Present Blessings by MRS. I. H. E.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 14, 1915

Present Blessings

By MRS. I. H. E.

It is natural for the human heart to hope. When things go hard, we look forward to a time when they will be better; we long for the hour that will see the task completed, the dream realized, the goal reached. The forward look! it means endeavor and progress and attainment; its eager vision sees the fair results of present toil, the laurels won, the heart’s desire gained.

The hope that is defined as “cheerful expectancy,” “a confident looking for a future event,” “to trust confidently that good will come,” is a blessing to mankind. It has its roots in faith; its possession leads to purity of heart and life; and its fulfillment is not found in this world, but in the better country. “Happy is he,” says the psalmist, “whose hope is in the Lord.” Such hope gives assurance and confidence for the future, and brings happiness and contentment in the present.

But there is another kind of hope—“delusive hope” it is called. Discontent, ambition, and unrest mark its possessors, who— “Look before and after, And sigh for what is not.”

To such a one attainment itself brings no lasting satisfaction; the vista broadens, the desires increase. Either he renews the struggle, pressing on with feverish haste, or he comes to the place where, realizing that earthly success can never satisfy the heart, he gives up in discouragement, and yields to despair.

How easy it is for us to allow some “delusive hope” to exert a vital influence in the life! The hope of a legacy, even of some vague, unformed, unnamed good fortune, has kept many from the effort that would have resulted in real benefit.

Mothers often look forward to some time in the future when their children’s presence will bring greater joy, when they will be less care, or more thoughtful, or a greater help, or more companionable. It has been said that “what every mother thinks” is this:— “When the baby comes— When baby can sit up— When baby is in short clothes— When he can walk— When he is through teething— When he starts to kindergarten— When he is ready for high school— When he is going to college— When he is a man among men— When he was a baby!”

The danger in all this dreaming and retrospect lies in the tendency to neglect the present, with its joys and its opportunities,—joys in watching the unfolding and developing life of the child, opportunity of molding and guiding it in its most impressionable years.

It is a mistake to allow the machinery of life—the business of sleeping and eating and dressing—to absorb all the mother’s time and drain all her energy. Not that these necessary and essential things are to be neglected, but rather that certain “weightier matters”—answering the child’s questions, taking time to enter into his interests and obtain his point of view, listening to his small secrets and encouraging his precious confidences—shall not be overlooked. Do you wish your children to enjoy your society, to love their home, and fashion their lives according to its standards? There is no surer way to make the wish reality than that through all their days you shall find real happiness and pleasure in their company, and live those ideals before them. This is one thing that was meant by the wise old man who said, “Come, let us live with our children;” and we may rest assured that no other living yields richer or more enduring returns.

Then, with hope for the future, confidence in its good, and firm faith in our Heavenly Father’s purpose toward us, let us not forget that it is his pleasure that we obtain the blessing and joy of the moments and hours and days into which our lives are broken.

“The present, the present is all thou hast For thy sure possessing; Like the patriarch’s angel, hold it fast, Till it yield its blessing.”

MRS. I. H. E.