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Show ! 4 ' KINDNESS : i . j (Written for the lntermountaiit Catholic.) i - Butte, Mont., March 20. "Then scatter scat-ter seeds of kindness for our reaping fcye and bye." Kindness! How much this grand, sweet word embraces, how ' , far reaching' even to the most secluded ' Innermost depths of the soul. Kindness will enter where another virtue fears j to tread. How often are we called upon to witness the effect of kindnees, I even upon the dumb brutes; they try to let us ?ee it is not wasted and by some outward sign or emotion try to show J their appreciation and gratitude of pome little act of kindness we have done I for them. i Kindness is never wasted, it repays the donor a thousand times. We have .; only to take the coarsest and harshest , Fide of life to witness the effects; take, for instance, the ordinary tramp, who ; t is pictured to us by the daily papers in ; verse and prose and described as be- ! I ing a person without heart, and if it i Mere possible, without a soul; just be- : I Ftow on him a few thoughtful acts of j i kindness that brings back to his mem- i I ory days of long- ago, and if we will j J but scrutinize carefully we will at once ! behold the rougher and coarser nature ' recede to give way to the beautiful in- ner side of that CQarse, harsh nature. How little we think of how much good -will spring from one small act of kind-j kind-j ne.ss; it smoothes many a hard place in I this dreary life, and how little it costs, g and yet we deal it out preciously as if ! -we were afraid to scatter it, for fear of 3 it being lost. There need be no such j fear, kindness returns multifold: it may I not come in. an hour, or a day, or in ! X months or years, but as surely as it p-oes forth it returns ten thousand fold. I Taken in comparison there is no virtue j ! practiced that yields such a return to the giver as that beautiful act of kind- iicss, done in love and sympathy fnr come fellow creature in despair. "Who : t can estimate the good that has been I wrought through one small act of kind- I ress Take, for instance, in the everyday j affairs of life, a kind word spoken or even a smile given to one in despair, trouble or grief, how far it goes towards 5 lightening a heavy burden we will never 5 know until some day when we stand before the throne of the Almighty to re-i re-i ceive the sentence which will mean our I immortality; when many a grievous j fault of ours will be outweighed by that Nearest and sweetest tribute an act of ' I kindness we will hear these sweet i words ringing in our ears: "Inasmuch i as ye did it to one of the least of these, j ye did it also to me." Why do we not 4 - practice it more? It requires very lit-j lit-j tie exertion on our part and how much good we can do, if we will but try. It i lias always occurred to me that it was I our duty to be kind and consoling to our faimly, to our relatives and to our ' fri'-nds. but is it enough that we should st"P wirh such a narrow circle as this' We must stretch our arms out to help so lightly around a few. We are liv-;' liv-;' hig in an age where we need all the ; kindness pcps.'ble to disi-el the darkness, misery and counteract the unkindnes3 I and injustice done and try and brine J into other lives as much sunshine and j happiness as possible, and there is not : one of us has the right to deprive friend j or foe of one single act of kindness, no I matter how trivial it seems. It is the j repetition of little acts which , consti tute not only the sum of human vliar-' vliar-' acU-r, but which will determine the re ward to be gained hereafter. We are in this world to do what we can for each other, and all with the same object in view; to prepare ourselves for the life to come, and if kindness to our fellow men mean so much, I beseech each and every one of you to be kind. It is a moral duty incumbent upon every one of use to be kind, loving and forgiving, if we ever wish to attain any depth of human happiness, to say nothing of life c-tc-rnal. Apart from kindness to each other and to live in that progressive ! spirit of doing good for others, what is there left in this sad. dreary world? Where ther? is no kindness, love can-rot can-rot exist, and iv ln- re there is no love, there is no life jut take kindness out of our lives and what remains? It is the kind actions of a friend that brings our memory bark to other days, some-limes some-limes happier than the present, and after af-ter all how sweet to live and help bear the burdens of another: how small and trivial our troubles become nvhen com-pa.red'with com-pa.red'with another's. Without kindness there is no congeniality congen-iality and nothing but selfishness, nar-rowne.ss, nar-rowne.ss, a mean and harsh nature, withering away from self-contraction, ; whore, on the other hand, if a little of this great virtue were practiced, you would soon see a nature unfolding itself like a rosebud in June to the gentle, persistent and warm rays of the morn- ing sun, unril it hursts forth in full I Moom and glory. A kind and generous nature what a . fVd -given Missive. To ; me there 's rothing to crmp--K w-t'i :t 1 it is one of the grandest charms that can encircle the head of any person, for : they carry with them a love born of un-'? un-'? Itishness. ready and willing at all " t:'nvs to administer to their fellow men in despair. How often we hear the remark: re-mark: "What a beautiful person, and l ow lovely?" when, if all the oiitward :: marks of personal beauty were criti cised, there would not be a redeeming . point of beauty in his or her favor, but underneath it all there is something a beautiful nature, where the reflection of The soul shines forth radiantly in the fa eo and makes us wonder what power attraction it is that holds us spell- t'lmd. ; And thus if we, by timely aid J kitidered with loving1 care. I f'.tn save one pad and sinking heart ' from surge of despair, rjj J'ind Heaven will smile upon our task Arr-i every effort bless. If we but cause one smile the more And one sad tea.r-drop Icfs. BESSIE M. LAWLOR. |