GOLD DUST
FIRST PART
Translated and abridged from French by E. L. E. B. Edited by CHARLOTTE M. YONGE
XLIII
My friend, do you know why the work you accomplish fails either to give pleasure to yourself or others?
It is because it is not cheerfully done, and therefore appears discolored.
A joyous heart amid our work imparts to duty a brilliancy that charms the eyes of others, while it prevents those feeling wounded who cannot perform it equally well.
Joy, with us, is like a lever, by which we lift the weights that without its help would crush us.
A workman once said: "If I were to leave off singing, I should be quite unequal to my business."
Then sing always; let your heart sing as in its earliest years.
The refrain of the heart, which perhaps never passes the lips, but which echoes in heaven, is this sentence:—
"I love and I am beloved!"