Article September 4, 1954 Issue

AFFECTION CANNOT BE WASTED

ELSIE J. PERRY

Is there someone crushed by the belief that his labor of love for another has met only disdain and resentment? Has the one upon whom he has lavished kindness shown no gratitude for the effort expended in his behalf? In such circumstances there is likely to be a sense of futility and regret for time and energy used to no apparent purpose, followed by intense disappointment. But even though benevolence has apparently been rejected, the love which inspired the giver to help a brother has a spiritual quality, expressive of God, and can never fail to bless the benefactor. Longfellow glimpsed this truth and beautifully expressed it in the following lines:

Talk not of wasted affection! affection
never was wasted;
If it enrich not the heart of another, its
waters, returning
Back to their springs, like the rain, shall
fill them full of refreshment.