Post by Cindy on Sept 2, 2015 12:59:00 GMT -5
Where Is Happiness?
Not in Unbelief—Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: “I wish I had never been born.”
Not in Pleasure—Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: “The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone.”
Not in Money—Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.”
Not in Position and Fame—Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: “Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret.”
Not in Military Glory—Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, because he said, “There are no more worlds to conquer.”
Where then is happiness found?—the answer is simple, in Christ alone.
—The Bible Friend
What Is Happiness?
Historian Will Durant searched for happiness in study and learning. But he discovered that knowledge alone did not bring happiness.
He tried travel and found only weariness. He tried wealth and found only worry and discord. He sought to immerse himself in his writing but found only fatigue.
Then one day he noticed a woman sitting in a small car clasping a sleeping child in her arms. He watched while a man got off a train and came over and kissed the woman and baby gently, so as not to waken him. As he saw the family drive away together, Durant suddenly realized that what he had just seen was happiness.
Correct Use Of The Eyes
A bishop of the early church, who was a remarkable example of the virtue of contentment, was asked his secret. The venerable old man replied: “It consists in nothing more than making a right use of my eyes. In whatever state I am, I first of all look up to heaven and remember that my principal business here is to get there.
Then I look down upon the earth, and call to mind how small a place I shall occupy in it when I die and am buried. I then look around in the world, and observe what multitudes there are who are in many respects more unhappy than myself. Thus I learn where true happiness is placed, where all our cares must end, and what little reason I have to complain.”
—Foster
Joy Is The Flag
Principal Rainy, of whom a child once remarked that she believed he went to Heaven every night because he was so happy every day, once used a fine metaphor about a Christian’s joy. “Joy,” he said, “is the flag which is flown from the castle of the heart when the King is in residence there.”
These words have been made into a popular chorus.
Wesley’s Mother On Child Raising
John and Charles Wesley, were reared by a God-fearing mother (of seventeen) who laid down some excellent principles for child training. They appear in John Wesley’s Journal:
“When turned a year old (and some before), they were taught to fear the rod, and to cry softly; by which means they escaped abundance of correction they might otherwise have had; and that most odious noise of the crying of children was rarely heard in the house; but the family usually lived in as much quietness as if there had not been a child among them.
“In order to form the minds of children, the first thing to be done is to conquer the will and bring them to an obedient temper. To inform the understanding is a work of time, and must with children proceed by slow degrees as they are able to bear it; but subjecting the will is a thing which must be done at once; and the sooner the better. For by neglecting timely correction they will contract a stubbornness and obstinacy which is hardly ever after conquered.
“Whenever a child is corrected, it must be conquered; and this will be no hard matter to do, if it be not grown headstrong by too much indulgence … I cannot yet dismiss this subject. Self-will is the root of all sin and misery, so whatever cherishes this in children insures their after-wretchedness; whatever checks and mortifies it promotes their future happiness.”
Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times
Not in Unbelief—Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: “I wish I had never been born.”
Not in Pleasure—Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: “The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone.”
Not in Money—Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.”
Not in Position and Fame—Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: “Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret.”
Not in Military Glory—Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, because he said, “There are no more worlds to conquer.”
Where then is happiness found?—the answer is simple, in Christ alone.
—The Bible Friend
What Is Happiness?
Historian Will Durant searched for happiness in study and learning. But he discovered that knowledge alone did not bring happiness.
He tried travel and found only weariness. He tried wealth and found only worry and discord. He sought to immerse himself in his writing but found only fatigue.
Then one day he noticed a woman sitting in a small car clasping a sleeping child in her arms. He watched while a man got off a train and came over and kissed the woman and baby gently, so as not to waken him. As he saw the family drive away together, Durant suddenly realized that what he had just seen was happiness.
Correct Use Of The Eyes
A bishop of the early church, who was a remarkable example of the virtue of contentment, was asked his secret. The venerable old man replied: “It consists in nothing more than making a right use of my eyes. In whatever state I am, I first of all look up to heaven and remember that my principal business here is to get there.
Then I look down upon the earth, and call to mind how small a place I shall occupy in it when I die and am buried. I then look around in the world, and observe what multitudes there are who are in many respects more unhappy than myself. Thus I learn where true happiness is placed, where all our cares must end, and what little reason I have to complain.”
—Foster
Joy Is The Flag
Principal Rainy, of whom a child once remarked that she believed he went to Heaven every night because he was so happy every day, once used a fine metaphor about a Christian’s joy. “Joy,” he said, “is the flag which is flown from the castle of the heart when the King is in residence there.”
These words have been made into a popular chorus.
Wesley’s Mother On Child Raising
John and Charles Wesley, were reared by a God-fearing mother (of seventeen) who laid down some excellent principles for child training. They appear in John Wesley’s Journal:
“When turned a year old (and some before), they were taught to fear the rod, and to cry softly; by which means they escaped abundance of correction they might otherwise have had; and that most odious noise of the crying of children was rarely heard in the house; but the family usually lived in as much quietness as if there had not been a child among them.
“In order to form the minds of children, the first thing to be done is to conquer the will and bring them to an obedient temper. To inform the understanding is a work of time, and must with children proceed by slow degrees as they are able to bear it; but subjecting the will is a thing which must be done at once; and the sooner the better. For by neglecting timely correction they will contract a stubbornness and obstinacy which is hardly ever after conquered.
“Whenever a child is corrected, it must be conquered; and this will be no hard matter to do, if it be not grown headstrong by too much indulgence … I cannot yet dismiss this subject. Self-will is the root of all sin and misery, so whatever cherishes this in children insures their after-wretchedness; whatever checks and mortifies it promotes their future happiness.”
Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times
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