A Cheerful Man’s Sermon by Eben E. Rexford

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 11, 1909

A Cheerful Man’s Sermon

By Eben E. Rexford

It's easy to smile and be cheerful When everything's pleasant and fair; We never complain of life's hardships When there are no burdens to bear.

But as soon as the blue skies cloud over, And the way that was smooth has grown rough, We forget the blithe songs we were singing, And our faces are doleful enough.

But some can be cheerful when shadows Are thick round the pathways they tread; They sing in their happiest measures, With a faith in blue skies overhead; They face, with a smile that's like sunshine, The trials that come in their way, And they always find much to be glad for In the lonesomest, dreariest day.

Thank God for the man who is cheerful In spite of life's trouble, I say, Who sings of a brighter to-morrow Because of the clouds of to-day. His life is a beautiful sermon, And this is its lesson to me: Meet trials with smiles, and they vanish; Face cares with a song, and they flee.

— Eben E. Rexford.