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The Singing Heart
By C. W. Naylor
PREFACE
"Oh, why did not someone tell me sooner?" wrote a lady who had passed through some very trying spiritual experiences that had been made far harder because they had been misinterpreted. It had been the Author's privilege to explain some things through which she was passing. She had experienced great relief of mind and spirit by coming to look on her troubles in a new and clearer light.
About the same time another person, after receiving an explanation of difficulties and being instructed how to meet them wrote, "If I had known these things years ago I might have been spared many things and my life thereby made far happier than it has been."
The receipt of hundreds of such letters and the personal testimony of other hundreds of people through the years spent by the Author in evangelistic work and the twenty-one years on his bed as the result of accidental injuries, have convinced him that there is much need for a treatise covering some of the vital principles of life and experience common to so many of us.
It has been the Author's purpose to illuminate, as far as his ability goes, the Christian pathway, as well as to point out some of the underlying principles of Christian life and experience. If he has succeeded in doing so in a way that will be helpful to others to an extent comparable to the gratifying results of his more personal work and correspondence he will feel he has been well rewarded for his labors. He hopes he has succeeded in making clear the way into the joyfully victorious life and that the reader may walk life's way with the "everlasting joy" that belongs to those who have learned the Secret of the Singing Heart.
C. W. Naylor
CHAPTER 1
THE FOUNTAIN OF SONG
"The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet:
they break forth into singing."
Isaiah. 14:7
Nature is joyful. There is something that wells up in the heart of things which breaks forth in song. We have heard of the music of the spheres. There is harmony which makes itself heard above the discords This world is not a place of melancholy. Its drab color when properly blended become beauteous. Its discord may be merged into harmonies.
Happiness is the normal state of all life. Our tears are meant to be only the cleansing rain which refreshes and beautifies life. There is an echo of far-off must in all the sounds of nature. Rejoicing is everywhere Happiness is God's will for all his creation. "Sing, O ye heavens . . . shout ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein" (Isaiah. 44:23).
This universal joyfulness is also thus expressed, "The valleys . . . shout for joy, they also sing" (Psalms 65:13) Again, "Let the nations be glad and sing for joy" (Psalms 67: 4). In nature sentient things are happy even though life for them is full of danger and hardship. The birds sing even tho they know they are surrounded by enemies . Constant dangers do not silence their songs. In spite of all the cruelties of fang and claw, and undeterred by storms or cold, hunger or privation, the voice of joy still rises in melody.
Man is likewise permeated by the same cause of joyfulness. Difficulties may come, dangers may surround him, he may make failures, have losses, and sometimes almost despair. Notwithstanding all this his spirits will rise superior to his difficulties and the song of joy is never fully quenched in any normal human being. Troubles, when they lie in the past, may be quickly forgotten. The young trees bent over by the snowfall rise again when the snow is melted to gaze anew upon the sun. So man rises from his troubles. He lifts his head up into the sunshine and again his heart breaks forth in joyfulness. The heart is naturally merry and God would ever have it so. He says, "My servants shall sing for joy of heart" (Isaiah. 65:14).
While preparing to write the chapters that follow I took my concordance and Bible and looked up some of the words that express rejoicing and happiness, such as rejoicing,, gladness, happy, blessed, joy, rest, etc. I found that these words and others of similar import occur nearly nine hundred times in the Scriptures. Even then my search was only partial. Assuredly this fact should convince us not only that happiness is the natural state of man but that it is God's will for him.
Again and again we are exhorted to rejoice, to be glad and to give expression to our joy. The poet has said, "Hope springs eternal in the human breast." Joy is more powerful than sorrow. Peace is more lasting than trouble. Sorrow is but transitory. Life has balm for all our woes, light for all our darkness. Morning breaks after the darkest night. There is sunshine after the fiercest storm. There is warmth and beauty after the cruel winter. In the normal life happiness is the rule; unhappiness the exception. Troubles will come. There are things to be endured, but these need not take out of life its beauty, its happiness, or its worth.
One thing should ever be present in our thoughts of life. Our happiness does not depend upon our environment, our station, our circumstances, or any external thing. The songs come from within. They bubble up out of the heart. Someone has spoken a great truth in the lines that follow:
"There's no defeat in life save from within,
Unless you're beaten there You're bound to win."
It is what we are within that counts. It is our outlook on life, our purposes, our ideals, our hopes, our faith. There are joyful beggars. The most thankful, the most appreciative, are often those who have little. Some of the most contented, cheerful, and light-hearted people I ever saw were people whose situations seemed least tolerable. In my ministry I have gone into homes where poverty abounded, where sickness and sorrow existed, yet I found in some of those homes happy, trustful, rejoicing hearts.
Favorable external circumstances may encourage the song in the heart, but the lack of these things need not still the song. External things alone cannot produce a song in the heart. A favorable condition of heart is like the reed of the wind instrument. The wind itself can produce no music without the reed. So the music in human hearts is born in hearts and as the reed in the instrument makes the instrument vocal so the proper qualities in the heart make joyous music even in the night of sorrow.
Too many people have a wrong philosophy of life. The pessimist makes his own clouds. The optimist sees the sunshine on the other side of the clouds and is happy. Some modern idealistic religious systems, tho based on false metaphysics and a false natural philosophy, have, outside of these things, a true philosophy of happiness and success, at least for the present life. Many of us could learn much from these philosophies that would be very helpful. We need not accept the vagaries of their metaphysics or natural philosophy nor their spiritual concepts, but the philosophy of the hopeful outlook, the expectation of success, and the discounting of that which is unpleasant and undesirable, is the true way to happiness. The God who made the birds that sing so sweetly desires the same melody of song in the heart of the highest of his creation. Believing this we face life with the elements that create melody active in our hearts to teach us the Secret of the Singing Heart.
CHAPTER 2
A GREAT ADVENTURE
Life has wonderful possibilities for good or for evil. It may be a great adventure upon which we go, with ever- changing scenes, through which we may march with our heads up and a song of victory in our hearts. To many life is this. On the other hand, life may mean a servitude in which the weary, discouraged, and almost hopeless prisoner of fate marches on toward an eternal dungeon. One may be a slave to worry, fear, foreboding. Life may be a series of defeats. But this is not the normal life. No one need live such a life.
Life was intended to be triumphant, joyous, prosperous. It was meant to be filled with gladness, with light hearts and with singing. Facing life as we are capable of facing it we can make it an ever-ascending pathway with our vision expanding to an ever remoter horizon. Life may be a series of discoveries. A great American said, "I shall pass this way but once." Each day there is new territory to be explored, new experiences to be had.
The terrain of our life is largely of our own choosing. We may go on the upland way or down through the swamp. We may have the fragrance of flowers and of fruit, of pines and cedars, or we may have the miasma of decaying vegetation. Life is full of boundless possibilities. It is a great continent lying before us awaiting exploration. Shall we go through it with bowed heads and burdened shoulders or shall we cast off our burden, lift up our heads, and be men and women in the midst of a great adventure?
Explorers do not always have an easy time. Frequently they have great difficulties to overcome. But exploration gives zest to life. The constantly changing scenes always bring freshness of interest. The difficulties and privations of the past are quickly forgotten in the inspiring prospect that lies before us. We need to cultivate in life the spirit of the explorer. We need to develop our possibilities, our capabilities, and have the inspiration of a great purpose.
It is so easy to say, "Oh, I do not amount to anything. I never can be anything. I never can do anything worth while," then to settle down in the prison-house of this idea and attitude and never be free, not because we might not be free but because we do not choose to be free. So often people say, "My life is not worth living." Every life is worth living, but every life is worth living right. So many lives are like an airplane that is so heavily loaded it can never gain altitude.
There are some things of which we must rid ourselves in order to live a normal life. A bird entangled in the grass cannot fly. It must first be freed from its entanglement. In like manner we must be loosed from our entanglement to have freedom of life. Our entanglements are often of our own making. We build our own prisons; we shut ourselves up in our own cells. Circumstances can never long imprison us if our spirits are free. Has not someone written, "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage"? The free spirit cannot be imprisoned. Let us not be content with servitude. Let us cry out with Patrick Henry, "Give me liberty," and then strike with the sword of a determined will to cut our way through whatever may imprison or hamper us. Do you say, "This is easier said than done"? True, but it can be done by everyone. It is well within the possibilities of each of us.
What are we getting out of life? In the first place, we can get out of it no more than we put into it. So if we are getting too little out of our lives, if they are unsatisfying, or impoverished, or hemmed in, it is be cause we are putting too little into them. Our lives are what we make them. It is not how long we live but how intensively we live, how full of worthwhile things we fill our lives that make them worthwhile and satisfying.
Life in reality is what we are within. Circumstances are the casket in which lies the jewel of personality. The value is not in the casket but in the jewel. Therefore, life is not made up of favorable or unfavorable circumstances, nor of possessions either many or few, nor of recognition or the lack of it, nor of honors given by others. It is what we are that gives quality to all these things when they come into life. We can take musical sounds and blend them to produce either harmony or discord. Things can be made either helpful or harmful.
Chemical elements can be combined to create wholesome things or poisonous things. It depends upon the elements we put into our lives and how we combine them as to whether we have happiness or unhappiness. If we put into our lives selfishness, disregard of others, unkindness, discourteousness, ill-temper, complaints, murmuring, distrust, doubts, fear, hate, malice, envy, covetousness, and the like, we shall inevitably have bitterness, dissatisfaction, sorrow, and similar things in our lives as the natural result. Let us not say that God makes our life as it is, or that it is our lot or that people wrong us.
No, we are making the quality, if not the form and outline of our lives. Circumstances alone neither make us nor mar us. It is our reaction to circumstances that produces results in us. What ruins one makes another. The things that are obstacles in life to some become stumbling stones, but to others stepping-stones, according to the use made of them.
So after all, what we shall have in life is our own choice. We are the architects of our own lives. If we build with noble materials, carved with patient care, we shall have beauty and grace in our lives. If we put into them love, loyalty, gentleness, meekness, kindness, faith, forbearance, patience, hope, we shall not fail to draw good dividends from all these things, dividends which shall rejoice our hearts, cause our eyes to sparkle, and the song of gladness to well up.
The purpose of life is not merely to have a good time, to gratify the senses, to eat, drink, and be merry. Its high and holy purpose is the building of character. Good character is the basis of real happiness. The poet has said,
"Only the holy and innocent sing
Out of a bosom where pleasures abide."
The process of character-building is not always easy, but it is always profitable. Each of us has capacity to develop a great character, a noble and beautiful life which cannot be unhappy. In such a soul there is a depth into which trouble never can reach. No matter how trials and troubles may press in upon the life there is a calm and undisturbed peace at the very center of life. There is a joy that springs up on the darkest days. There is a light that shines in the deepest night. Life must have its discipline and its difficulties to make it of value, to give it character. Iron ore is of little value until it passes through the fire and is purified, tempered, and shaped. The chisel must bite deeply into the marble again and again before the angel in it looks out. Paint of little value, when carefully spread upon the canvas by a great artist becomes of rare beauty and worth. Likewise the little things seemingly valueless in our lives become richer than a king's ransom when their possibilities are developed.
The Christian life of many people is unsatisfying. Instead of being joyous with the elements of heaven it is burdensome. There are two causes for this. If when we come to God we still cling to the things of the past and try to graft Christianity upon our old lives, we shall not have the fruits of righteousness. There must be a break with the past. There must be a newness of life. We must be new creatures. Gone with the old life that is forsaken will be many of the causes of heartaches and sorrows and burdens of the past. However, if when we come to God we give up many things that have gone far to make up life for us in the past and we do not replace these things with something just as good or better we impoverish ourselves and our lives become barren and unsatisfying.
We should fill our lives with the better things, the pleasant things of righteousness, of truth, nobility, and service, that make life rich for ourselves and profitable to others. We need the freshness and beauty of true spirituality. We need activities-interesting and profitable things.
God said to us, "Rejoice and be glad." The Christian life is full of wonderful possibilities. I do not mean merely the formal and empty shell of Christian profession. I mean the inner divine life begotten by the Holy Spirit. A life spent in exploring the kingdom of God on earth is always an interesting and attractive and a happy life.
Let us make our lives a great adventure. It is our privilege now and then with heart and mind to make an excursion to heaven, there to sit and meditate beside the river of God. We can go back through history and become acquainted with the saints of old. We can have fellowship with their joys. We can drink of the "rivers of pleasure" and eat of the "honey out of the rock." We can live love's way; bask in the sunlight of heaven. We can "run and not be weary, and walk and never faint."
CHAPTER 3
MAKING A GOD
One of the most important things in life is that we have the right sort of a god. Religion has a profound influence upon the lives, not only of Christian people, but of those who are under Christian influences, and those who are under false religions. It is important therefore that we have in our mind a correct, tho of necessity only a partial knowledge of God. There is but one God, but the picture of that God that is in the minds of men differs greatly. As this picture differs in different minds, we differ in our concepts of the reality.
Within the past week someone wrote to me and spoke of God's "casting men into hell, then watching them sizzle in a lake of fire." This is a crude and altogether erroneous idea of God. Nevertheless, one who believes in such things cannot but be profoundly affected by such a belief. The heathen idea of God is often of a fearful being, vengeful and terrible. Such a god inspires fear, a terror, and often despair. The instinct of the worshiper is to try to placate such a god. The heathen may fear this type of a god, but he cannot love him. Happiness cannot come into his life through such a god. A god of this sort exists only in imagination, but the effect upon the life is just as real as tho such a god were real.
The idea we have of God will profoundly affect our lives. The god we have is the god we create in our lives; that is, God means to us in our consciousness and in his influence on our lives what we picture him to be in our mental conception of him. Someone has said, "God created man in God's image, then straightway man created God in man's image." The Greek and Roman gods had the form, the characteristics, and the passions of the men who created them. The gods of the heathen are made in their own likeness mentally, morally, and spiritually. In olden times a Greek said, "If the camels had a god, he would have four feet and a hump."
The development of the idea of God among the Hebrews can be traced in the Scriptures. Before Israel went into Egypt the idea of God seems to have been of a universal God, a God who was God of all the earth and not of a special people. But during the captivity in Egypt, surrounded as they were by idolaters and they alone holding the idea of the true God, he became to them the God of Israel. After the Exodus he became to the great body of the people little more than a tribal God. He was viewed in the same light by the nations round about them. It is true that the most spiritual, including the prophets and spiritual teachers, had clearer ideas of God. But we do not find a general conception of him any higher than a tribal God until we reach the era of the Psalms. In these we find both ideas-the God of Israel, and the God of the earth and all nature. As we go on through the Major and Minor Prophets we find a clearing and expanding of the idea of God. This made an end to idolatry in Israel.
In the Old Testament Isaiah has the greatest conception of God. But it is Jesus who reveals him as he is. The God revealed by Jesus is a God of universal character. He became not only the universal God, but the universal Father.
The idea of God develops slowly. When the gospel is carried to a heathen land it is difficult for the people to grasp the Christian idea of God. It dawns on them only a little at a time. This is true even in Christian lands. Even today the views of God held by many people differ widely from God as Jesus revealed him and as he is revealed in the Christian Scriptures.
What sort of a God have you, reader? Sum up the various ideas of him you have and see what he is in the aggregate. How does he impress you? How do you feel toward him? Do your ideas of God bring happiness into your heart? Do they cause you to love him and trust him? Does contemplation of him start the joybells ringing in your heart and the song to come to your lips? To some people God is a giant to be feared. We do not sing in his presence-we try to hide. When we fear we do not sing. If we fear God with this slavish fear, how can we be happy?
One of the secrets of the singing heart is to make a God who will inspire us to sing. God in reality is a God of that sort. If we know him as he is association with him will be the source of life's sweetest and most satisfying fountain of joy.
Jesus identified the greatest source of human happiness when he said, "That they may know thee." Again, he said to his disciples, "Let not your heart be troubled.
Ye believe in God." To him that was sufficient reason why one should not be troubled. But some people believe in God and it is that very belief which causes them to be troubled. They do not see God as Jesus saw him. The God they see has different characteristics-characteristics that inspire fear rather than love. They worship him with the idea of placating him. They do not look upon worship as communion with him, as a sweet, soul-satisfying fellowship, the source of life's greatest joys and blessings.
Perhaps it would be of great value to all of us if we should read the New Testament carefully with the idea in mind of finding just what it teaches about God. Let us try to get Jesus' idea of God and John's idea and Paul's idea. When we have done so we may be amazed to see how much our own ideas of God have differed from theirs. God may come to mean something entirely different to us.
Let us briefly view the outline of the picture of God painted in the New Testament. First, we are told that "God is love." A God of our mind that we as Christians fear is not the real God. John 3:16 tells us, "God so loved the world," and Paul asked, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Again he says, "That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:18-19). We might profitably spend days considering these Scriptures. Think of them, dear reader, until they mean to you in your innermost heart just what they say; until God's character actually becomes love in your consciousness. Then you cannot fear him, you cannot shrink from him. You will love him.
God's loving, gentle, forgiving, pitying character can never inspire fear. We need not fear his justice, for his justice is only for those who will not have his mercy. Really to know God is to love and to trust him. Note particularly the following facts: Only those who will not believe have cause for this slavish fear.
Those who have cause for fear do not fear him, as it is written, "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Therefore, only those who have no occasion thus to fear God do thus fear him. The true God is the God of the open heart, the Father who loves his creatures. He is not a God afar off. He is a God who is near. He is not harsh, and stern, and vengeful. He is high, and powerful, and glorious, yet he condescends to walk with us in the lowly vales of life. He condescends to talk with us in the quiet of the evening. He has a listening ear and a tender heart.
He is our Father, and as our Father loves us as sons and daughters. "Ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord almighty" (2nd Corinthians. 6:18). Sometimes an earthly father must be stern. But his sternness is because he loves his son and desires the best for him. The loving father disciplines his son, not for the father's own pleasure, but for the son's profit. The sternness and the discipline are the special, not the ordinary attitudes of God toward us. His constant attitude is one of tender, solicitous love.
God is not only the God of the open heart but he is the God of the open hand. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 32). His promise is that he will "not withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly." He desires that we be happy. He desires that we be supplied with everything that will contribute to our happiness. Truly he is the God of the open hand.
He is also the "God of all comfort" (2nd Corinthians. 1: 3). The Psalmist said, "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (Psalms 23: 4). Paul speaks of him on this wise, "Blessed be God, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (2nd Corinthians. 1: 3-4). The Holy Spirit is the "Comforter" (John 14: 26). Reader, is this the picture of God you have in your mind and heart?
He is the God of justice. The Bible says, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18: 25). A number of times Jesus is called "The Just One." His justice is always tempered with mercy. It is never separated from his love. If we have the picture of God in our minds that David had in his mind we shall feel as he felt. He had sinned. The prophet gave him the choice of three evils as punishment. He said, "Let me fall into the hands of God." God's promise to the Christian is that he "shall not come into condemnation." What then if God be just? "Mercy rejoiceth against judgment." It is God's delight to forgive; therefore if we submit to him we need not fear his justice.
He is a faithful God. "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son" (1st Corinthians. 1: 9). Again and again it is declared that God is faithful. Peter calls him "a faithful Creator" (1st Peter 4:19). The Psalmist says, "Thy faithfulness is unto all generations" (Psalms 119: 90).
God is the God of goodness. The Psalmist exclaims, "Oh how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee" (Psalms 31 :19). And again, "He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord" (Psalms 33: 5). "The goodness of God endureth continually" (Psalms 52:1). And again he says, "Thou crownest the year with thy goodness" (Psalms 65:11).
He is not a God afar off. Paul said to the Athenians, the Lord is "not far from everyone of us; for in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:27-28). "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him" (Psalms 145:19). And Jesus said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28: 20). And he has promised, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."
The foregoing is a very partial picture, a very fragmentary outline of the character of God. But if we study the picture as it is painted in the New Testament until God comes to be to us what he really is, and if we then enter into relations with him such as he desires to exist between himself and us, we then shall know one of the secrets of the singing heart. Too often God (to us) is only the reflection of our fears and doubts, of our conscience, and of our peculiar characteristics. In reality he is what he reveals himself to be.
To Moses God revealed himself thus, "The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin" (Exodus. 34: 6-7). He promised Moses, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest" (chapter 33:14). Our thoughts of him should not disturb us. His presence shall give us rest.
We should dwell before him in confidence and trust. He is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He is the Father of tender love and constant care. He would enter into all our troubles, our sorrows, our joys. He has said he would rejoice over us with singing. He has said he would have us without anxiety, he would have us abide in his love, partake of his peace, to rejoice with "joy unspeakable and full of glory," and sing the songs of victory and trust.
One writer has said of the Bible, "It tells us that at the heart of the universe there is a heart, that God is love, that that love is the moving spring of his activity."
CHAPTER 4
FIVE KINDS OF RELIGION
Christianity is a singing religion. The coming of Jesus was ushered in with the joyful chants of the heavenly throng. Singing has ever been a prominent part of the worship of God. When the soul has a vision of the God revealed in the New Testament it is uplifted, illuminated, inspired, exalted. This exaltation naturally bursts forth into heavenly songs-songs of joy and true happiness.
The vast wealth of song written by Christians and used in their religious devotions is in a strange and almost startling contrast to the lack of song in the other religions of the world. Music has little part in the worship of other systems of religion. The American Indian may sing his war song, song of the chase, or other similar songs in his religious festivals. The votaries of other religions may also sing songs, but these are generally not songs of worship but songs to placate their gods, rather than attempts to express their own joyfulness in the service of their gods. It is true that Buddhism in some countries is borrowing the Christian custom of song in worship and adapting Christian hymns to their worship. It should be noted, however, that this is a mere adaptation in the face of Christian competition rather than something that originated in Buddhism. So Christianity may be said to be the only singing religion including, of course, the worship of Israel, from which it has in a great measure been derived.
Religion has a powerful influence upon happiness. It adds much to or takes much from natural happiness, according to the kind of religion in which we believe. Christians do not all believe in the same sort of religion. True, they all believe in one God, and in one Bible, and in a general way in many of the same things. When we come to the practical side of religion, however, there are about five kinds of the Christian religion. Four of these produce little happiness, in fact may hinder happiness. They may stifle the song that would naturally arise from the free heart. The reader will do well to pause and consider as we notice these five kinds of religion-which, if any, he has, or if he has a mixture of them.
First, there is the don't religion. It is the religion of self-denial. It is hedged in with numerous restrictions. It is a religion in which the worshiper is kept in a straight-jacket. It is largely a negative religion. Those having this religion may be very strict, very sincere, very earnest, but they never can be truly happy. Happiness never comes from the purely negative aspect of life. When we deny ourselves anything in religion the purpose should not be merely that we be without it, but that we may put in its place something greater, something that will contribute more to our happiness and well-being. Religion is intended to make people free, with the highest type of freedom. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed," is the slogan of the New Testament. A don't religion is conducive to bondage. There is a sort of satisfaction in this don't religion. It may gratify the sense of duty, but we must get a different sort of religion in order to know the secret of the singing heart.
The second kind of religion is the do religion. It consists of merely following forms and ceremonies, or obeying rules and regulations, or doing works of merit. Its followers may find considerable satisfaction in reading prayers, bowing down and arising, in making the sign of the cross, in keeping holy days, making pilgrimages in closely following outlined ceremonials and going through forms. Some of the forms of religion have a certain value in giving soul uplift, but they are a poor substitute for the realities of true religion. With this formalism there may be stately singing by trained choirs, there may be grand organs pealing forth, there may be intellectual discoursing, with the heart of genuine religion absent. The esthetic sense is gratified while the soul is left unfed or perhaps impoverished. This do religion trusts in works. It draws much satisfaction from what it has done. There was much of this sort of religion among the old Pharisees. But who ever saw a Pharisee who was truly happy, whose heart sang with joy? No, a religion of mere works, of forms and ceremonies, can bring little true happiness.
Another form of religion is the Sinai religion. It hedges in lives with "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not." It is the mere keeping of commandments. It is a worshiper of authority. It is doing because one must. It is refraining from doing for fear of punishment. The God of Sinai still thunders forth in this religion. He is a great and awful God, crowned with majesty and glory, but far removed from the worshiper. He is worshiped in fear and trembling at the foot of the mountains whose summit is hidden in angry clouds. Out of these clouds flash the lightnings of divine vengeance. It is a stiff and rigorous religion. There is little of grace or mercy in it. It is walking by rule. There is little in it to start the songs that come from a peaceful and happy heart.
Then there is what may be called the slippery religion. It is one that people must hold fast with all their might lest it should slip away from them. People who have this type of religion are constantly in fear of losing it. If they do this, or that, or the other thing, they wonder, "Now, have I lost my religion?" They are always examining themselves. They are always questioning and wondering. They cannot for long settle down to certainty. They are often overwhelmed with doubts and fears. They are constantly observing their emotions to see whether or not these emotions indicate whether they still have religion or have lost it.
Perhaps they pray and earnestly try to draw near to God. Then if joy and happiness come they are satisfied and sure they have their religion. But presently a dark day comes. Their emotions subside. Then they wonder again whether they still have their religion. In reality their struggle is not to keep their religion, but to keep their emotions and to satisfy their own questionings and doubts. This religion carries them alternately to the mountain-top, then to the depths of the valley of humiliation. It is truly an "up-and-down" religion. This slippery sort of religion can never be the source of true and lasting happiness.
The fifth and true type of religion, the religion that corresponds with the teachings of the New Testament and with the experiences of those who have learned the inner and fuller realities of religion, is that religion which is of the heart. It is not a religion of restriction, neither of formalism. It is neither Sinai religion, nor a slippery religion. It is a religion in which the heart is in its natural element. It is a religion of peace and contentment, a religion of joyful service. It is the natural expression of the soul. It is a peaceful and harmonious relation with God. It is the relation of a child and its father. Its elements are simplicity, sincerity, purity, faith, love, and all the fruits of the Spirit. It is a Spirit-filled life. All these things just mentioned are the deep sources that feed the bubbling springs of joy that flow forth in the waters of rejoicing and song.
In this sort of religion God is not a great and terrible monarch, a stern judge, a task-master; nor his laws a set of hard decrees. No, the Christian religion as seen in its true light is "good tidings of great joy to all people." It is written, "Happy is that people whose God is the Lord." With such a religion we not only can read of the joys of salvation in the Scriptures but have the experience of them in our own souls. In this sort of Christian life we do not fear God in the sense of being afraid of him. We do not tremble before him.
Godly fear becomes the equivalent of reverential love and out of divine and spiritual love flow greater joys than flow out of natural love.
Real religion has two sides-first, the inside, the relations of the soul with God. The Scripture says, "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace." That means to get acquainted with God, get on good terms with him. know his good qualities. Come into close contact and association with him. To know him thus is to be at peace with him. We must have the real inner experience of divine life in the soul and union with Christ. This is open to everyone who will seek it in God's way.
The other side of religion is the outside. There can be a true outside of religion only when there is a true inside religion. James defines the outside of religion by saying, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" (James 1: 27)-a pure and holy inner life, a pure and blameless outer life, devoted to service and helpfulness. This is the religion that is a well-watered land, full of springs and fruitfulness. It is a land of song and cheer and of true blessedness.
This Christian life is the life of the "new song." When the Psalmist looked back upon the "horrible pit" and the "miry clay" out of which the Lord had delivered him he cried, "He hath put a new song in my mouth" (Psalms 40: 3). The Revelator saw the great host of redeemed souls gathered before the throne of God and he said, "I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song before the throne" (Revelation 14:2-3). In chapter 15:3 we are told the nature of this song, "And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the lamb." The song of Moses was the song of Israel's deliverance from Egypt and their enemies after the crossing of the Red Sea. The song of the Lamb is the song of salvation. So the song we sing is a song of deliverance and of salvation. No wonder it is a joyful song'
The song has a special characteristic. "No man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth" (Revelation 14: 3). This company of people, represented in symbol by the "hundred and forty and four thousand," are all the redeemed of God. The song that could not be learned by others was the song that is learned only by experience, the experience of redemption and salvation through Jesus Christ. It cannot be sung by mere professors of religion, nor by formalists, nor by legalists. It breaks forth only from the hearts of those who are happy and free in Christ.
Isaiah, foreseeing this glorious age of salvation, cried, "The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah. 35 :10). This is the experience of those who have learned the secret of the singing heart.
CHAPTER 5
WHO WEARS THE HALTER?
A man puts a halter upon a horse and ties him up within the narrow confines of a stall. The horse may think of the luscious grass in the pasture, but he is fast in the stall. He may think of freedom to go where he will and do what he will. He may desire freedom, but he is haltered.
A man puts a bridle upon the horse, saddles him, and rides away whither he will. The horse may desire to rest quietly under the shade of a tree. He cannot do that; he is bridled. The bridle is controlled by another will. The horse would go south, but his head is turned north by the bridle and the way he is turned he must go. Now, the horse is much stronger than the man. If he should exert his strength and exercise his own will he might overcome the will of the man. He might nullify the power of the halter and the bridle. Sometimes this occurs. But in general the horse has been haltered and bridled so often that he has yielded to the mastery of these things. He does not exert his own strength or his own will as he could. All his life therefore he is mastered. He can only be a servant, very unlike his fellows in wild freedom upon the prairie.
It is not alone horses who wear halters and bridles. There are men and women all about us wearing them. Circumstances halter many people and tie them up within narrow limits, restricting their freedom, shutting them off from the good things of life, making their lives narrow, and often very unsatisfactory. There are other circumstances that bridle people and force them to go whither they would not go. Many times people act against their own best judgment and against their wills. They are victims of circumstance, just as much as the horse is the victim of the halter. Their lives are just as restricted as the lives of the horses. How often we permit circumstances-our feelings, our fears, our doubts, to strap a halter upon us and lead us about whither we would not go, and tie us up somewhere so that it seems we cannot get away.
Many people realize that they are haltered, but like the conquered horse they think they are securely held by the halter. They long for freedom. They desire to be unrestricted. They want freedom of expression, freedom of action, liberty to do as they choose, to turn their lives into the channels that would yield them greater happiness and contentment. But alas, they are haltered. So they look at their halter of circumstances, of feelings, of doubts, of fears, and say, "Oh, I can't help it," then cease to try to help it.
Some horses will pull back on their halters for a few times but not sufficiently to break them. Thinking they are securely fastened the horses cease to try to get loose. We humans do the same. We make some slight efforts to overcome our circumstances and to do the things we really desire to do. We do not exert all our strength. We try only half-heartedly. Then we conclude we cannot break away and cease to try.
We surrender to circumstances. We permit them to have a halter upon us through the years and we permit them to bridle us and to ride us whither they will. Life is a bondage to circumstances.
Man was never meant to wear a halter. We are told that when man was created God set him over the work of his hands. God made man master of things. He intended that man should always be master-master of himself, master of his circumstances. Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8: 32). And again, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
The Christian life is a life of freedom. It is therefore a normal life. It is divinely given mastery. If we use the liberty that is given us instead of wearing the halter of circumstances it is our privilege to put the halter upon circumstances and to master them. God wants us to be men and women, to look circumstances straight in the face, to assert our dominion over them. The attitude of God is plainly shown in the Scriptures. Of Jesus it is said he "hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father" (Revelation 1: 6). But does not that refer to heaven? No. Chapter 5:10 says, "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."
That does not mean some future reign. It is now and here, as Paul tells us in Romans 5: 17: "They which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." That means we shall put the halter on our circumstances and our difficulties and master them, bringing them into subjection to our wills, asserting ourselves, thus becoming triumphant Christians.
One may say that is all very well to talk about, but how shall we do it? The answer of the Scripture is, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." With our two hands we may put the halter on all our circumstances. These two hands are faith and determination. Faith is very good, but it is not enough. Works must go with faith. In the siege of Verdun in the World War, when attacked by a greatly superior force, taken by surprise, and at first driven back with heavy losses, the French rallied and adopted the slogan, "They shall not pass." With grim determination and a courage that would not yield they held on until they overcame.
Many times in our lives we shall have to say to circumstances, "You shall not pass. You shall not master me. I will not yield to you. I will overcome you." Frequently people have tried to discourage others by saying, "You cannot do that." The answer of determination has been, "But I will do it." Did you ever read the poem by Edgar Guest about, "It couldn't be done-but he did it !"? Right now perhaps someone may be saying, "Yes, that is the way to do. That is the attitude to hold. I should like to do that if-" Yes, there is the if. What does it mean? It means I have not the courage or the will to try. Very well. Reach out your head and submit to the halter. You have your choice. You can halter the circumstances or they will halter you. We can be free men or slaves. We can spend our days haltered in the stall, ridden where we do not want to go; or we can use our strength and be free. It is true that we cannot always change our circumstances. We need not always change them or even frequently change them to be free, to have the mastery over them and to be happy. Circumstances do not make us nor break us. It is using them or surrendering to them that determines the outcome. So many say, "But my circumstances are so unfavorable." That does not mean you need be defeated by your circumstances. It only means an opportunity for greater conquest. All real accomplishments in this world are made, not because of circumstances, but in spite of them. Every man who has become really great in accomplishment, or in self-mastery has done so by overcoming his obstacles and difficulties. This is the very thing that has made him great and without these things to overcome he never would have become great; his powers would never have been developed.
It has been repeated that we should not pray for burdens equal to our strength, but for strength equal to our burdens. Happiness does not come from favorable circumstances. The rich who are not compelled to work and who may do as they choose with their time are rarely happy. Shall we say, "If circumstances were more favorable I could be happy"?
Are we sure of this? By no means. It takes more than circumstances to make anyone happy. The secret of happiness does not lie in circumstances. It lies in us. Our circumstances may be unfavorable, but that does not mean we must be unhappy. People are happy in circumstances far more unfavorable than ours. One of the happiest, most cheerful ladies whom I ever met I called upon in company with others many years ago. We found her helpless in her bed. She could move her head slightly from side to side and move one hand a little. Rheumatism had made the remainder of her body almost immovable. But her face was radiant with joy. She told us how happy she was. We marveled at it. For years she had been in this condition. Still she was happy, cheerful, and rejoicing. When we expressed our sympathy she said, "I am contented." Circumstances, even such circumstances, could put no halter on her.
There are faces that shine in the darkest night with the beauty of an inner glory, with a joy that does not depend upon circumstances. Perhaps you can think of others whose circumstances are worse than yours, yet their lives seem happier than yours. Why should this be true? Why should you be less the master of your circumstances than they of theirs? Resolve that you will no longer be dominated by your feelings, your doubts, your fears, by your trials, or your circumstances. If you have tamely submitted to these in the past make a declaration of independence, start a warfare to conquer them. Be tied up no longer by them. Choose the direction of your own life. Faith and determination, by God's help, will make you master and you shall be free indeed and when you have gained that freedom, when you are master of your circumstances, when you have the halter on them, when you can tie them up, you will have gained that victory over life and everything in it that will start the joy-bells pealing. You will then know the secret of the singing heart.
CHAPTER 6
THE ROAD TO HAPPINESS
The desire to be happy is one of the most universal of human desires. Few people put anything else ahead of their own happiness. In many a life this is the most powerful motive. Happiness, like everything else in this world of law and order, is the result of the operation of certain laws. It is a product, the result of certain processes.
One thing should be clearly noted. The road to happiness is not a direct road. If we would arrive at happiness we must first go somewhere else. On the road thither we must pass through the gate of duty, and walking on the way of right, pass through the village of love, descend into the vale of humility and go over the stony way of loyalty and sincerity and ascend to the heights of innocence. Here, without looking for it we shall find happiness.
It is a mistake to think that true happiness can come from mere gratification of desire. Gratification has its part, but often pursuit of a worthy motive is a greater factor. Unworthy motives, selfish desires, and sensual gratifications, instead of producing happiness disappoint and disillusion. It is a law of our natures that the higher the desire to be gratified or the higher the motive that we have the higher and truer the happiness that results. No truer thing was ever said than that they that "sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." It is the inevitable consequence.
Gratification of the desires of the flesh may bring physical joy. The drunkard and the libertine may join in singing their drinking-songs, their sensual love-songs, and the like, but these are not songs of true happiness. A sensual joy poisons itself and dies in the midst of its song. Pure song brings higher forms of joy and higher and purer inspiration. It springs from pure and innocent love, from the home where love reigns, from the heart that is full of kindness, pity, consideration for others, and love of goodness.
The highest happiness comes from the use of our highest faculties. The exercise of these faculties blossoms forth in the truest and purest joy. Joy of mind and of heart rather than enjoyment of the flesh inspires the heart with rejoicing. The song that has no minor strain is the song of innocence, at peace with God and with its fellow-men. Selfish desire and selfish living build an impassable barrier between ourselves and true happiness. The poet spoke truly when he said,
"Tell me not then of the pleasures that sting
Coiled under roses of pride;
None but the holy and innocent sing,
Out of a bosom where pleasures abide."
Innocence need not be a thing that we associate only with childhood. It may be mature. It may be a characteristic of middle age and of gray hair. Innocence is the result of right relations with God and with man. Right relations can exist only when a right attitude is maintained. A right attitude may be maintained only when back of it lie right desires and right purposes.
Happiness is the fruit of harmony. Harmony results from conformity to the laws of our being. The law of God revealed in the Bible is the law of harmony. The holy are most truly happy because they are most truly harmonious. Both their inner lives and their outer lives are harmonious. Their relations with God and with man are harmonious. The elements of strife and warfare are absent.
Happiness is not the result of where we live or of our surroundings, or of what we possess. It is the result of what we are. No matter how favorable our situation nor how much nor how many things we possess that should make us happy, if we do not have within our own breast the elements that produce happiness we shall never be happy.
We have already noted that true happiness is associated with innocence. There is nothing from which greater happiness springs than an inner consciousness of being innocent before God. It is a singular thing that a great number of Christian teachers have taught that it is impossible for a Christian to live in innocence before God. The unhappy effects of this doctrine have been to rob the Christian life of many of its joys and to make many people look upon it as an unsatisfying life, a losing battle.
It has been taught that Christians must sin continually day by day. Believing this doctrine it is no wonder that many Christians are unhappy and live far beneath their privileges. Their outlook is one of defeat, of constant shortcoming, of repeatedly enduring a sense of condemnation. Now, such teaching is assuredly not in harmony with the teachings of the Scriptures, particularly of the New Testament. The Christian life there is pictured to be a joyful life. The command is "Rejoice evermore." How can one rejoice evermore when he is conscious of being guilty before God? Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart." If there be no such persons Christ's words are mockery.
What is the New Testament picture of a Christian? It is of a man or woman forgiven of their iniquities, cleansed from their guilt, walking in righteousness before God. Or, as Paul puts it, "Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you." The joyful fellowship that Paul had with Christ, manifested in all his epistles, is a thing inconsistent in its entirety with the sort of life often said to be the Christian life. "But," one may say, "How about the seventh chapter of Romans?" I do not think Paul was very happy when his life corresponded to the seventh chapter of Romans. Paul passed out of the seventh chapter into the eighth chapter that day on the road to Damascus when Jesus appeared to him.
From that day there was a new song in Paul's heart and in his mouth. He lived a new life, the life pictured in the eighth chapter. The seventh chapter is not the picture of a Christian life. It is the picture of a man without grace trying to live up to the law of God and finding himself continually failing. It is a continuation of his argument extending from the third to the sixth chapters, of the failure of works and of the efficacy of grace. Real Christians do not live in the seventh chapter of Romans. It is not the reflection of a Christian experience.
Christians live in fellowship with God. God is their Father. They are not rebellious sons, but obedient sons. Sin is a thing of the motive and of the will. Mistakes, blunders, weaknesses, failures, and unintentional shortcomings are not sins. To treat them as sins is to make a vital error. The Bible does not treat them as sins. Sin is wilful disobedience. It is rebellion against God, and nothing save things of this character may properly be called sins, or be treated as sins. These other things often called "sins" do not produce the effects of sin. The real Christian experience is a walk with God. There is mutual understanding between the soul and God. There is earnest desire to please God and an earnest endeavor to do so.
Besides being in harmonious relations with God and our fellow-men, unselfish devotion to the highest things for their own sake is the surest way to be happy. It is the tree whose fruit is happiness. It bears "twelve manner of fruits" and always has troth the fragrant blossoms and the luscious fruits. The Scripture that says, "The wages of sin is death," is not a threat. It is a simple statement of an inescapable fact, now and here as well as hereafter. Evil always has its own reward and we begin to draw its dividends the moment we are guilty of it. It never goes bankrupt. Its dividends continue to increase as the years go by. On the other hand, the dividends of righteousness are never passed. They are always paid in golden coin.
Disobedience to our best and highest impulses, aspirations, and desires must inevitably result in blighted hopes, an accusing conscience, regret, and a sense of failure. It is a poison injected into the cup of happiness. If we would have the song of happiness in our hearts we must learn that the secret of the singing heart is to be innocent, to be true to the best there is in us, to be living on a plain above the mire of sin, of selfishness, and of sensual gratification.
CHAPTER 7
A NOXIOUS TREE
The black walnut tree has a peculiar quality that affects the soil about its roots with a poisonous substance very unfavorable to the growth of many kinds of vegetation. Grass may grow luxuriously under it, but many other things shrivel and die.
There is a something in many lives that corresponds to the black walnut tree. In its baneful influence many of the good things of life cannot develop.
This tree is a noxious tree. It grows in the land of unbelief. It is found nowhere else. It is the worry tree. Many lives are cursed with this tree. It is one of their most prominent characteristics. It spreads its shadow over everything. It shuts out the sunlight. It poisons the soil. It draws up into itself the resources of the soul as a natural tree draws water from the soil, leaving spiritual faculties and powers parched and impoverished; it prevents their proper development and fruition.
Worry is one of the worst things that comes into a life. Perhaps only sin is worse; worry may even become sinful. It is a form of fear. Fear, worry, anxiety, foreboding, are all the same in effect and will all be treated together. The worry tree does not grow in the land of faith. But in the land of unbelief and questioning it spreads its great roots of doubt deeply into the soil.
The results of worry are too numerous to be recounted in full.
One result is that wherever worry is given place it stops the song of joy. We cannot be glad when we worry. We cannot be free and happy. The moment we worry over a thing peace, joy, satisfaction, comfort, all vanish. The sun goes behind a cloud. A chill wind blows upon us. There are many people who make themselves utterly wretched through worry. Its effects are not merely spiritual. The whole being is poisoned by it. Perhaps it would be well to consider some of the effects worry produces. If we know those effects it may cause us to avoid that which produces these effects.
We note first the physical effects. There are certain glands located in various portions of the body that control the bodily functions. Some of these glands are excited to action by fear. They secrete a powerful substance that is poured into the blood-stream and produces immediate effects. It is this that causes one to run away from danger or to be able to expend much greater energy than at any other time. A good purpose is served by these glands, but when they are overstimulated by fear, worry, anxiety, or any other emotion they produce too great an effect upon the nerves. This tends to make one nervous and this in turn reacts to produce fear and worry. This action and reaction continued, repeated over and over, breaks down the nerves. A great many nervous people are what they are simply because they have given way to worry. It upsets the whole course of nature. Many physical disorders are the direct result of worry. A few quotations from medical authorities may help to make this plain.
Doctor McCoy says, "The mind can have a powerful stimulating effect toward either health or disease. When the mind is properly used and controlled health may be maintained under many adverse conditions, but when the mind is torn by conflicting, destructive emotions it kills the very cells it is supposed to guard over and control." Again he says, "You must realize how important the mind is as a factor in the production of many chronic disorders. Sometimes this process is so insidious as to be unrecognized except by the closest attention of a skilled diagnostician. In my practice I have seen a number of cases of paralysis which were induced by slight injury associated with fear. Although these patients had been to many different doctors and undergone many different kinds of treatments they were not cured until this fear factor was recognized and then the cure took place almost instantly."
Doctor Copeland, late health commissioner of New York City, says, "Worry has pronounced effect upon the organisms. If your hair is inclined to be oily you will observe that no matter how frequently you scrub it, it grows oily very quickly if you are worried." Again he says of the effect of worry, "The digestion is upset because the nerves controlling the circulation and muscular structures are 'jumpy'' and disturbed in function. The intestinal action is disturbed. The brain and nervous system are upset. The glands operate irregularly. The whole system is deranged. Good teeth, as indeed good eyes and ears and heart and blood vessels and liver and kidneys, are dependent on lack of worry and plenty of restful sleep. Worry is deadly to vigor and usefulness."
A whole book of this sort of quotations could easily be selected. Dr. G. H. McIntosh says, "If men could wipe out all fear from their minds, nine tenths of them would be free from sickness." Henry Ward Beecher said, "It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Worry is rust upon the blade."
The mental effect of worry and fear is equally as great as the physical effect. Through worry people often work themselves up into a sort of mental fever so that their nerves "go to pieces." When we worry the mind cannot think clearly. The judgment is impaired. Things look out of proportion. They do not seem natural, but appear altogether different from what they do when the mind is in a normal condition. Sometimes worry produces great mental distress. Sometimes it partly or entirely unfits one for work. Have you not heard people say, "I am so upset I just cannot do anything."
This mental condition reacts upon the body; the physical effects of worry react upon the mind; and we have a vicious set of actions and reactions set up, destructive alike to mind and body. An agitated state of the mind affects the brain and tissues. The poisons created in the body through fear and worry react upon the brain tissues and the mind becomes still more troubled. These things are not imaginary. They are being suffered by thousands of individuals. People get up in the morning tired out. They have no energy. They have to drive themselves. This is one common effect of worry. Another common result of worry is lack of mental control so that the mind cannot be concentrated on anything.
Worry also has a spiritual effect. It destroys faith. In fact, faith and worry are mutually destructive. Faith will destroy worry and worry will destroy faith. So whichever is given ascendancy will destroy the other. Worry stimulates doubts. The more we worry the more we doubt. We have heard people talk about blind faith. Faith is not nearly so blind as doubt. Doubt cannot see favorable things. It sees everything in an unfavorable light and magnifies it. There may be ever so many favorable elements in a situation but doubt sees none of them. Worry sees none of them. Worry brings gloom and discouragement. It makes one moody, forgetful of God's goodness and mercy and helpfulness. In fact, worry shuts God out of the picture. It causes us to forget him or makes us doubt him, doubt ourselves, and doubt others. Under the influence of worry we can draw the most gloomy mental pictures. We clothe everything in somber tints.
Worry also leads to self-condemnation. It makes us minimize the good there is in us and the good there is in life. It prevents us from exercising our powers. With worry there is a great troop of evils. They cluster around it and add to its damaging influence. Worry is always evil. It never serves any good purpose. It never aids us in accomplishing anything. It never makes anything easier. It has nothing to recommend it.
More than that, worry is never necessary. Mark well that statement. It is a positive truth. Worry is never necessary. First, because it never can help us. It can never make things easier or better. It never did any good. It never cured any trouble. Second, we do not have to worry. There is always a better way. We shall attempt to point out that way later.
Worry is altogether folly. It not merely does no good-it always makes things worse. It weakens every good thing. It strengthens every bad thing. Worry is a noxious tree. It bears poisonous fruits. Reader, have you one of these poisonous worry trees? You must rid yourself of it before you can sing the glad songs of rejoicing that come from a free soul. One of the secrets of the singing heart is the remedy for worry.
CHAPTER 8
FRUITS OF THE WORRY TREE
"Self-preservation is the first law of nature." Everything has some method of protection. Even the plants have "defense mechanisms." Animals have shells, teeth, sharp claws, are swift of foot or wing. Some of them produce noxious odors. Some of them are unpleasant to the taste. The octopus secretes an inky fluid with which to color the water. Some animals have great skill in hiding themselves. Some have electric defenses. Some are covered with spines.
Man has a natural instinct of self-preservation. He will run or fight or secrete himself or use other methods of defense. This law of defense is manifest in man's physical contact with nature. This is known too well to need explanation. He has also various mental defense mechanisms. Likewise in spiritual things he seeks to protect himself.
These various defense mechanisms have a powerful effect upon our conduct. When we are brought into a trial, threatened by something that will hurt or annoy us, when we fear something, our defense mechanisms begin at once to function. The first impulse is to run away, to escape from the trouble. We shrink from what hurts. We try to avoid trials and all hard or unpleasant things.
It is often the part of wisdom to avoid as far as we can without sacrificing something vital, the unpleasant things of life. But if we give away too much to this disposition to shrink from things and to run away from them it leads to cowardice. We lose strength of character, courage, and the qualities that win in life. A coward can never feel self-respect, and if we are spiritual cowards we shall be lacking in manhood and womanhood. We cannot respect cowardice even when it is in ourself.
This disposition to escape unpleasantness often leads to an unfair excusing of ourselves in things in which we have been at fault. It often leads to our putting the wrong face on things, exaggeration, minimizing the facts, and even to plain lying. These are the natural fruits of fear and worry, but they undermine spiritual character. They take the joy out of life. We need to watch our defense mechanisms and be sure that we use right methods of defense, methods that build up the character rather than to tear it down; methods that increase courage, faith, and determination. We should conquer the instinctive cowardice of our natures. "Safety first" may be a good slogan sometimes but safety through the measures mentioned is not real safety. It is only exchanging one kind of danger for another.
Another defense mechanism is the tendency to resistance. When we adopt proper measures of resistance the results will probably be good. We are likely to be strengthened, encouraged, and helped. It is likely to bring out the best there is in us. But sometimes this instinct of resistance manifests itself in murmuring, complaining against circumstances or against people, blaming others for our plights or our troubles, shifting responsibility. These may become chronic faultfinding and result in such a critical attitude that we are hard to please, contentious, ill-tempered. We may become disposed to become impatient and find it hard to practice self-control. We may have a sense of resentment against others and become unkind and uncharitable in our attitude.
Not only those who are not Christians have trouble along these lines, but many Christians are tempted in this way. They worry and fear. They become discouraged and then the characteristics mentioned begin to manifest themselves in them. They have a fight to overcome them. They wonder why they are impatient, why it is hard to be kind, why they have a feeling of resentment against things.
We need not be surprised at this. It is only a defense mechanism. It is nature trying to escape from this highly unpleasant situation. So, reader, you need not be surprised if you have a conflict with these things when you are worrying and when you have given way to discouragement. To get rid of these things get rid of your worry, your fear, and your discouragement. Then these other things will naturally disappear. But if you are given to worry do not expect to escape wholly from these things. Indeed you are likely to have much trouble with them. These are not necessarily the result of sin. They are the result of worry and fear. They come from a wrong attitude of mind, a wrong outlook on things, a wrong way of trying to overcome difficulties.
In such a situation the outlook is negative. We need to change to a positive attitude. We need to put faith in the place of doubts. Trust instead of worry. Look on the bright side instead of the dark side.
A negative attitude destroys faith and robs courage of its strength, so we can bear little. It covers the bright picture of hope with sackcloth. It banishes peace. Instead of soul-rest we have turmoil and trouble. It robs us of balance and poise. Confidence fades away. It gives place to distrust. We lose our power of initiative. In fact, worry and fear rob us of all the choice blessings we might possess. They prevent us from using our powers and make us pigmies instead of giants.
The triumphant life results from courageous action and this courageous action is always based on faith. It has a hopeful outlook. It faces the future with confidence. This is the normal attitude of the Christian. But worry causes heaviness, discouragement, dissatisfaction, despondency, and perhaps despair. Long giving way to worry will change the character. The blithe gaiety of childhood, the courageous strength of manhood, the joyful song of victory, gives way to moroseness and gloom. Clouds cover the sky and we forget there are anywhere the glorious beams of sunshine. We ruin our influence with others. They feel more like shunning us than being in our society. It shackles our hands. It robs life of what is most worth while. If we will have a worry tree or a number of them we must expect they will bear this sort of fruit.
Worry also has another extremely bad result. It dishonors God. We say God is our Father, that he is taking care of us. We say we have faith in him. We say we believe God is faithful. Then we act in a way altogether contrary to this. If God is our God and if he is taking care of us, if we are safe in his care, if no evil can come to us without his permission, then what are we worrying about? If God really is what he says he is and what we believe he is we have no reason to worry. Things are bound to come out all right. God will find some way to bring us through to victory. He will protect us against those things that would injure us. If he is true our fears are ungrounded, our worry is all for nothing. If we really believe God is true and that he is true to us there is not a reason under heaven for us to spend one moment worrying.
Again, worry dishonors God's Word. He has made definite promises. These promises are true or they are not true. If they are not true then we may have cause for worry. But if they are true let us act like it. Do we actually believe God's Word? If so, when we are tempted to worry let us sit down, take that Word, and read its promises. Then let us believe them and act as tho we believe them. When we do this there can be no room for worry.
Worry ignores the help God has given us in the past and the victories we have won through his grace; also those victories we have won through our own strength. When we are tempted to worry we should sit down and look over the past and see how many things came out better than we expected they would. We should observe how God has helped us in the past and say with one of old, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." It will do us great good, when we are tempted to worry, to recount our past victories; to look back and see that our past worries were all for naught. When did worrying help anything in your past life? When did worrying keep anything from coming upon you that otherwise would have come? When did worry shield you from any trouble? Get rid of your worry tree. Get out from under its shadow. Get into God's sunshine. If you will do this it will not be long until the song of victory flows forth from your lips and peace and courage and hope spring up anew in your heart.
CHAPTER 9
FERTILIZING THE WORRY TREE
Some people are not satisfied to have a worry tree and to permit it to grow as it will. They fertilize it and water it. Oh, no, they do not mean to do this ! Nevertheless they do it. They would like to be rid of their worries. Very often they worry over their worries. I once knew a woman who was so given to worry that when everything was going well and she could find nothing to worry about she would worry because she thought things were going too well and would certainly bring trouble. Nor is she the only person of this sort I have seen.
But how do we fertilize the worry tree? There are many ways. Some of them we shall recount.
First, we increase our worries by failure to face the facts calmly. We are like some horses. We become frightened at some things which have in them nothing that ought to frighten us. When we come to realize this we are sometimes quite ashamed of ourselves. When there is a threatening or unpleasant prospect before us and we are tempted to worry over it we should not allow ourselves to become excited or agitated. We can meet things in calmness better than we can when agitated; when we are masters of ourselves better than when we are the prey of our fears.
We should face the facts-all the facts. We should not merely take note of the ones that oppress our feelings most. Our tendency naturally is to look at the worst side and to be impressed by the most threatening things, and to overlook the favorable elements. We are influenced by our feelings more than by sound judgment and by our fears more than by our courage. Troubles often look much worse than they are. In fact, we can usually bear them better than we suppose we can, but we are naturally disposed to take one look at things, then fear the worst. One of old said, "I feared a fear and it came upon me." Why did his fear come upon him? Because fear made him adopt an attitude that opened a way for its coming. He threw down his shield of faith. He began to tremble and shrink. If he had resolutely faced his fear it probably would never have come upon him.
Failure to give weight to the facts we know will fertilize the worry tree. Very often we know that we can meet things if we will. We know there are certain favorable aspects we should consider. But instead of giving attention to these we look entirely to the unfavorable things. We forget the weapons of our warfare are mighty through God. We are like a soldier who told an experience he had in our Civil War. One day he was riding out with a comrade when suddenly they came face to face with two of the enemy. There was a lively exchange of shots. In the end one of the enemy lay dead upon the ground while the other was severely wounded. Upon returning to camp this man examined his revolver. To his surprise not a shot had been fired. His companion had done all the shooting that had over come their enemies. He had sat on his horse like a statue, forgetting all about his part. I fear all too many of us when we face a conflict forget our weapons and the ability we have to use them, and instead of fighting we worry, and worry.
Another mistake we make is giving way to our feelings rather than controlling them. Our emotions are easily stirred, whether they be joyful emotions or the opposite. Very often bad feelings assert themselves- fear, doubts, timidity, foreboding. We give place to them. We let them run riot. We fall into a panic. We should take command of our feelings. We should master them. Our action should be a response to good judgment instead of to our emotions. Many people are tormented by foreboding of evils to come and these forebodings are the source of disturbances in all the faculties. This need not be if we will control ourselves and make the intellect rather than the emotions the captain of our soul.
We fertilize the worry tree by exaggerating the possibilities of evil and by not considering the probabilities of good. When we are threatened with some evil let us ask ourselves the question, "Will this thing necessarily turn out evil? Will it necessarily prove to be what it looks as tho it might be? Will the results assuredly be what they promise to be?" Let us look at the factors that may balance these possibilities. Let us give due weight to the possibilities on the other hand. Let us ask ourselves whether we are not adding to the real dangers by our imagination. Let us see if we are not magnifying the chances of things going wrong. Strip things of the seeming and get down to the reality. They will usually be found to be much less dangerous than they appear to be and we shall see that there is little if any cause to fear them.
A fertile source of trouble is self-pity. I know of nothing that can torture a soul more than self-pity and this self- pity has in it an element of cowardice. We say, "Oh, it is too bad that I must suffer so. It is too bad that I must have such trouble. How unfortunate I am. How many things I have to endure. Why cannot I get along as do others ? Why cannot I have an easy time as have they? Why must my way be so rough? Why must I meet so many difficulties? Oh, my poor self! What will I do?" If one wants to make himself thoroughly unhappy let him adopt such a course. It matters not whether there is anything really calculated to produce unhappiness. This of itself is sufficient. Get rid of self-pity if you want to be happy for you never will be happy while you have it except with that poor sort of satisfaction which comes through self-pity.
A twin sister to self-pity is a disposition to seek the sympathy of others and to enjoy telling our troubles, magnifying them in a way to excite sympathy. These things shrivel up the soul.
We often increase our fears and troubles by telling them to others. The more we think of them and the more we tell them the deeper the impression made upon our own mind by them.
A further source of trouble is questioning the loyalty of others to us or their interest in us and sympathy for us. Do not expect other people to worry because you worry, or to fear because you fear. Friends are usually as loyal as we deserve them to be. They usually have as much interest in us as we merit by our conduct and attitude. They usually have enough sympathy for us when we actually need it. We should not expect them to have sympathy for us when we are acting in a way that tends to disgust them. If we show ourselves real soldiers and meet things with courageous, hopeful, forward-looking faith, and then things go ill with us we may expect ready sympathy. If we show ourselves cowards, if we whine and sniffle, to bestow sympathy upon us would be to waste it. If we expect others to be loyal to us we must be loyal to ourselves. If we expect them to have an interest in us we must act in a way to arouse their interest.
And finally, we fertilize the worry tree by questioning God's faithfulness and love and mercy and his every act of care.
Have you been fertilizing your worry tree? If so you have only yourself to blame if it spreads itself over all your dwelling and if it sighs day and night in the mournful breeze, like the somber moaning of the pine.
CHAPTER 10
DESTROYING THE WORRY TREE
The vigor and tenacity of life in a tree is determined largely by the soil in which it grows. I lived for many years in a State where the soil is fertile, the ground level, and where beech trees were very numerous. I had occasion to girdle many of them and observed that they were very easily killed. Previously to this time I had lived in another State where the soil is clay and the country very hilly. Here the beech trees were very hard to kill.
I remember a neighbor's killing a tree that stood by the roadside. He not only girdled it, but the boys climbed the tree and cut off the branches a little distance from the trunk. These were then piled around the tree and burned. I wondered why they were taking such radical steps to kill the tree. The next spring I learned their reason. In spite of all of this treatment the stubs of the branches that had been cut off threw out new branches and leafed out. The roots sprouted up and with all their labor they had not accomplished their purpose. The difference was not in the climate; it must have been in the soil.
We have already pointed out that the "worry tree" grows in the soil of doubt. We can hold an attitude that is favorable to worry, fear, and other things that have unpleasant consequences. On the other hand we can hold an attitude of faith that is altogether unfavorable toward these things. In order to destroy the "worry tree" we should change the soil about its roots. We cannot uproot it and destroy it by an act of our will.. We can take away its favorable oil. We can develop faith. We can believe in God and in ourselves. We can turn our eyes away from our worries and our troubles and look upon God. We can cease to fertilize the "worry tree." We can cease to rob ourselves of our heritage of victory willed to us by our heavenly Father.
We can have that rest of soul God has promised us. We can find it only in him. But as long as we permit all our time to be occupied with giving attention to our worries we shall have no time to give to the cultivation of those other things that God would freely develop in us that would give us happiness and contentment. We so often cultivate doubts instead of cultivating faith. It is important that we learn how we are doing this, and then adopt a different course. We can all have faith if we will go about it right, and faith is the victory that overcometh all of our troubles.
One of the best ways to get rid of worries is to ignore the doubts upon which they are founded. Troubles let alone have a way of curing themselves. As long as we fill our brain with worry we increase our trouble. The less we think about our troubles the smaller they become. The more we think about them the more rapidly they grow, and the less capable we are of overcoming them, or meeting them successfully.
The surest way to get rid of the "worry tree" is to cut it down with the ax of faith. There is no worry or fear in trust. If I repeat this thought over and over, it may sink deep into your heart and mind and that is what you need. When you worry you do not trust. When you trust you do not worry. You cannot do both these at one time.
Permit me to suggest a way to develop your faith. Take your Bible and some paper. Write out a list of promises, promises that meet your need. Read these promises over every day. Read them until they become real to you. Whenever you catch yourself worrying or fearing, get those promises and read them. Say after you read each one, "This is true, and it means me." Say this over and over until you come to believe it. Perhaps at first your words will mock you. Perhaps the promises will seem to mock you. I have had the experience. I know how it feels. I know too from personal experience that one can keep right at it, reading these promises, asserting that they are true, asserting that they mean us, until in our own consciousness they do come to mean us. They come to soothe and comfort us. They neutralize our fears. Little by little we come to trust in them, and as we trust we cease to worry. Our fears grow less. We come into a restful attitude. There is a sure cure for all of our worries if we take it. That cure is an attitude of simple trust in God and his promises.
Worry is a mental habit. Children do not worry, or if they do, it is only momentarily. There is a natural flexibility to the human mind that throws off worry, until we rob it of its flexibility by cultivating the habit of worrying. Any habit can be broken, so the worry habit can be broken. If you are troubled with worry, start in to break yourself of it just as you would break yourself of any other improper or hurtful habit. Worrying is an extremely hurtful habit. It is an abnormal mental state possible of correction and we owe it to ourselves to correct it.
We cannot help thoughts coming into our minds, but it is within our power to direct our thoughts. We can repress some of our thoughts. We can compel ourselves to quit thinking along some lines. It is usually easier to supplant improper thoughts with other brighter, more cheerful thoughts. From a long experience of suffering, confined to my bed, with nothing to do, being in fact unable to do anything, and having gone to the depths of discouragement, after facing black despair for months I learned the lesson of supplanting these with better thoughts. I found that I must keep my thoughts off myself; so I deliberately turned my thoughts into other channels. Of course the old gloomy thoughts reasserted themselves, but as often as they came back I supplanted them with something else, and finally broke myself completely of the habit of worrying and of thinking depressing thoughts.
One thing very needful is the will not to worry. The power of suggestion has a profound effect upon us. Our thoughts have this power of suggestion. We can suggest negative things to our mind, or we can suggest positive things. We can suggest discouraging things, or we can suggest encouraging things. We can make our minds run in the channel in which we choose for them to run. Positive suggestion is the basis of a happy and successful life. Make your thoughts help you, rather than hinder you.
One trouble with many people is that they are always resisting something. They are always on the defensive. This attitude of resistance toward our circumstances and surroundings places us under a continuous strain. One writer has said, "Most nervous patients are in a constant state of muscular contraction; but a large percentage of the things that harass and vex them, causing them nervous tenseness, would cease to torture them if they would simply stop resisting. It is our perpetual resistance to annoying trifles that gives them power to annoy us."
I do not advocate surrender to circumstances. What we need is to adjust ourselves to them. This constant revolt against circumstances so common in many people takes the joy out of their lives. It keeps them under a perpetual strain. It uses up their energy to no purpose. Do not use up your energy resisting things. Displace the undesirable thing by something else if that is possible. If not, adjust yourself to it, make the best of it. Let us use in these things as great intelligence as we do in other things. When I am cold I do not resist the cold; I seek warmth. When I am hungry I do not resist hunger; I seek food. When I am weary, I rest. When I am anxious or worried, I turn to faith and trust. The Psalmist said, "What time I am afraid I will trust in thee." He had learned the secret of overcoming trouble.
The word "worry" is not in the Bible. You may look for it from cover to cover. You will not find it. Since God did not see fit or think it necessary to use the word "worry" in the Bible, or have it used, just so it need not be in the Christian life. To be sure the equivalent is in the Bible. We find fear, trouble, and words of like nature, but we are commanded not to be afraid, not to be troubled.
Many people are like those of whom the Psalmist speaks. They are "in great fear, where no fear was" (Psalms 63: 5). The margin says, "They feared a fear where no fear was." Most of our troubles are imaginary, or if there is real trouble we add much to it through our imagination and fear. Some people are so afraid of trouble that they are never at rest. They are frightened at nothing; even as it is written, "The sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them" (Leviticus 26: 36).
Listen to this promise: "Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil" (Proverbs. 1: 33). Here is the promise that God made for us through Abraham, "That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, . . . all the days of our life" (Luke 1: 74-75).
The experience of the Psalmist may be our experience if we will do as he did: "I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears" ( Psalms 34: 4). We shall also do well to hold an attitude like that David held. He said, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalms 27:1). The result of holding that attitude is stated in verse three, "Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident." Read also Psalms 46: 1-2. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and tho the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." Again, "In God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me" (Psalms 56: 4). The exhortation of Christ is, "Be not anxious" (Matthew 6:25, American Standard Version). Read also verses 81, 84; Luke 12: 25-26.
Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled" (John 14:1). What reason does he give that we should not be troubled? He continues, "Ye believe in God." To him that was sufficient reason for not worrying. It ought to be sufficient reason to us. In verse 27 he says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you.... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Now, for a concluding thought which we shall do well to keep fresh in our minds. When we trust in and obey God, whatever comes to us must come in his will. It must come by his permission. It cannot come without his knowledge. His watchful care is ever over us. He will always keep us no matter how many troubles come. Therefore if we abide in him and his Word abide in us, we shall never have cause to worry. We are safe and secure no matter how threatening future or present troubles may be. So cut down your worry tree with the ax of faith and rest in full assurance of faith in the righteousness and love of God.
CHAPTER 11
RINGING THE JOY BELLS
Each of us has a large capacity for enjoyment. Some are naturally more exuberant than others. Some are light-hearted and cheerful. Others are sober and thoughtful. Some are emotional. Some are unemotional. Some are inclined to look on the bright side of things; others upon the dark side. But each of us has within joy bells which may be made to peal out the glad tidings of a joyful heart.
Sometimes these joy bells ring spontaneously, but very often if they ring we must ring them. We must do something to cause them to ring. Every life may hear their happy echoes, every life may be joyous. If our life does not hold a considerable content of joy it is because we permit it to become abnormal. We permit things to silence the joy bells and we permit them to hang silent in the belfries of our souls.
Like all our other capacities our capacity for joy and gladness may be developed and increased. It is important to have the will to be joyful. "I mean to be happy" should be the motto of each of us. There need be nothing selfish in such an attitude. It is perfectly right and in complete harmony with God's will that we hold such an attitude and that we use our best endeavors to make it a reality in our lives.
The Christian religion is not a long-faced, gloomy thing. It is the greatest source of true happiness. We should set ourselves the task of developing our capacity to be happy. We should not be like a woman who once lived neighbor to my grandfather. She constantly wore a sunbonnet that extended some inches before her face. Asked why she did it she said she wore it lest she should see something to make her laugh. A part of her idea of being a Christian was refraining from laughter. Others, while not so extreme, think it a mark of spirituality to be grave and dignified and to shut out of life the things that would make it bright, cheerful, and happy.
Long ago I determined to be happy. I determined to be happy no matter what happened and no matter what condition I might be in nor what my circumstances might be. For twenty-one years I have kept my bed a constant sufferer, but I am happy. I am happy every day. I will not be any other way. I have had my troubles, many of them. I shall probably have more. I have learned that troubles do not make unhappiness. It is only a wrong attitude toward trouble that does so. I hope the reader will pardon my referring to my own experience, but I have passed through so many things and so much suffering and trouble and yet have learned to be happy in spite of it that I know others can do the same if they will. Many a time I have had to pull hard on the rope of the joy bells to get them to ring. I have kept on pulling until they pealed out their joyous tones. Dear reader, you can do the same no matter what the situation or surroundings, if you will go about it in the right way.
Many people have unfavorable tendencies. They seem naturally disposed to be easily discouraged or gloomy, looking on the dark side. They are timid, sensitive, or unsociable. These unfavorable natural tendencies should not be permitted to have sway in the life. We should set ourselves resolutely to overcome such tendencies. If we are inclined to become easily discouraged we should cultivate hope. We should ask ourselves, "What would be the hopeful attitude with regard to this?" Having determined what it would be we should adopt it and hold it no matter what the temptation is to do otherwise.
If we are inclined to be gloomy and to look on the dark side of things let us compel ourselves to look on the bright side. Perhaps we may feel there is no bright side, but there is always a bright side to everything. If there is no naturally bright side let us turn it up toward God and let the sunshine of his love fall upon it. That will brighten any circumstance. If we are inclined to be timid let us compel ourselves to do the thing we ought to do or want to do. Let us not surrender to our timidity. We can break through it and overcome it and master it. If we give way to it its hold upon us becomes firmer and firmer. If we do what we desire to do in spite of it, it will cease to hinder us.
If we are inclined to be unsociable we should compel ourselves to act in a sociable way whether we feel like it or not. We should practice being friendly toward others. We should meet them half way or beyond. If we act this out it will soon become natural to us and bring us much satisfaction.
I have spoken of the rope of the joy bells. Most bells do not ring of themselves. We must ring them. So we must ring the joy bells. Sometimes our joy bells seem like the old bell on a farm where I once was. It stood on a tall pole. I wondered why it was not rung to call the workers in from the field at noon. When I came to the house I discovered there was no rope attached to the bell.
In some cases the joy bells are like a bell on another farm where I lived. It did not hang in the proper position because it was not properly balanced. So when the wind would blow the bell would ring night or day. Many a time I was awakened in the night by its ringing. Some joy bells likewise ring only as chance occurrences. They ring only under favorable conditions, as a result of favorable circumstances. They are not controlled. We need to attach a rope of faith to our joy bells and through the exercise of this faith we can cause them to ring. We can have an inner source of joy and peace that is not disturbed by the storms of life, that does not depend upon circumstances, but has its root and fountain deep in the heart. We can be so hid away with Christ in God that the storms will pass us by.
A number of years ago during the test of a submarine it stayed submerged for many hours. When it had returned to the harbor a man said to the commander, "Well, how did the storm affect you last night?" The commander looked at him in surprise and said, "Storm! We knew nothing of any storm!" They had been down far enough below the surface not to feel any effect of the storm. We can sink down into God from life's storms so they need not keep the joy bells of our soul from ringing. We can be joyful even in the midst of trouble.
A friend once told me of his experience in an earthquake in a certain city. He said when the buildings swayed and trembled all the bells of the city began ringing. In life's earthquakes we may so trust God that our joy bells will ring.
God gives to us the gift of rejoicing. Jesus said he gave us his peace, "That your joy may be full." Paul rejoiced in the midst of his tribulations, "We are exceeding joyful in all our tribulations." And he exhorted the Thessalonians to "rejoice evermore." If we cannot rejoice in the things of the present, in the realization of our hopes, we can at least rejoice in hope of better things to come. Rejoicing in past victories and in past blessings will often bring joy in spite of present trouble.
There may be periods in life that are dark. Failure may cast its shadows upon us. Discouragements may press us. If we look only at the present we shall have a hard time to make the joy bells ring. At such times we should look at our lives as a whole, not at these temporary incidents. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." There is a morning which shall dawn upon our darkest night. If we cannot rejoice in ourselves in the present we can rejoice in God. We can rejoice in the good things of the past and in the good things that lie before us in the future.
The truly and permanently happy people are those who have a source of happiness too deep, or too high, to be seriously disturbed by ordinary troubles. There spiritual balance which we can attain that gives us stability and makes us like the anchored buoy, rather than like the drifting object which is ever tossed about the waves of circumstances. Faith is the anchor of the soul. In fact faith is the greatest element in the life of happiness and success. Those who have this inner source of happiness do not depend upon daily events to make them happy. They depend upon what they are, upon their relations with God-those permanent characteristics of life that settle them, root and ground them in Christ and in the Christian life. The waves of trouble may pass over them but they are not swept from their place.
Jesus taught us a valuable lesson when he said, "I have meat that ye know not of." We may know what this means from personal experience. We may be so submitted to God, so obedient to him, and so trust in him that the joy bells may be kept ringing in our lives and our souls be rejoicing evermore until we reach that land of endless day where trouble and sorrow, discouragements and suffering, never come. Learn, dear reader, the blessed lesson how to ring your joy bells and how to prevent them from being muffled by doubts and fears.
CHAPTER 12
JUST FOR TODAY
There are three days-yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The population of the world is divided between these three days. Some are living in the present, some in the past, and some in the future. Where we are living with respect to time has a great influence upon our lives. Perhaps we do not know just where we are living. It might pay us to make a careful examination of our lives and see whether the past, the present, or the future is bulking most largely in our life.
Those who are living in yesterday are living on memories. Yesterday is gone forever. We can never recall it. I once knew a home where the wife had died. I visited it a year or so after her death. It was a gloomy place. The husband was a gloomy man. He had tried to leave everything in the home as nearly as possible as his wife had left it. The musical instrument had been untouched. This man was living in the past. All the brightness, joy, love, and happiness came from the past. The present meant nothing to him. The future held no hope. On the journey of life he was walking backward. His gaze was ever behind him.
There are many like this man. Their circumstances may be different, but they are facing the past. Their joys are the memory of past joys. The sorrow of past troubles, mistreatments, losses, failures, and sins, shroud their lives in gloom. Why should we keep these things ever present with us? Bring not the cares of the past, its regrets, sorrows, or anything from it that can cast a gloom upon our today, into the lives we are now living. Yesterday is only a memory. Let us carefully cover its scars. Let us not exhibit them to the world. Let us not be ever looking upon them and thinking over them. Paul's example is a good one to follow, “For-getting that which is behind I press forward." We should let yesterday be yesterday. Someone has said,, "The tears of yesterday are like passing shower. After the shower should come sunshine. After yesterday's troubles should come forgetting. Yesterday's joys should be succeeded by the joys of today. Let us not live in yesterday. Today is too full of opportunity. It is heavily laden with good things. Let us dry the tears of yesterday. Let us turn to today.
There are other people who live in tomorrow. Their joys are the joys of anticipation, not of realization. True, anticipation has its real joys, but we should not picture a tomorrow so bright that it obscures today. We should not exalt tomorrow so much that today loses its meaning. The hopes of tomorrow, the bright pictures we paint, are not reality. We know not whether they ever shall be. Sometimes people cannot enjoy the things of today because of their forebodings for tomorrow. Instead of filling the future with bright anticipations, they fill it with a thousand ghostly fears. They cross their bridges before they get to them and because they are ever looking at the bridges their imagination pictures before them they cannot see the beauties beside the roadway they are traveling.
For them the flowers beside them bloom in vain. The songs of the birds are not heard. The beautiful prospects on each side of their way are lost. The bridge ahead is what they see. Their attention is so focused on it that they have no eyes or ears for today. A writer said, "I am the champion bridge crosser. I not only cross them but I help build them." He has many relatives today scattered all over the world. They are in the same business. The fears of tomorrow are a blight on many lives.
Jesus, who understood life better than anyone else, said, "Take therefore no thought for tomorrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself." His meaning is-do not live in tomorrow, do not borrow trouble. Live tomorrow when you get to it. Live in today. We know not what tomorrow shall bring forth. When it comes it will take thought for itself. There will be time enough to meet its problems, to overcome its difficulties, to fight its battles, and to rejoice in its victories, when we have reached it. Let us not neglect today for tomorrow.
Whittier says,
"No longer forward or behind I look in hop | 
