Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1879 — Duty as Rose Terry Cooke Sees It. [ARTICLE]

Duty as Rose Terry Cooke Sees It.

Some of you appear to doubt if you can decide for yourselves what your vocation in life is. Do not hurry. “Do the duty that lies nearest thee: the rest will follow.” Learn to do well the simplest, commonest things; these all fit you for the future. And do not, above all. fall into that silly, ,childish cant of hating “duty,” and doing things only for “love.” It is the fatal weakness of these days that love is exalted, not merely above but in place of all other virtues; that selfdenial, self-control, courage, endurance, are all set aside for the sake of love, which is perverted to mean indolence and self-indulgence. This is not the love of the Bible, but a counterfeit weakness out of which spring evils innumerable, even in the very bosom of our homes and churches. Duty is the very breath of God and the outcome of love to Him, as surely as warmth is born of fire. Adhere to this, and the path of life will unfold before you and the voice of the Lord say to your souls: “This is the way; walk vein it.” And by duty I do not mean great action, suffering, or sacrifice, but the petty detailor daily life; patience with noisy, quarrelsome, perverse children; obedience to parents; devotion to the comfort and pleasure of those about you; attention to your own health, temper and appearance; a study of economy and neatness in tbe household; and, when the in-door’s duty is done, there remains always some lonely person to visit and cheer, some kindly, neighborly act to perform; some church-work to help in. Be faithful over these few things, Mary Ann, and the work of your life will find you out. in good time and welcome you. — Sunday Afternoon. Some of the most qniet old -men in the world are' those who have made a great racket in their young days. The postage stamp knows Its plttfSS" after it has been licked once.—A. 0. Picayune. . ' |