“Life is too short for any bitter feeling;
Time is the best avenger if we wait.
The years speed on, and on their wings bear healing;
We have no room for anything like hate.
This solemn truth the low mounds seem revealing,
That thick and fast about our feet are stealing–
Life is too short.”
Some people have a great deal of trouble in looking after their rights. They are continually on the alert, guarding them against unwarranted encroachments. It is natural and human to wish to have one’s rights respected. In one sense we cannot blame the man who insists that he shall always have his place according to his rank, and that others shall accord to him the respect and honor which are his due. Yet we all admit that such a spirit is not a winning or beautiful one. We do not in our heart admire the person who is always clamoring for his rights, and who is offended by every word or act which seems to ignore his dignity.
At least, there is a “more excellent way” – the way of Christian love. “The grandest thing in having rights,” said George MacDonald, “is that, being your rights, you can give them up.” That is the Christian way. “Love seeketh not its own.” It is ready always to yield even that which it might justly claim.
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