Tárogató, 1941-1942 (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1941-0 -01 / 3. szám
16 TÁROGATÓ glass and brick. Chaos was all about me; and as I sat there on a doorstep which had no door above it and no house behind it, my world seemed to have fallen about my ears. Then—though you may smile — I began to realize that all was not lost. Indeed, as I thought about it, I began to see that I had lost only the least valuable of my possessions. I still had my wife, with all her love and understanding. I had my children safe and sound, and all the thrill which only children can bring into life—that spirit of adventure and joy which never dies. I had you, my friend, to think of, and to write to, as I am doing now, sure of your sympathy. I began to tell myself that I had precious memories which not even Hitler could rob me of, and all the stirring challenge of tomorrow’s hopes and dreams. I had (as I humbly came to see) the loyalty of many, and the sweet neighbourliness of a few. I had the strength which God never fails to supply in hours of need, besides the blessing of duties I dared not neglect. I had, moreover, the proud knowledge that by losing so much I became one with all those who had become homeless in a mighty cause. Thus, slowly but steadily within me rose up a spirit of gratitude that amid so much ruin there was yet so much that was beyond price. I stood up. I looked down at my doorstep. I smiled and thought: I can build anew, and perhaps better. —The Children’s Newspaper. Be Industrious Some people have a false notion that work is an unfortunate necessity, that idleness is a mark of culture. Why, the best people in the world are industrious, hardworking folk who find real delight in their toil. Idleness never climbed a hill, nor wrote a book, nor made a box, nor mended a shoe. No great blessing ever comes to people without somebody working hard to procure it. It takes industrious people to make the world go round. I am sure you have been impressed, in reading the stories of great men, by industry and hard toil of all of them. Men have worked eighteen to twenty hours a day for months and years to reach an objective. Paderewski is a great musical genius, but his own confession is that he was a drudge long before he was a genius. John D. Rockefeller was a very rich man, but he earned his first money hoeing potatoes. Garfield was a great statesman, but he found that “Things don’t turn up in the world until somebody turns them up.” So the world has been full of toilers. Here is Webster at his dictionary, Cyrus W. Field perfecting the Atlantic Cable, Lord Strathcona laying the foundation of the C.P.R., Edison producing the incandescent light. The men who have blessed the world everywhere have been men of industry, and in their very toil they have lifted themselves to greatness. “The tree that never had to fight For sun and sky and air and light, That stood out in the open plain, And always got its share of rain, Never became a forest king, But lived and died a scrubby thing. The man who never had to toil, Who never had to win his share Of sun and sky and light and air, Never became a manly man, But lived and died as he began. Good timber does not grow in ease: The stronger wind, the tougher trees.” Let us not be afraid of work. Never ask for easy tasks, or light loads or smooth roads. Suppose we make this our prayer: “Give me hard tasks, with strength that shall not fail.” from “Canadian Boy” Religion and Democracy “Where religion and democracy have vanished, good faith and reason in international affairs have given way to strident ambition and brute force. An ordering of society which relegates religion, democracy, and good faith among nations to the background can find no place within it for the ideals of the Prince of Peace. The United States rejects such an ordering and retains its ancient faith.” —President Roosevelt.
