Here we come to the most wonderful and difficult thing in life. It is
the supreme test of character. That is, Why go on south? Not for
blessing nor cursing, not for popularity nor for selfish ends, not for
anything outside, but for the happiness that comes from within.
The Mississippi blesses the valley every day as he goes on south and
overcomes. But the valley does not bless the river in return. The
valley throws its junk back upon the river. The valley pours its foul,
muddy, poisonous streams back upon the Mississippi to defile him. The
Mississippi makes St. Paul and Minneapolis about all the prosperity
they have, gives them power to turn their mills. But the Twin Cities
merely throw their waste back upon their benefactor.
The Mississippi does not resign. He does not tell a tale of woe. He
does not say, "I am not appreciated. My genius is not understood. I am
not going a step farther south. I am going right back to Lake Itasca."
No, he does not even go to live with his father-in-law.
He says, "Thank you. Every little helps, send it all along." Go a few
miles below the Twin Cities and see how, by some mysterious alchemy of
Nature, the Mississippi has taken over all the poison and the
defilement, he has purified it and clarified it, and has made it a part
of himself. And he is greater and farther south!
He fattens upon bumps. Kick him, and you push him farther south. "Hand
him a lemon," and he makes lemonade.
Civilization conspires to defeat the Mississippi. Chicago's drainage
canal pollutes him. The flat, lazy Platte, three miles wide and three
inches deep; the peevish, destructive Kaw, and all those streams that
unite to form the treacherous, sinful, irresponsible lower Missouri;
the big, muddy Ohio, the Arkansas, the Red, the black and the blue
floods—all these pour into the Mississippi.
Day by day the Father of Waters goes on south, taking them over and
purifying them and making them a part of himself. Nothing can
discourage, divert nor defile him. No matter how poisonous he becomes,
he goes a few miles on south and he is all pure again.
Wonderful the book in the running brook! We let our life stream become
poisoned by bitter memories and bitter regrets. We carry along such a
heart full of the injuries that other people have done us, that
sometimes we are bank to bank full of poison and a menace to those
around us. We say, "I can forgive, but I cannot forget."
Oh, forget it! Drop it all. Purify your life and go on south all sweet
again. We forget what we ought to remember and remember what we ought
to forget. We need schools of memory, but we need schools of
forgettery, even more.
As you go on south and bless your valley, do you notice the valley does
not bless you very much? Have you sadly noted that the people you help
the most often are the least grateful in return?
Don't wait to be thanked. Hurry on to avoid the kick! Do good to others
because that is the way to be happy, but do not wait for a receipt for
your goodness; you will need a poultice every time you wait. I know,
for I have waited!
We get so discouraged. We say, "I have gone far enough south." There is
nobody who does not have that to meet. The preacher, the teacher, the
editor, the man in office, the business man, the father and
mother—every one who tries to carry on the work of the church, the
school, the lyceum and chautauqua, the work that makes for a better
community, gets discouraged at times.
We fail to see what we are doing or why we are doing it. Sometimes we
sit down completely discouraged and say, "I'm done. I'm going to quit.
I have done my share. Nobody appreciates what I do. Let somebody else
do it awhile."
Stop! You are not saying that. The evil one is whispering that into
your heart. His business is to stop you from going south. His most
successful tool is discouragement, which is a wedge, and if he can get
the sharp edge started into your thought, he is going to drive it
deeper.
You do not go south and overcome your obstacles and bless the valley
for praise or blame, for appreciation or lack of it. You do it to live.
You do it to remain a living river and not a stagnant, unhappy pond or
swamp.
YOU ARE SAVING YOURSELF BY SAVING OTHERS. GO ON SOUTH!
Almost everybody is deceived. We work from mixed motives. We fool
ourselves that we are working to do good, when as we do the good, if we
are not praised or thanked for it, if people do not present us a medal
or resolutions, we want to quit. That is why there are so many
disappointed and disgruntled people in the world. They worked for
outside thanks instead of inside thanks. They were trying to be
personal saviours. They say this is an ungrateful world.
O, how easy it is to say these things, and how hard it is to do them!
