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A Cheerful Face

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Mar 17, 1904

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 81, No. 11.

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A Cheerful Face

NEXT to the sunlight of heaven is the cheerful face. There is no mistaking it—the bright eye, the unclouded brow, the sunny smile, all tell of that which dwells within. Who has not felt its electrifying influence? One glance at this face lifts us out of the mists and shadows into the beautiful realms of hope. One cheerful face in a household will keep everything warm and bright within.
It may be a very plain face, but there is something in it we feel, yet can not express; and we would not exchange it for all the soulless beauty that ever graced the fairest form on earth.
It may be a very little face, but somehow this cheery little face ever shines, and the shining is so bright that the shadows can not remain.
It may be a wrinkled face, but it is all the dearer for that, and none the less cheerful. We linger near it, and gaze tenderly upon it, and say: “God bless this dear, happy face!” We must keep it with us as long as we can, for home will lose much of its brightness when this sweet face is gone.
God bless the cheerful face! What a dreary world this would be without this heaven-born light! And he who has it not should pray for it as he prays for his daily bread.—Selected.