| Things to Live For |
Chapter 11 |
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There should be nothing but condemnation for the discourager. He is an enemy of his fellows. He casts a black shadow over human hearts. He is a misanthrope. It is a sore sin against humanity to make life harder for men. Our great Teacher spoke some of his most burning words against those who put stumbling blocks in the path of God’s little ones. This divine censure falls upon all who in any way lay hindrances in the paths of others.
The Christian duty of every one is to be an encourager, a helper of others in their life. No mission can be nobler, diviner, than that of him who lives to be an inspirer of hope and cheer, and to make others braver and stronger for life’s experiences. There is a pleasant story of a plain woman in Glasgow, who, one summer day, was walking along a street in which some poorly clad children were running barefooted at their play. A policeman saw this woman stoop down again and again as she went on, each time picking up something which she put in her apron. The officer supposed she was finding and appropriating something she should not take away, and, hurrying after her, demanded in a threatening manner that she let him see what she had in her apron. The trembling woman complied, and showed the guardian of the city’s safety some pieces of broken glass which she had gathered up out of the street. “I thought I would take them out of the way of the bairns’ feet, she said. The act was a beautiful one. The poor woman was doing angels’ work. She was making the street a safer place for the children to play in.
There are some thoughtful people who will never let a piece of banana skin or orange peel lie on the pavement, but will stop, no matter how hurriedly they are walking, to remove the dangerous rind, lest some one might be made to stumble, and be maimed by stepping on it. It is well that there always are those who have an eye and a hand for such ministries, who are ready to save us from the consequences of others’ hurtful carelessness.
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