Árdís - 01.01.1951, Síða 11

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
9
Christ gives the Prodigal Son as an example of temper. When
the elder brother, in a fit of anger, wouldn’t go into the house and
make merry, he stayed outside and sulked. What is temper made
up of? Jealousy, anger, pride, cruelty, sullenness. It is a test of
Love—a relation of an unloving nature at the bottom of it.
S.Guilessness.
Is grace for suspicious people. You will find, if you think a
moment, the people who influence you, are the people who believe
in you. Love thinketh no evil, seeth the bright side, puts the best
construction on every action.
9. Sinceriiy.
Rejoiceth in the truth. Sincerity of purpose—which endeavors
to see things as they are and rejoices to find them better than
suspicion.
So much for the analysis of Love. Now the business of our
lives—to have these ingredients fitted into our characters. Is life
not full of opportunities for learning Love. Every man and woman
every day has a thousand of them.
The world is not a playground, it is a schoolroom.
Life is not a holiday, but an education. And the one eternal
lesson for us all is: How much better we can love.
What makes a good artist? Practice. Good musician? Practice.
What makes a good man or woman? Practice. Nothing else. If a
person does not exercise his arm he develops no biceps. lf he does
not exercise his soul he acquires no muscle in his soul, no strength
of character por beauty of spiritual growth. What was Christ doing
in the carpenter’s shop? Practicing. He increased in wisdom and
stature in favor with God and man. Do not quarrel therefore with
your lot in life. Do not compiain of its never ceasing cares, the
vexations you have to stand. That is the practice which God ap-
points to you . .. in making you patient, humble, generous, unselfish,
kind and courteous. Therefore keep in the midst of life. Be among
things, troubles, difficulties, obstacles. Character develops in the
stream of life.
I have named a few elements of Love, but these are only
elements. Love itself can never be defined. The Love of God
melts down the unlovely hearts and makes them into a new creature.