A Willing Mind by Z. I. Davis

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 20, 1911

A Willing Mind

By Z. I. Davis

“It is work, work, all the time. ‘Freddy, fill the wood-box,’ or ‘Freddy, gather the eggs,’ or ‘Freddy, split the kindling.’ My arms are so tired that I wish I could have a little rest.”

Cousin Alice, who had arrived a few days before, raised her hands in astonishment. Then she made such a comical face at him that he had to laugh. Stooping down, she started his ball across the floor, remarking, “It does not complain, even if it was so very busy yesterday.”

Freddy laughed again at this reminder of the ball game. It had been a strenuous day for him, and he had been on the move from early dawn until dusk. “Playing ball never hurts me,” he exclaimed.

“How we like our own way!” was his cousin’s naïve remark. His cheeks flushed crimson, and he dropped his head.

“May I tell you a story of a young man I met in the hospital when I went there for nervous prostration?”

“Yes,” was the eager reply; for, like all other boys, Freddy was fond of stories.

Just then his mother glanced through the doorway. “There is not enough bread for supper, and the yeast will not be ready to bake until to-morrow. Can you go to the baker’s, son, for a loaf?”

Turning to his cousin in dismay, he exclaimed, in a whining tone, “You see how it is.”

“The story is from actual life, so it will keep until you return,” was her cheerful rejoinder.

“I wish you would always be as quick to do errands,” smiled his mother, as he laid the package on the table ten minutes later.

“He was a precocious boy in all his studies, and his teachers had to hold him back on account of his nerves,” began Alice. “In spite of that he was graduated a grade ahead of his class, and entered college in his eighteenth year. During his second term his health failed, and he had to have his right arm amputated. Poor boy! he was usually so brave. But when they told him he had necrosis of the bone, he almost lost heart.

“In time he was graduated from college; but as the years passed, he underwent fifteen operations. Now in his twenty-seventh year, he has had his lower limbs amputated, but notwithstanding all this, he is preparing for further work.

“A short time ago, he was principal of the high school in a suburb of our metropolis, and is a favorite wherever he goes. Success awaits him in his undertakings, for he is of a ‘willing mind.’”

“How can a healthy boy be cross or find fault, when he thinks how many cripples there are in the world?”

At the conclusion of the story, Cousin Alice looked at Freddy very gravely. Not only was he spoiling his own disposition, but he was making the home life disagreeable for those who loved him best on earth, besides setting a bad example for his younger brothers and sisters.

There was an expression of penitence on the boy’s face that did her heart good. Plainly, the story had set him to thinking. It was evident that he had caught a glimpse of his real self as well as of what he ought to be.

Suddenly he drew himself up to his fullest height. After reassuring himself of the perfect soundness of his limbs, he exclaimed, “I am going to grow up to be brave and willing!”

“With Christ’s help,” added his cousin, gently. “Jesus was willing to do God’s will, even in the face of the most cruel death. If you grow up to be a good man, you will have to begin now.”

“I will, with his help,” was the sober reply.—Z. I. Davis, in United Presbyterian.