloomy thoughts and look upon the dark side of the picture.
Their thoughts and feelings are reflected in their faces and
actions and words. This, in turn reacts upon them, and they
then feel worse in body and mind. Everyone around them knows
how they feel. This is putting a premium on your bad feelings.
It is encouraging them. And it is very bad habit. You can be
cheerful if you will. Do not wear your troubles on your face.
Do not let them put a note of sadness in your voice. Cease
your sighing: you are only adding to your burdens. Take the
bird's advice and cheer up. You can if you will. You can hide
your burdens instead of advertising them. To hide them will
help you to forget them. You have a place to put your
burdens-"Casting all your care upon Him."
I
still suffer; I still have periods of mental depression; but I
have learned to be cheerful and not let these things be on
exhibitions. I find it now the easier, and by far the better
way. Cheerfulness is a habit; get the habit. It depends upon
you, not upon your circumstances. You can rule your
circumstances instead of letting them rule you. Take hold of
your bad feelings with a will and conquer them with
cheerfulness. The task may not be easy at first, but keep at
it and you will win. Do not despair if you lose a few battles.
You may have cultivated glom for so long a time that it has
become the fixed state of your mind. Overcome the habit. God
will help you. When your feelings become gloomy, say, "I will
not be so," and force your mind into other channels. It will
want to go back to its former habit, but as often as you catch
yourself thinking along gloomy lines turn your thoughts back
to the sunshine. Put good cheer into your voice and a smile on
your face, no matter how you feel. It will prove a tonic for
soul, mind, and body. Listen to the redbird. Hear hie merry,
"Cheer up, cheer up, " and act upon his advice. You will find
it worth
while.