PRETTY SOON, JOHN

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 17, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 16.

“PRETTY SOON, JOHN.”

I am often forcibly reminded of the little old lady who was taking her first journey by rail. One watching her would surely have thought she was expecting to travel around the world in that self-same coach, so carefully did she adjust her various belongings about her. Once when her nephew was endeavoring to call her attention to a beautiful view, she did not so much as turn her eyes out of the car window, but remarked, “Pretty soon, John. As soon as I get everything fixed all right, I’m goin’ to sit back and enjoy myself.” But alas! before she was ready to enjoy herself, she was at her journey’s end. Her voice was pathetic as she said, “If I’d thought we were goin’ to stop so soon, I wouldn’t have wasted all my time fussin’.”

Aren’t there many of us who are taking our life’s journey in much the same fashion? Are we not too prone to pass by many beautiful real scenes in search of ideal ones beyond? Are our eyes not often blinded to the simple views on either hand because our vision is set for more magnificent ones in front of us? Do we not lose much of the present in our efforts to “get everything fixed all right,” that we may “sit back and enjoy ourselves” in the future?

All too soon will the journey be ended, and we will learn, when it is too late, that we have wasted valuable, precious time “fussin’.” Fussing, fretting, and worrying! The three (dis)graces of our American life! They have always dogged the feet of mortals; but it is to be feared that in our day and country we are more susceptible to them than in any other age. Our climate, our consuming ambitions, our competitive system, our pride, our methods, our heredity, our social and industrial environment, our very atmosphere, all seem to crowd on us in a way that breeds nervousness.

“The man or woman who can succeed in turning the tide of American life, and can teach us to be sober, self-controlled, and to take a quieter gait, will be one of the nation’s benefactors.” We certainly shall live longer, and have much better health while we do live, and have much more time to enjoy life when we have learned this lesson.

We forget that it is a duty to enjoy the best health possible. As housekeepers let us do our housework, and do it well, but do not let us suppose that it is a panacea or that it will enable us to forego outdoor air and exercise. In fact, our great trouble is that in our highly civilized life we do not get out of doors enough. Air is life, and healthful exercise in pure air will keep us vigorous and add to our good looks. Snatch what rest you can and look on the bright side. It is better to have work and be tired than to eat out your heart because you are tired of having no work. “The day for work, the night for rest, and God caring for us all thru.” Let us see to it that we do have “the night for rest.” Too many of us carry our worries and troubles to bed with us, and do not allow “tired nature’s sweet restorer” to knit the raveled sleeve of care, and cause us to arise in the morning refreshed and new.

“I’m too much interested in what is going on to take much time to remember or brood, and I never take but one day at a time.” So spoke an old lady over seventy years of age, but whose blue eyes were clear and whose face was full of cheer and strength. Ah! that is it; we have no time to worry and brood, no strength to spend fussing over unessentials. “Worry-weeds” must be pulled as soon as the tiniest stalks appear above the even soil of tranquility. The poison-ivy of fretfulness will spread in wondrous growth unless destroyed root and branch as soon as it begins to grow. The thistles of fussiness will soon occupy the entire field unless their growth is checked at the start.

It is inexpressibly sad to see people who are continually getting ready to enjoy life, but who never take the time really to enjoy it. So many of us cross and recross the bridges in imagination which in reality we never reach. Anxiety is manifestly and demonstrably useless. It is so positively harmful that both soul and body are made to suffer by it immeasurably. It is far better to bear our troubles simply as they come, and to enjoy the pleasures before

they flit past us forever. It is not work so much as worry that is undermining the constitutions of so many men and women around us.

No doubt many of you read the little incident in one of our weekly magazines last year where the man of the house became angry because the children began to laugh when he was inquiring for his pen and looking everywhere for it. At last one of the children said, slyly, “If you’ll laugh, papa, you will find it.” He stared at her in astonishment. Then, as her meaning broke in upon him, he joined in the laugh, and the penholder fell out of his mouth. How many of the difficulties of this life one can extricate one’s self from by a laugh! How many blessings are ours if we stop to count them now! How much we lose by “pretty soon!” Let us have Thanksgiving and the holidays all the year round!

“Few things are needed to make a wise man happy; nothing can make a fool content; that is why most men are miserable.”

Is that the reason you and I are so often unhappy? Are we miserable because foolish? discontented because not wise enough to realize that we have those “few things” that really should conduce to our happiness?

Contentment is not laziness; far from it. It is the making the best use of our activities. A lazy person is never a wise person. A lazy housekeeper is by no means a wise one. Being contented does not mean quietly sitting down and folding the hands; letting things go that should not be allowed to go; submitting to that which should not be submitted to; being idle when there is work to do; taking things easy when they should be taken by the nape of the neck and placed in their rightful places. No, no; contentment is not inactivity; neither is it worriment. It is the activity of the loving mind and willing hand; where feverish haste is not known, where nervousness forms no part.

True it is that the world takes on much the appearance of the color of the glasses thru which we view it. We note the azure blue above or the ominous clouds that hang near the surface, according as our eyes are raised or lowered. Our immediate horizon will necessarily be narrow; we need to get above our every-day plane of living in order to obtain a broad view of the beauties about us. Because we remain in the same rut, stay upon one unvarying level, does not prove that we are contented mortals, or that we are making the best of circumstances and enjoying things as we go along. There is such a thing as contentment. It is a word hard to define, difficult of explanation; each individual must make a definition for himself, then live up to the meaning.

“My crown is in my heart, not on my head; Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones, Nor to be seen; my crown is called content; A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.” —Ella Bartlett Simmons.