The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 6 November 1919, Page 45

The Family Circle

;• V -A : BOY" IN ; THE HOUSE. There is a boy in the house. -ri You can tell by the. basket of blocks on the stairs. By the caps and the sweaters that cumber the stairs, By the hoops at the door, and the skates on the floor, By the stilts in the hall, and the dents in the wall, ' By the pane that he marked, and the curtain he tore. There’s a boy in the house. There is a boy in the house. From the hatchet and the saw that can never be found, From the little .worn breeches left lying around. From the stockings he strews, and the scuffed shoes. From the marbles, the tops, and the buttons he drops— From the tokens like these you may gather the news. There’s a boy in the house. There is a boy in the house. From the hours of toil that a sweet mother spends, From the rooms that she rids and the garments she mends, From the steps that she takes, and the cast*, she forsakes, From the pride and the grace, and the joy in her face, Perhaps you can guess what a difference it makes , With a boy in the house. - THE SPIRIT OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL WORK. There is a vast difference between philanthropy and Catholic social work. The one aims at the alleviation of human'suffering, or the promotion of human welfare, without further reference to an ulterior object. The other includes this two-fold purpose, while directing its efforts towards the higher sphere of the spiritual world. When the Catholic social worker forgets the spiritual end of his ministrations he drops back into the merely human side of such endeavors, however commendable they may be. The nurse who bends over the dying soldier on the field of battle, heedless of the danger to herself, is a true heroine. The Sister of Charity who ministers to the leper, regardless of her own peril, is a heroine of a higher type. «■* The one sees in a dying man an object of sympathy and ■need, and she pours out the tenderness of her soul and the skill of her profession in order to raise him to life and strength. To attain this goal she is willing to sacrifice her life, if need be. The other possesses all the beautiful qualities of the first, but she sees more than a dying man: she beholds a shattered image of her Maker, a being for whom God died, a child destined for heaven; in this thought she centres all the’’affection of compassion and the fervor of religion. The spirit of the nun of the battlefield is the only spirit that should animate the Catholic social worker. This is the thought of healing the bodies of men while trying to purify their souls and cleanse them for immortality. Selfishness, personal ambition, love of display have absolutely no 'place whatsoever in the work and efforts of such a social agent.- He recognises in his field not only humanitarian helpfulness, but the corporal works of mercy and this is a part of religion. For this reason the Catholic social worker is more than a mere instrument of uplift: he is a missionary in the true sense, since he labors among his fellows for the love of God, and not for the mere healing of broken bodies or of blasted lives. When all our Catholic men and women who are devoted to social work come to realise the nobility of their position and the true nature of their calling, we will have more efficiency, firmer stability, and a widening of the kingdom of God through the elevation of His children. THE CHEERFUL PERSON. "Isn’t she a desperately uncomfortable person?” a woman remarked of one of her friends. "No matter what happens, she worries about it. Everything in life is hard for her, not because she is more unfortunate than others, but because she takes it so. Wouldn’t it be a blessing to her and those about her if she could live more comfortably Comfortable people are the shock-absorbers of society. By their good nature and their philosophical acceptance .of unpleasant facts and events they seem to be able to take the jar out of living, both for: themselves and their associates. They always seem, to be ready to meet emergencies, and not to be greatly disturbed by them. They smile, easily, though they do not giggle or laugh continually.;; .-..-How many times 7 you have been at a party where, though the guests were clever enough, everybody appeared to be on a strain The atmosphere had that oppressive feeling ' that precedes a storm. ; All the 7 clever > people “in - the company were working just as hard - / as; they ~ could

to maintain their reputation for cleverness . and 7to - entertain the group. Some of them were even brilliant. Yet, between every one of their sallies' a deadly silence, would tail over the company and everybody would be ill at ease. then, suddenly, one ;of those thoroughly comfortable women would enter that tense room. Though she did not make the slightest effort to be brilliant, everybody nerves, relaxed under the influence of her spontaneity:'' Her remarks probably were quite commonplace. Yet, who expects or w ants one of those soothing, healing, comfortable persons to be purveyors of writ ? • When you look ■> at the comfortable people, you wonder wby more of us do not imitate them, so great are their rewards. They may not always make a million or - achieve world-wude fame. Nevertheless, they get through life with less w r ear and tear on their minds and their bodies.v They enjoy more tranquillity and happiness than most of : us. 1 hey draw friends to them continually, and they make everybody love them. 'V THE TALE THAT GREW IN THE TELLING. A farmer was one day chatting with neighbors, w 7 hen one of them said:—-“Do you know that William Smith has been stealing your carrots? Mrs. Brown told me that he had taken away a waggon-load the day before yesterday.” The farmer went off to Mrs. Brown and asked for further particulars. “A waggon-load, said Mrs. Brown. “I never said any such thing. I said Mr. Robinson had told mo William Smith had carried off a small cart-load of your carrots.” The farmer w-ent to Mr. Robinson.* _“I didn’t say a cart-load. All I said was that Mr. Smith had taken a wheel-barrow of your carrots. Mrs. Anderson told me.” Mrs. Anderson declared that her story had been grossly exaggerated. All she had done was to repeat what Mr. Watson had told her, that William Smith'had carried off a bunch of carrots. "All I said,” Mr. Watson declared, "w 7 as that Smith had pulled one of the carrots from your field and taken it away. I heard it from Mr. Wilkins.” “At last I shall get the truth of this,” said the farmer to himself; and ho went off to Mr. Wilkins, who laughed heartily. “Well,” he exclaimed, “the story has certainly lost nothing in its travels. Why, all I told Mr. Watson was that William Smith had said to me the other, day that your carrots looked fine and healthy and were ready for pulling.” AS WE FIND HIM. How' shall we estimate the man we know' ? What testimony give whene’er his name Evokes in private groups unmeasured blame. When acrid censure, dealing blow on blow. Recounts his lapses of the long ago, And swift-assenting voices loud proclaim His lack of probity and truth and shame? Shall we, because outnumbered, then forgo A protest frank? ’Twere cowardice most base, If that our dealings with him bear not out These diatribes, —to hold our peace, nor trace His virtues which no candid foe may flout. - Though others deem our judgment sound or weak. Of men, just as we find them, let us speak. —Rev. Arthur B. O’Neill, C. 5.0., in Ave Maria. “WI’OUT BEIN’ PAIRSONAL.” Complaints had been made at a village kirk of the discomfort caused by dripping umbrellas in and outside the various pews. To remedy the nuisance, a member of the congregation presented the kirk with , a large umbrellastand, which was fixed up in the lobby of the building. After the service on a certain Sunday, one of the elders remarked : “Ye’ll nae doot hae seen the splendid umbrella-stand that Mr. Gillespie has presented tae the kirk. Noo, umbrellas are umbrellas, and human nature is human nature, so ye’ll nae think it wrang o’ me if I ask those who sit near the pulpit, and canna leave the kirk so soon as the others, tae bring their oldest umbrellas, and, wi’out bein’ pairsonal, I may say that we should all feel a heap easier if Donal’ Tamson would take up a sitting a wee bit farther frae the door.” ONLY ONE WAY. -7 The mild young gentleman, having read that every man ought to ; have a knowledge of self-defence, betook himself to an instructor of boxing, arranged terms, took 4»

off his jacket and ..vest, put on' the gloves,-; and started‘to learn things. v : 5 r .i, “This,” said the professor, “is .the way you do it!” With that he landed the' pupil a sounding thump under the jaw. When the pupil recovered consciousness he said: “May I ask whether it was necessary for you to knock mo down like that?” “Not at all,” said the professor. “Far from it. There were 346 other Ways in which I could have knocked you down.” WHERE HE FAILED. Rumor had it that the marine store dealer was something of a miser, and two gentlemen- of the Sikes persuasion conceived a brilliant notion to relieve him of his superfluous wealth. One of them was to be smuggled into the shop in a bag and placed with other sacks filled with old iron, and at midnight grasp the opportunity to give entrance to his confederate. Tip to a point the plan worked admirably, but unfortunately the dealer, struck by the peculiar shape of the sack, gave it a tremendous kick. A ten-horse-power howl followed, and a second later the man in the bag was beating all records for his liberty. . “Well, I’m disappointed in yer, Bill,” said his friend, when later on the tale of failure was told. “It was your own idea, too. ’Ere was you posin’ as old iron, and when someone come along and just kicked yer you ’adn’t got the bloomin’ sense to clink!” SMILE RAISERS. ■Temperance Orator: “Why will you persist in drinking beer Milk is far healthier. It contains all the elements of the human blood.” Laborer: “P’raps it do; but then, yer know, I ain’t bloodthirsty,” Teacher: “Now if you want to learn anything properly remember the only way is to strive to get to the very bottom.” Scholar: “That wouldn’t apply to me, sir.” Teacher; “Why not?” Scholar: “I want to learn how to swim.” A certain caddie used to wear a cap with large flaps which came right down over his ears, as though he were a victim to chapped ears in cold weather. One bitterly cold day the golfer on whom he was in attendance noticed that ho' had not got the ear-flaps down, so he asked the caddie if his ears were better. “No, sir,” he said; “they re as bad as ever they were, but I’ve never had the flaps down since the accident.” “What accident? ’ “Veil, you see, sir,” be said, “ a gent arst me if I d ave a drink, and I didn’t ’ear ’irn!” “Tommy,” queried the teacher, “can you tell me what an old settler is sometimes called?” “Yes, ma’am- —a pioneer,” was the reply. “Now, Johnny,” said the teacher to another small pupil, “what is a pioneer?” “An old man who pays his debts.” “There’s a very curious fact about this village,” said the driver of the taxi to a party of ladies whom he was conducting round the neighborhood. “You see the cemetery on the side of that little hill? Well, no living inhabitant of the village is allowed to be buried there.” “How very interesting!” replied one of the women. “Why is that?” “Well, ma’am,” said the driver, “they have to be dead first, you know.” “I’m going to get a nice little wife. 111 have a cosy little home, well-cooked meals, my slippers ready warmed for me when I get home at night, my pipe always handy to me, and peace and contentment for the rest of my days.” “You never ought to marry.” “Why ever not?” “Weil, when a man has a dream like that he ought not to risk waking up.”