I then came home and went
whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but
disturbing all the family. My brothers and sisters and cousins, hearing
about the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much
for it as it was worth.
This put me in mind of what
good things I might have bought with the rest of the money; and they
laughed at me so much for my folly that I cried with vexation.
This, however, was afterward
of use to me, the impression continuing in my mind; so that often, when
I was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing, I said to myself, “Don’t
give too much for the whistle,” and so I saved my money.
As I grew up, came into the
world, and observed the actions of men, I thought I met with many, very
many, who gave too much for the whistle.
When I saw anyone too
ambitious of the favor of the great, wasting time in attendance on
public dinners, sacrificing his repose, his liberty, his virtue, and
perhaps his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, “This man
gives too much for his whistle.”
When I saw another fond of
popularity, constantly employing himself in politics, neglecting his own
affairs, and ruining them by that neglect, “He pays, indeed,” said I,
“too much for this whistle.”
If I knew a miser, who gave
up every kind of comfortable living, all the pleasure of doing good to
others, all the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and the joys of
benevolent friendship, all for the sake of accumulating wealth, “Poor
man,” said I, “you do indeed pay too much for your whistle.”
When I met a man of
pleasure, sacrificing the improvement of his mind, or of his fortune, to
mere bodily comfort, “Mistaken man,” said I, “you are providing pain
for yourself instead of pleasure; you give too much for your whistle.”
If I saw one fond of fine
clothes, fine furniture, or fine horses, all above his fortune, for
which he contracted debts, and ended his career in prison, “Alas!” said
I, “he has paid dear, very dear, for his whistle.”
In short, I believed that a
great part of the miseries of mankind were brought upon them by the
false estimates they had made of the value of things, and by their
giving too much for their whistles.
***********************************
Mark
8;36-37 — Jesus said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul?”
Matthew
22:35-38 — One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this
question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’
Colossians
3:1-2 — Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your
hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of
God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
***********************************
Let
me never think, O eternal Father, that I am here to stay. Let me still
remember that I am a stranger and pilgrim on the earth. For here we
have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Preserve me by thy
grace, good Lord, from so losing myself in the joys of earth that I may
have no longing left for the purer joys of heaven. Let not the
happiness of this day become a snare to my too worldly heart. And if,
instead of happiness, I have today suffered any disappointment or
defeat, if there has been any sorrow where I had hoped for joy, or
sickness where I had looked for health, give me grace to accept it from
Thy hand as a loving reminder that this is not my home. Amen.
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