Everyman’s Hut

Camp News, Volume 2, Issue 82, 18 July 1941, Page 8

Everyman’s Hut

“In the hush of the valley of silence I dream all the songs that I sing; And the music floats down the dim 7 valley, Till each finds a word for a wing, That to hearts, like the dove of the deluge, A message of peace they may bring. ‘But far on the deep there are billows That never shall break on the beach; And I have heard songs in the silence That never shall float into speech; And I have had dreams in the valley Too lofty for language to reach. “And I have seen thoughts in the valley, . • Ah me, how my spirit was stirred! And they wear holy veils on their faces, Their footsteps can scarcely be heard; . ; They pass through the valley of virgins,

Too pure for the touch of a word.

“Do you ask me the place of the valley,

Ye hearts that are harrowed with care?

It lieth/afar between mountains,' - / And God and His Angels are there:

One is the dark mountain of sorrow, And one the bright mountain of

prayer.”

Many people are dwelling on the “dark mountain of sorrow” to-day. Swiftly 'and sharply like a . blow has come the word which has separated them from kith and kin and wrapped them up in a dark veil of grief for the loss of a loved one. “Each heart knows its own bitterness,” and to a

sorrow-stricken heart there seems to be nothing that one can say. Everything seems so futile in the face of such grief. One may seek to help, seek to comfort, seek to soften the blow, but, no one can enter fully into another’s sorrow. ' But after the first shockthe first reaction to the cruel —the first flood of sorrow period of quietness ensues. Memories, mental pictures of the loved one come unbidden — old scenes are re-lived, until in quiet hours the presence of that one seems real, till the sorrow, so hard at first becomes mellowed with loving memories. And then faith reasserts itself. When the blow fell, there followed swiftly. perhaps a doubt in the goodness and love of a God who could allow such a loss, a crying out against it, but when one has come to the point of saying “Even so, (Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight,” then communion with God is established and true comfort flows from Him. On “the dark mountain of sorrow” one gropes for support, till one is led up “the bright mountain of prayer” to communion with the God of True Comfort.