“No, George Washington was not the man to give way under severe trials.  He was not like the kite whose framework breaks or whose paper covering is torn by the force of the wind.  Under these conditions a kite must dash to the earth. [Draw the rent in the kite with black.  Remove the drawing from the board, invert it, and then re-attach it to the board, Fig. 85.] But when the trials came to Washington he arose in his might to meet them, knowing that God would be with him.

[Illustration:  Fig. 85]

“Let us ever remember that God is our strength, just as he was the strength of George Washington.”

“A MERRY HEART”
    —­Cheerfulness
    —­Smiles

To Cultivate the Spirit of Cheerfulness is to Bless and Brighten
Other Lives.

THE LESSON—­That in no way can we serve those about us better than by the kind of service which reveals the true gladness of the Christian life.

The Christian religion is based upon principles which lift us from sin and its attendant evils of discouragement, unrest, despondency and suffering, to the higher plane of confidence, hope, praise and love.  It is a religion of good cheer, which God’s children must reflect to a darkened world if they are to fulfill their earthly mission.

The Talk.

“I wonder how many of us are getting too busy or too lazy to smile.  I see some, who were looking pretty solemn before I made the remark whose faces look a little brighter now—­and some have already broken into a most gladsome smile.  I’m glad of it.  Smiles, they say are the least expensive things we can give to other people, and sometimes they value them more than silver or gold.  But how can we smile unless we feel like it?  That’s the question.  Well, we will feel like it if we think right things and do right things, living close to the Master, even if things do go very, very much awry sometimes.  The Bible has a good many things to say about smiles, and it isn’t at all guarded in declaring that smiles are worth a good deal more than words, unless those words are very carefully spoken.  Here is what we find in the book of Proverbs:  ‘A merry heart maketh a cheery countenance.’  So, we find, it is necessary to feel happy within before we can show it on the outside.  And then it says:  ’He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast,’ which shows that if we are truly happy, everything about us will appear brighter and more delightful.  Again, it says:  ’A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.’  How true this is; you never saw a sour, gloomy pessimistic person who was in real good health, while the one who shows the most gladsome face is either in splendid physical condition or else has risen above his pains and distress in his appreciation of God’s blessings.  They are always believing that ’it might be worse.”