DR. FRANK CRANE’S DAILY EDITORIAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 45, 16 May 1927, Page 14

DR. FRANK CRANE’S DAILY EDITORIAL

COMING TROUBLE

(Copyright , 1927.)

ANE of the most firmly fixed beliefs in the human mind, one which most of us share, is that trouble is surely coming. The would-be philosopher sneers at people that are happy. He says to the little children: “Play on! Life will be along pretty soon with its cares and difficulties. It will be but a short time until you will cease to laugh and begin to weep.” I knew a woman, a grandmother, who wept whenever she heard of a child’s being born. The child was going to have so much trouble. The calamity of life was too much for him. We all enjoy tragedy with a certain relish. We love our misfortune and think that we get what is coming to us. But somehow when we are happy and prosperous we look upon ourselves as cheating somebody. Fate surely cannot mean that we should be glad. It is only amusing itself with us, getting ready for the blow which is to destroy us. So there are people who at every happy family reunion persist in complaining that perhaps we shall never all meet again. Where did we get this notion that trouble is clue to us, that everybody is bound to suffer sooner or later, and that tragedy is inevitable? It has often been remarked that the primary religions were religions of fear. Their rites consisted merely in placating the adverse powers of nature. The most striking fact in the philosophy of Jesus was that He considered God as friendly. He taught us to say “Our Father” and to rely upon Him in confidence. He is not our enemy, but is constantly working for our good. Let yourself go, therefore, when you are at peace. Be as happy as you will. Play with a whole heart. Enjoy yourself when moments of enjoyment come and do not cloud the present by the adumbrations of the future. One wise man remarked on his deathbed: “I have seen a great many troubles in my life, but most of them never happened.*”