| Show TEST OF STRENGTH in these days of so much uncertainty disappointment and strife there is need of greater faith and still more courage to carry through the work of each day especially when it seems as if there is no way out of some of the problems that confront us this is true whether it be in regard to personal or individual conditions which so many are forced to contend with now or to the bigger issues issue s of life as we take into account the national and international happenings happening s of these troublesome times perhaps the best way to overcome most of the seemingly impossible obstacles that persist in making life uncertain is to take into consideration the good that manifests to offset the not so good and to make comparison with the other fellow or family and in a broader sense the people of other countries who are living under such terrible conditions as result of the lack of proper housing or because of laws that hold them in bondage evennou even now some three years since the actual fighting stopped in an eastern paper we read an account of what is happening in berlin and the manner in which many innocent victims of the war are forced to live that alone should make one give thanks for our own freedom our homes and all other comforts and conveniences we may still enjoy if we are among those who are blessed with such advantages in this less congested area there are also many other things to give thanks for since we also have the great open spaces where farmers may work from morning till night to produce the necessities of life only when things become worse in in cities shall we realize more fully the blessings we may now overlook although it may be a test of strength in a physical sense to do such laborious work as many are called upon to do there are no healthier persons than they who work out of doors and by the same token they who work the hardest no matter what the task have the satisfaction of reaping bine benefits in accord therewith that old saying the busiest people are the happiest is no idle saying and may be applied to whatever the task may be to keep physically fit however demands living in an atmosphere of spiritual realization which the vast majority of folks on earth today fail to do and have little or no conception of as they think only on the material problems which confront them thereby losing out in all manner of ways we are given to write this editorial because of things we hear or read about and of letters received from folks who are in deep distress now as result of conditions under which some are forced to live or because of individual or family problems which are often difficult to understand or contend with perhaps the following excerpt taken from guideposts may help too since it may be interpreted in more than one way and teach some needed lesson at any rate it is food for thought and may well bring this column to a close since it is another version of a test of strength A dispute once arose between the wind and the sun as to which was the stronger of the two they agreed that whichever made a traveler take off his cloak the quicker should be judged the more powerful the wind began and blew with all his might a blast cold and fierce but the stronger he blew the closer the traveler wrapped his cloak around him then broke out the sun with welcome beams he dispersed the vapor and cold the traveler felt the genial warmth and as the sun shone brightly he sat down flushed with the heat and cast his cloak upon the ground thus the sun was declared the conqueror and it has ever been deemed that persuasion is better than mere force and that the sunshine of a warm helpful manner ivill sooner lay open a poor man t heart than all the threaten ings and force of blustering authority |
