MISTAKES.



WE remember an old song, one line of which was,

"The mistakes of my life are many,"

and we have thought of these mistakes much of late. To be sure, it is not self-flattering to do so, but sometimes it is necessary. There is no use in trying to get rid of, or around them. They stare us in the face, and we must look straight at them, just as we would at sorrow or misfortune. 

They are facts.

That every one is liable to make mistakes, and does make them, is patent to all. "If I could only live my life over again," we sometimes hear people say, and always in a low, sad tone, perhaps accompanied with a sigh. This implies that in looking back and viewing their life-path, they see mistakes, perhaps scattered all along it, mistakes that were the result of a wrong heart, many times; mistakes whose influence and results can never be undone, no matter how deep the repentance.

The mistakes of the past may be beneficial, if they teach a lesson for the future. 

But it is not best to clothe ourselves in sackcloth, and sit in the ashes and mourn over them. There are two ways of looking at our mistakes, as at everything else in life; and who shall say that we haven't a right to look on the bright side of these mistakes, as of every other dark and painful thing?

We should never be afraid to own our mistakes, to change our opinions. Of course, to change our opinion implies that we have made a mistake; but we should never stick to an idea when we have proved it wrong, no matter how firmly we have held it, or how humiliating it may be to own ourselves mistaken. Some people will never change their opinions, will never own that they make mistakes. Oh, what if at last they find that they have made one grand mistake of life!

The evils of life are heavy and hard to bear, and wash out all the gladness from the years. But in the sweet by-and-by will come a time when all the mistakes and follies of life will be left behind. By-and-by will come the perfect day. By-and-by, good will triumph over evil, love over hate, and light over darkness. Therefore, O reader, take heart. 





V. A. M.