| Home Making |
Chapter 5 |
Page 16 |
It is not great services that belong to thoughtfulness – only a word of cheer perhaps when one is discouraged, a little tenderness when one looks sad, and a little timely help when one is overwrought. It may be nothing more than the bringing of a chair when the father comes in weary, or the running of a little errand for the mother to save her tired feet, or keeping quiet when the baby is sleeping; or it may be only a gentleness of manner and tone showing warmth within. Thoughtlessness causes no end of pain and care, ofttimes of trouble and loss. It goes stalking through heart gardens, treading down the most delicate flowers. It is always saying the wrong word and hurting some one’s feelings. It is noisy in the sick room, rude in the presence of sensitive spirits and cold and unsympathetic toward pain and sorrow. It misses the countless opportunities which intimate daily association with others gives to do really kind deeds, to give joy and help, and instead of such a ministry of blessing it is always causing pain. Its confession must continually be “Ah me!
“The wounds I might have healed,
The human woe and smart
And yet it never was in my soul
To play so ill a part.
But evil is wrought by want of thought
As well as want of heart.”
Page 16
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