Part 10 (2/2)

There are people who bear great sorrows with resignation, and seem to gain a certain dignity and force of character through trouble, but who are utterly vanquished by trivial annoyances.

The old-fas.h.i.+oned orthodox ”Christian” was frequently of this order.

Death, poverty, and misfortune he bore without complaining, and became ofttimes a more agreeable companion in times of deepest sorrow.

He regarded all such experiences as the will of G.o.d, and bowed to them.

Yet, if his dinner was late, his coffee below the standard, if his eye-gla.s.ses were misplaced, or his toe trodden upon, he become a raging lion, and his roar drove his affrighted household into dark corners.

There have been neighborhood Angels, who watched beside the dying sinner, sustained orphans and widows, and endured great troubles sublimely like martyrs. But if a dusty shoe trod upon a freshly washed floor, or husband or child came tardily to the breakfast-table, or lingered outside the door after regulation hour for retiring--lo, the Angel became a virago, or a droning mosquito with persistent sting.

The New Philosophy demands serenity and patience through small trials, as well as fort.i.tude in meeting life's larger ills.

It demands, too, that we seek to avoid giving others unnecessary irritation by a thoughtless disregard of the importance of trifles.

A man is more likely to keep calm if he wakes in the night and discovers that the house is on fire, than he is if, on being fully prepared to retire, he finds the only mug on the third story is missing from his wash-stand, or the cake of toilet-soap he asked for the day before has been forgotten.

A mother bears the affliction of a crippled child with more equanimity than she is able to bring to bear upon the continual thoughtlessness of a strong one.

To be kind, means to be thoughtful.

The kindest and most loving heart will sometimes forget and be careless; but it cannot be perpetually forgetful and careless of another's wishes and needs, even in the merest trifles.

Concentration

The New Thought includes _concentration of thought_, in its teaching; and he who learns that important art is not liable to frequently forget small or large duties.

It is he who scatters, instead of concentrates his mind powers, who keeps himself and others in a state of continual irritation by forgetting, mislaying, and losing, three petty vices which do much to mar domestic or business life.

Concentration is a most difficult acquirement for the mature mind which has been allowed to grow in the habit of thought scattering.

Wise is the mother, and as sure as wise, who teaches her child to finish each task begun before attempting another, for that is the first step in concentration.

Prentice Mulford, that great and good pioneer in the field of practical New Thought, tells us to apply our whole mental powers to whatever we do, even if it is merely the tying of a shoe, and to think of nothing else until that shoe is tied, then to utterly forget the shoe string, when we turn to another duty or employment. The next lesson in concentration he gives us, is to repeat the word often, to impress it upon the mind.

And then to declare each day that ”Concentration is mine” will aid still farther in the acquisition of this great and important quality.

Meanwhile, since we can be so fortunate as to always surround ourselves with others who have acquired it, the student of the Higher Philosophy must learn to be serene and self-poised when he encounters life's pigmy worries.

He must carry his religion into his bedroom and his office, and not forget it utterly when he loses his collar-b.u.t.ton, or misses his car, or finds his office boy has taken a parcel to the wrong address.

To build character necessitates a constant watch upon ourselves. The New Thought is not a religion of Sundays, but of every day.

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