Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 April 1875 — Daily Life. [ARTICLE]

Daily Life.

Is our daily life what it ought to be—what it might be? Do we not allow petty vexations and trivial things to sour our temper and darken our brow—the impulses of nature to get the better of us? That impatient word just now; you were fretted, but did it make you feel any more pleasant? Those light and trifling thoughts; they have gonfe to give their account against you. That witticism at another’s expense; you meant no harm, but was it right after all, quite right, and doing just- as you would be done by? And then the w ords that are unspoken, the opportunities neglected which might be productive of so much good! Efow much evil we do when we might do good! How much reproach we bring upon ourselves by our inconsistencies! How little we practice what w-e preach! How little we do unto others what we would that they should do unto us! How selfish we are, and ready to listen to the promptings of self-interest! How we permit little jealousies and animosities to rankle in our, hearts, and pride, vain and impotent, to fill it! How little of charity do we feel for an erring brother or sister, as if we never erred ourselves! How imperfect and incongruous are our lives!

And yet we might make of life a most beautiful thing; but it must be our daily life that will do it. Little drops of water, Little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean. And the pleasant land. So loving words and deeds of kindness, tender sympathies and gentle ministrations, constantly and daily expressed, will make our lives majestic. Did yofPnever see those that have appeared the very embodiment of goodness, in whose presence there was an attraction irresistible, magical? They have seemed to you like an oasis in a dreary desert land, like green and fertile spots in a barren waste. You have sighed to be like them, as good and beautiful. Y r ou can be it you will only make the endeavor; you can your soul with such grace; you can make your life so attractive that you will carry with you, wherever you 'go, the charm most potent.. , - To many, daily life seems dull and prosaic; but there are passages in it of surpassing loveliness. Did you reply kindly just now, when spoken harshly to? Did you receive that bitter upbraiding meekly and silently? It was a beautiful thing. Did you deny yourself that others might be happier thereby? It was laying up treasures for heaven. Did you speak words of sympathy and hopeful cheer to that poor and despondent soul? God will remember and reward you. Did <p you lighten the burden of that weary brother or sister? There shall assistance come down to you from above when you are “ weary and heavy laden.” Would that we treasured these opportunities of doing good and prized them more highly, for they are jewels with which we may adorn our souls with richest grace—goblets from which we may quaff the delicious waters of happiness. When you have striven earnestly and felt at its close that the day had been made better by the strivings; when you have overcome some mighty temptation; when you have accomplished something for the good of those around you, what a flood of happiness has filled your soul to overflowing! And in the still watches of the night, as we live over in thought the short-comings of the day, we promise, earnestly and with tears, that we will do differently. Let us strive to live that our “ life’s little acts shall have no remorseful shadows hanging over them.” Life will then have a new meaning for us; it will become a reality to us, for only as we grow nobler and better do we really live; only as the heart advances in that which is good do the spirit’s chariot wheels move on toward the celestial city.— Humane Journal.