Mutual Helpfulness by Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 10, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 10.

Mutual Helpfulness.

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle.

How can we, poor, erring mortals, hope ever to fulfil the righteous law of Christ?—The Lord Himself has given us a perfect formula, wonderful in its simplicity: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Ah! here is something which leaves no room for selfishness—a recipe with no self in it. How many times we see people bearing their own burdens, or trying to, with apparently never a thought of their struggling brothers!

But if mutual helpfulness is a thing to be cultivated and aspired after in a neighborhood, surely it is doubly to be cultivated in our own homes.

“But,” some one protests, “I think it is a commendable thing for each child, and, in fact, every member of the household, to have certain duties assigned them. Then they always know just what is expected of them.”

Mr. Theodore R. Roosevelt (and family) who retired from the Presidency of the United States to private life, March 4, 1909.

Very good; an excellent plan. But sometimes John has a headache and is quite unable to do his accustomed duties. Shall Mary refuse to “lend a hand” in this emergency?

I am sure that the law of mutual helpfulness must prevail in heaven. Why?—Because it is the law of love.

“But I did not suppose the angels of heaven bore burdens,—how strange it seems!” you say.

“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” So we see that even the heavenly beings minister to the comfort of poor, weak mortals. Shall we refuse to do the same?—God forbid.

The other day a lady in speaking of another, remarked: “She asks no accommodations and gives none.” Poor woman. She forgets that the law of all nature is the law of mutual helpfulness and of giving.

The very sun in the heavens is an example of this. How lavishly does he give continually of his glorious light and his genial heat, not only to this globe of ours, but his cheering rays visit the dwellers of all the worlds of our wondrous solar system. Should he forget to shine, vegetation would droop and die.

From whence comes his never-ceasing light? Every particle of gas consumed in your range or gas-lamp passes through the meter and registers the exact amount consumed; if it were not consumed, it would not pass the meter. But where is the mighty meter which measures the all-pervading and penetrating light of the sun? Where?—It simply can not be measured; it is measureless. Still, for six thousand long years it has been giving, giving, but “giving doth not impoverish” this prodigal light-bearer. His rays shine to-day as brightly as they did when they glinted with golden glory the luscious fruitage of the Garden of Eden. Whose mighty hand feeds that exhaustless flame which never goes out and never becomes dim?—Ah, it is His for “whose pleasure we are and were created.”

Again: mutual helpfulness is the law of life. The vapors rise from the seas and rivers of earth, gathering to themselves the life-giving rain and the refreshing dew. They take, only to give again. The vegetation of the field and the fruit of the earth absorb their nourishment from the generous soil; but these, also, take only to give again. Even the dumb animals recognize this universal law of mutuality, quietly receiving their food from the hand of man, only to repay him a hundredfold by their patient labor.

The very birds of the air sing us sweet songs, filling our groves with melody, and again rendering us valuable service in ridding our gardens of innumerable insect pests—all in return for the protection and appreciation of mankind. It is only poor, foolish mortals who wrap their cloak of vanity and selfishness about their poor, decaying bodies and refuse to extend the hand of helpfulness to their fellow men.

This is a weary, hungry world at the very best—hungry for love and sympathy, and sick of sin. Shall we harden our hearts against our fellow mortals, and refuse to lend a helping hand to the needy? If we remember that the Master has left us His wonderful example in this respect, and if we try to follow in His blessed steps, our children will be trained from their babyhood to look for opportunities of rendering loving helpfulness; then will the ugly weeds of selfishness be uprooted in very infancy. Children are, most of them, naturally helpful; but this God-given disposition is too often checked by unwise parents, instead of encouraged.

Neither need it be thought disgraceful or out of place to teach the boys in the family to do the work of the girls, and vice versa. It is no disgrace for a boy to know how to make his own bed neatly, or to keep his room tidy and in order; to brush and fold his own clothes, and to sweep and dust his little room,—it is a good thing. And it detracts not one whit from the womanly qualities of Julia and Anna because they can harness a horse or even milk a cow as well and as quickly as their brothers.

Mutual helpfulness, mutual love, mutual sympathy—blessed trio. Let us encourage their growth in our own hearts and in the hearts and lives of our children.