September 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
544
Some men were passing a stately mansion with beauti ful grounds. One asked to whom the place belonged. Another replied: “Oh, that is a happy man indeed!” “Not so happy as you think,” said another. “He has honor and riches, but for all them he has hell within.” Regardless of humble circumstances, even unaided by modern equipment—happy is the man who has the Lord to be his God, Jesus Christ to be his Saviour, the Holy Spirit to be his witness within, the Word of God to be his chart through life. He alone has abiding peace. He alone has assurance of happiness everlasting. Said Lord Bacon: “It is heaven upon earth to have a man’s mind move in love, rest in God, and turn upon the
H eaven o n E a r th T HIS is a day when strange pronouncements are being made by supposedly intellectual^ men. There are a few men who have gained a reputation by imitating the owl, but most men, in these days, get their publicity by giving out to the press statements that are intended to upset conclusions based upon centuries of human experience. As Josh Billings said: “It is better to know less than to know so much that ain’t so.” Another has said: “A wise man is like a pin—his head keeps him from going too far.” But it seems to us some of the learned gentle men today are going too far. William Feather (per-
poles of truth.” We are willing to pit that against Mr. Feather’s theory, and to rest the argument upon the statement of J e s u s : “Happy are the poor in s p i r i t : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” a n d F o rg e ttin g M o d e r n psychology vainly endeavors to counterfeit all the graces of the Spirit. A recent ar ticle in Pictorial Review attempts to show how one may cultivate forgetfulness of slights and injuries, a trait which the psychologist realizes is most essential to success. “T h e r e are numerous men and women so foolish as to take unduly to heart any little thing that dis pleases them,” says the writer, “and by concentrat ing on it cause it to become not only a fixture in their memory but a source of woe both to themselves and to other people. Their re Fo rg iv ing
haps we should not attach too much weight to his statements), in S y s t e m Magazine, tells us that “the happiest and gayest men are first class doubters. They have the courage to face facts. Faith is ».com mon to children and to the ignorant.” The key to hap piness, then, is unbelief ! And yet the Scriptures have been telling us that true happiness is only for the satisfied heart, and that God alone can satisfy. “Happy is the man . . . . whose delight is in the law o f the Lord and who medi tates in it day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” That is a promise that seems to have stood the test of human ex perience for scores of cen turies, yet Mr. Feather sweeps it all aside and in forms us the happiest men are the doubters of that Word.
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fusal to disregard and forget the slightly irritating sours their disposition, turns them into habitual faultfinders, and soon or late makes them chronic worriers. This of course impairs their efficiency, and may gradually bring about a grave mental disabling. The world is full of people who, even when mingling with others, are spiritually solitary and wretched because of their persistent remembering of psychic pin-pricks. The main trouble with these people, if only they could be brought to appreciate it, is that they lack a really keen interest in anything except themselves.” But what is the cure proposed? The writer is frank to admit that “ few people are so constituted that they can, by sheer will power, achieve the desired forgetful ness. An insistent reiteration of ‘I will forget’ actually makes forgetfulness less likely, if only for the reason that the reiteration itself involves a turning of the attention to the event or person one would forget. What is required for forgetfulness is to turn the attention as much as pos sible to other matters.” That is all the cure there is to
H. G. Wells in a recently published article asserts that “never since life first appeared upon this planet has there been so great a proportion of happiness as there is today.” This he attributes to “mechanical inventions and the practical application of scientific knowledge. The age of mere drudge is at an end.” Other authorities tell us that the world has never known so much unrest and misery, and point out that with all our labor-saving inventions and scientific knowledge, thousands are driving themselves to death in search of happiness, which seems ever to be beyond their grasp. It is an old saying that “As ivy twines around oak, so does misery encompass the most prosperous of men.” It may be even yet that Messrs. Feather and Wells will come to realize that pure and unalloyed felicity is not a plant of earthly growth, but that her gardens are in the skies. Nothing has bred more misery and darkness among men than doubt. Not even the marvelous mechanical inventions can bring heaven into the souls of men.
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