The Blessings of Useful Living
THE real blessings of life are realized only through activity in the channels of usefulness. For the mere enjoyment of wealth or social station, the economy of nature has made no provision. This truth is strikingly illustrated by statistics gathered by Esquirol, an eminent European, who has made an investigation into physiological conditions which have been developed in the circles of European royalty and aristocracy. He found, says a writer in a London journal—The Academy and Literature—“that the proportion of insane to sane among the royal families of Europe was, when compared with the same ratio among the common people, as sixty to one.” And the same writer mentions that “Haeckel thinks that, if as accurate statistics could be obtained of the prevalence of insanity among the aristocracy, the number of insane individuals among them would be seen to be ‘incomparably larger.’” The one thing essential in life is to seek first “the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.” Then God will supply all things that are needed for physical requirements to develop and preserve “a sound mind in a sound body.” In this manner of living there is the most of life, and the blessings of life really consist in possessing life itself in the most abundant degree.