Page 15 - 102717-James Allen-Byways to Blessedness-flipbookversion_Neat

BYWAYS TO BLESSEDNESS 11

To make up a year
And a sphere.”

Little kindnesses, generosities, and sacrifices make up a kind and generous character. Little
renounciations, endurances, and victories over self make up a strong and noble character. The
truly honest man is honest in the minutest details of his life. The noble man is noble in every little
thing he says and does.
It is a fatal delusion with men to think that life is detached from the momentary thought and
act, and not to understand that the passing thought and deed is the foundation and substance of
life. When this is fully understood all things are seen as sacred, and every act becomes religious.
Truth is wrapped up in infinitesimal details. Thoroughness is genius.
“Possessions vanish, and opinions change,
And passions hold a fluctuating seat:
But, by the storms of circumstance unshaken,
And subject neither to eclipse nor wane,
Duty exists.”

You do not live your life in the mass; you live it in the fragments and from these the mass
emerges. You can will to live each fragment nobly if you choose, and, this being done, there can be
no particle of baseness in the finished whole. The saying “Take care of the pence and the pounds
will take care of themselves” is seen to be more than worldly-wise when applied spiritually, for, to
take care of the present, passing act, knowing that by so doing the total sum and amount of life and
character will be safely preserved, is to be divinely wise. Do not long to do great and laudable
things; these will do themselves if you do your present task nobly. Do not chafe at the restrictions

and limitations of your present duty but be nobly unselfish in the doing of it, putting aside
discontent, listlessness, and the foolish contemplation of great deeds which lie beyond you — and
lo! already the greatness for which you sighed begins to appear. There is no weakness like
peevishness. Aspire to the attainment of inward nobility, not outward glory, and begin to attain it
where you now are.
The irksomeness and sting which you feel to be in your task are in your mind only. Alter your
attitude of mind towards it, and at once the crooked path is made straight, the unhappiness is
turned into joy.
See that your every fleeting moment is strong, pure, and purposeful; put earnestness and
unselfishness into every passing task and duty; make your every thought, word, and deed sweet
and true; thus learning, by practice and experience, the inestimable value of the small things of life,
you will gather, little by little, abundant and enduring blessedness.