“There are no doubt a great number of people in the world to-day who are most anxious to lead a better life than what they are doing at the present time, they have a sincere and earnest desire to be up and doing, and an inward feeling that they what to be about their Master’s work. They have fully realised the emptiness of the everyday life that they are leading, and they want to start upon a better path, but they do not know how to commence. They look back upon their past life, traveling in thought over vast areas, touching here and there upon a few bright spots, until finally they find themselves nestling at their mother’s knee, while she explains to them in her own sweet way the great love of God and His wonderful wisdom and Almighty power. Their thoughts enable them for a few moments to live over again the happy days of childhood when they were practically free from all cares and troubles, and their lives were full of happiness, and the world seemed bright and free. Then ike the flash of a magic wand they find themselves back again in the present time, and they wonder why everything is so changed; wonder why their life is such a failure. There is no longer the inward brightness, and the freedom of childhood seems to be lost for ever. Their first thought is that the world to-day is different, that people are more selfish, and show less consideration for one another than they did in the days gone by; but one more journey in thought over their past lives soon convinces them that the only and sole difference lies within themselves. They have accepted for wisdom the ideas of the world; they have followed the crowd instead of thinking for themselves, and after taking the parcel of worldly wisdom, they have found therein the worldly cares and troubles, and they now realise that the two things are absolutely inseparable, and that the choice must be made between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world. They know in their heart of hearts that if they accept the one, and carry it out strictly in every little detail throughout each day, in spite of all jeering, sneering, and opposition, their happiness in its very truest sense will be theirs; but how and where are they to make the start ? Let me tell you.
It makes no difference what your present position may be, you may be living in a castle of your own, surrounded with innumerable servants, carriages and horses may be yours, and your grounds may extend for miles; or, on the other hand you may be living in the very deepest poverty, out of employment, and on the verge of starvation. Our present circumstances matter not; we all have equal opportunities of doing good, and it is simply through having neglected these chances that we find ourselves to-day, devoid of that true peace and happiness that we all so much desire.
Therefore, let us start at once without any further delay, looking for every possible opportunity of doing some unselfish act that will be beneficial to our fellow creatures. Don’t build castles in the air of what you will do when things are different, but commence immediately to do the work that you were sent into this world to do.
Dismiss from your mind all thoughts of your own troubles, and see what you can do to relieve the troubles of others, for while we are so full of self-consideration, we are blind to the chances of doing good which are to-day passing unnoticed under our very eyes. We must, however, not make the universal mistake of imagining that there is any special credit due to us when we simply look after our wives and our families, for what we can do in any way to brighten our homes should be done as a matter of course, but not with the thought that is all that God requires, for we must ever remember that they are our wives and our families, and to simply love them that love us, leaves nothing to boast about, for it only amounts to an honest man talking about his honesty. What is wanted in addition to all these things is absolutely unselfish acts of kindness, performed hourly and daily without the slightest thought of reward, with the plain and simple object of brightening and improving the lives of our fellow-creatures. We can all start upon this work immediately, and wherever we are and whatever we may be doing, let us sink all ideas of self, and see what we can do for others. A helping hand, or a kind word spoken, it may be, to a perfect stranger, if unostentatiously performed, will bring happiness into the lives of others where there may be clouds to-day, and the inward satisfaction and knowledge that we are making ourselves of some use in the world will more than repay us for the time we spend and the little trouble we taking in helping our fellow-creatuures; and if we well and faithfully carry out our work, never letting one day pass without having performed a certain number of unselfish acts, we shall soon find that our sphere of operation will be extended and the castles we had previously built in the air of what we would do if could will then become actualities. The labourer is worthy of his hire, and if we do the work first we need have no thoughts about the pay; for all that we require will be added unto us.
Place self first, and your whole life will prove a dismal failure. Place others first in your thoughts, words, and deeds, and your life will prove the very essence of success. Start upon your work at once, for we know not when the reapers may come.”
-Huge Wright, ‘The Light Of Reason’ Magazine March 1904 v5, no.3
Commentary:
Glorrry to Almighty God! How many times has Almighty God left you speechless? Have you not lost count? Time and time again, we can rest assure the guidance of God is right on target with our lives, every aspect of it.
I would like to share some things from the piece above that resonate deeply with my life, and that are in harmony with my beliefs:
I love not only helping people, but Almighty God has taken me and opened another door of amazing opportunity, by guiding me on how to look beyond and see more and more increasing opportunity to work and to help. Which includes-the land, bodies of water, animals, plants, His creation- and all that is in it.
For it is HIS BREATH of LIFE that lives in all things, and therefore ALL things are HOLY because Almighty GOD is HOLY.
In this passage, they use the term ‘work’ , ‘let your work commence at once’ , ‘whatever work you were sent into this world to do’, and that is the exact way I refer to working for God. I pray daily, asking God to help me ‘work’, to provide me work, and I am not referring to the work that pays in monetary value, or dollars.
WORK as in blessing, praying, encouraging, healing, protecting, bringing balance, harmony, breathing life back into the land, water, plants, animals, people, territories, regions. This is the WORK, I pray for. As it is physical work, that pays no money, yet those employed are the WEALTHIEST in the world, and no amount of money can buy a person in. Secondly, the WORK once commenced, while it remains physical work, and at many a times pain and suffering, along with the suffering is unbridled joy, gratitude, and the never ending presence of God’s eternal love.
And I give GLORRRRYYYYY to ALMIGHTY GOD for it! Hallelujah!
Lastly, in this passage, they use the word ‘fellow-creatures’, when I came across it, I felt aligned in Christ. I knew God had led me to this, for it is indeed how I view the world. As I walk out the door, the tree, the flower, are not inanimate objects , or are of no lesser value nor importance than man.. I esteem them more so, for they do not sin, the purity of Almighty God lives within them… and they live, ready to share their bountiful wisdom….what glorious things they speak, what glorious things they share, what wonderful songs of joy they sing to God each and every day, what glorious things they teach all who are willing to stop and listen to their voices.
God bless, and strengthen us all, in Jesus name, Amen.
– JMendoza 2/26/2020
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