| The Best Things in Life |
Chapter 10 |
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Or it may be in what they do not do, in neglect of love’s duties. With most good people it is in the lack of kindnesses rather than in words or deeds of unkindness that unlovingness is chiefly wrought.
“So many tender words and true
I meant to say, dear love, to you”
So many things I meant to do–
But I forgot.”
There are parents who lay crosses on their children. There is no love more unselfish than a father’s and a mother’s, yet there are children in some homes that starve for love’s daily bread. Some one says that children do not dream of the fire under the snow in the reticent nature of their parents. Yes, but the fire of parental love never should be buried under any snow of conventionality, of pride, of coldness, of reserve. The parent lays a heavy cross on the life of a child when he withholds love’s warmth and affectionateness.
In all life’s relations there is a great deal of cross making for others. A man who pledges his troth to a woman at the marriage altar, promising “in all love and honour, in all faith and tenderness,” to cherish her in the wedded bond, should be most watchful never to lay a rough cross on her gentle heart. A woman who makes a like covenant with a man, as his wife, should be most careful never to lay a cross on his faithful love, to make his burden harder. There are children, too, who make heavy crosses which their parents have to carry. In all relations of friendship this cross making is going on all the time. We think we are ideal friends, but in thoughtless moments we cause bitter pain to those we love most truly. Some of us are exacting and unreasonable in our demands upon our friends. We make the standard not ministering to, but to be ministered unto. We are envious or jealous. We have our petty whims and caprices. We give way to temper and rash speech. A great many Christian people are quite ready to confess that their temper is their besetting sin, but frequently there is little sincerity in such confession. Somehow, giving way to bad temper is such a common sin that few are ashamed of it. No one can well reprove another for what he does himself continually. Yet it is only just that we should think of the crosses we make for others by our miserable outbreaks of temper.
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