THE C1IEMAWA AMERICAN'
pcrvice. It is not the office of slaves only
to serve; it is the office of kings; it is
the office of every man and woman, to
serve and be helpful and to lend a
hand.
To be a true minister, that is, a. true
helper of the world, a man must be hap
py. Sometimes, I am asked how we
m av be happy unless we are happy. It
has never oecured to those who ask this
question, that they must use their wills;
they must actually make an effort. I do
not mean frivolity or foolish jov; but
there must be real cheer. There must
be the major key, not the minor key. It
is hard for one to make others happy
if he wears a doleful face himself. He
cannot be helpful to others if they do
not like him, and they cannot like him
if he has an unhappy face.
It has been said that "Jesus often
wept, but no man ever saw him smile."
This is a perverted view of his life. He
could never have taken children into his
arms; he could not have drawn people
to him, had he never smiled. Of ,co.irse.
there are times when our spirits are
bruised, and even Jesus asked that the
cup might pass from him if it was the
will of his Father in Heaven. Tiie bur
den and sadness of the world was felt
bv Christ; but the sense of the goodness
of Cod kept him through all of his suf
fering. I do not wish to sta i t up thoughts of sad
ness within you, but I wish to say, some
time as you glow older, sad conditions
mnv come to von. sometimes too great
for you to bear you will think. It is
not always for gross minds to feel these
things. Stran jely enough, the better
people, the more refined, feel more keen
ly the burdens of the world in wnicii
they live.
A Japaness baron, a man of sensitive
and refined mind, and burdened with
the misery about him which he thought
he could not help, fell it to be courageous
to commit suicide. He t hrew himself in
to a crater of a volcano, lie was not natu
rally cowardly. He was a philosopher
and did not do it through ignorance, lie
did not do it because he lacked sympa
thy. It was his sympathies which drove
him to t his act. Yet he lacked some
thing. What did he lacked? lie lack
ed the faculty of putting his will into
his happiness. He had not cut the
(Jordian knot of his selfisfiness. He had
not found happiness; Iih hail not stood
bravely by the great task of making the
world happier.
We see the misery in the world and
we can help a little here and there.
Whatever our position in life is, we can
give ourselves to this ministry. Thi
sensitiveness to the misery in the worid.
should create a longing in our hearts to
bring more happiness into the world.
Everyone of you should know of
(Jen. Armstrong, the originator and
founder of Hampton Institute. I wish
that his biography might be in the hands
of every pupil of this school. e was a.
"Knight of the Holy Crail." His heart
was longing for the bettering of the
world. lie had a happy heart. He
would help those who were unhappy.
He would help those who were in dark
ness and ignorance. He gave his whole
life for the work. Hooker T. Washing
ton owes more to (Jen. Armstrong than
to anv other man. (Jen. Armstrong
made him what he i. He used to l II
a story illustrating faith. lb' told it a
great manv times. It is the story of the
woodchuck. Now the woodchuck cannot
climb a tree. Hut once upon a time, a
woodchuck was chased by a (tog. He
ran as fast as he could. There was a
ree near. Now the woodchuck canno,
climb a tree. Hut this woodchuck had
to climb the tr-e and he did. This was
he story that Jen. Armstrong told The
impossible may become possible, just as
the woodchuck found he could climb a
tree.