COUNTING THE MISSES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 29 March 1930, Page 3

COUNTING THE MISSES

"They count the 'hits,' not the 'misses,' " I overheard someone say. Many people do that—especially the superstitious ones and those who frequent fortune-tellers' parlours. They will inform you that on such-and-such I an occasion, when Tom "sat down 13 to ; dinner," Tom died a few weeks afterwards! Tha "hit," you see! We are 1 not told anything about the other 12, j who are probably still alive ! | And then there was that time when, . passing under a ladder, a paint-pot fell upon Elizabeth's head. Of course, that | was because it is extremely unlucky to i pass beneath ladders ! We hear nothing \ about the other occasions when Elizabeth walked under a ladder and nothing happened ! Not of the ink-pot upset over Elizabeth's new frock as the result of her walking too near a desk at which her small brother was writing! No! They are "misses" and don t count! Superstitions survive because of the "hits." We are not told about the "misses." But there are other directions in which just the opposite happens. We hear all about the "misses" and next to nothing about the "hits." Particularly in matters religious are the "misses" counted. Let a clergyman err and the world rings with the news. A finger of scorn ; s pointed at religion itself. "See its failure!" men cry. They forget all about the 99 "hits" in contemplation ot the one "miss." It is the same with Christian Science. The other day a woman—a Christian Scientist—died, it was avowed, through lack of medical attention. Of course, the case appeared in the press. The cures attributed to Christian Science go, for the most part, unrecorded. Again, we hear plenty about the "misses," not the "hits" ! .... Spiritualism also comes in for similar unfairness. We are told so much about the impostures—the failures—and so little about the successes. It is for this very reason that dissension among Christian bodies is so dejilorable —disagreement within the Church — strife within the Salvation Army ! The judge who in-Red the latter to settle their differences amicably was wise in his generation. He realised that the evil would blot out the good, as it always so readily does in matters spiritual. Strange to say, in affairs relating chiefly to the material world, the "misses" do not appear to be so disastrous and far-reaching. This biased vision also applies to marriage. We hear too much about the failures. Publicity is given, to the "misses." We hear just how many unions were dissolved last year compared with, previous years—how many suits were undefended." Oh! The statistics relating to divorce are most sedulously kept. And, besides this, we have our attention continually called lo causes of martial unhappiness brought before the police courts. In fact, our eyes are kept focused upon the drab side of marriage. Barely, sadly rarely, are we summoned to gaze upon the oilier side—to look at the "hits'" ( And how far they outnumber the "misses" !) The result is our judgment is perverted: our vision distorted !