ANGER
Do you think it possible to have perfect happiness here on earth? Yes.... Where? In the movies? That isn't perfect because it has an end. The answer is no. You cannot have perfect happiness here on earth. This is a vale of tears. "We have not here a lasting dwelling place." Captain Crabby is next in line. He is the one in Satan's crew who stands for anger. You all know what anger is. It means grumbling and losing your temper and the like.
I have in my hand a small rose. Can you all see it? I am going to tell you a story about its grandfather. Grandfather Rose was a King Edward Tea Rose, and a real beauty he was too. But when he was very young, just a little shoot, he was dropped into the ground. He didn't like it one bit. He kept shouting, "Let me out. I'm being buried alive. Help me." But no one came to help him. Instead they came and poured water over him. "Woe is me!" he cried, "Will trouble never cease? Now they are trying to drown me." Still no one came to help him and he was left underground to grumble all by himself. Autumn came and the leaves fell to earth, "Go away. Do you want to smother me?" said Grandfather Rose. Then came the winter and the snow and ice. Said Grandfather Rose, "Ah, me! I'll never get out of this dungeon alive. What have I done to deserve this?" The spring came and the snow melted. The melted snow began to seep into the ground and the Grandfather Rose had to drink it. "Now they are poisoning me. What a life." Soon after that the skin on the stem began to break open. "Now look what they've done. I'm dead for sure this time." He began to grow up and up until his head was above the ground. "You get me out of here," he said to the gardener. But the gardener came along with a pair of scissors and cut off one or two leaves. I won't tell, you what Grandfather Rose said that time. But he kept growing and growing until last year he won a prize in a flower show.
Now tell me the lesson hidden in that parable. Don't grumble. Yes. You are all little roses planted in the soil of this life, destined to climb up through the mud to heaven. The pains of this life are the price we pay for the joy of the next. So when you are told to go to bed early don't be a surly old plant and murmur, "They're trying to make a sissy out of me," or when you are told to do your homework, don't say, "They take all the fun out of life." You are being trained just as Grandfather Rose Was. You can suggest your own little task for this week. Do your homework. That is a good idea. And remember that the rose which gets the most care wins the prize at the flower show. So there is not much sense in being Captain Crabby around the house. How much nicer to be the opposite to him. Who is the opposite to Captain Crabby, do you remember? He is the one you are to be like around the house. His name is Captain Cheerful.
- Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941 -
Do you think it possible to have perfect happiness here on earth? Yes.... Where? In the movies? That isn't perfect because it has an end. The answer is no. You cannot have perfect happiness here on earth. This is a vale of tears. "We have not here a lasting dwelling place." Captain Crabby is next in line. He is the one in Satan's crew who stands for anger. You all know what anger is. It means grumbling and losing your temper and the like.
I have in my hand a small rose. Can you all see it? I am going to tell you a story about its grandfather. Grandfather Rose was a King Edward Tea Rose, and a real beauty he was too. But when he was very young, just a little shoot, he was dropped into the ground. He didn't like it one bit. He kept shouting, "Let me out. I'm being buried alive. Help me." But no one came to help him. Instead they came and poured water over him. "Woe is me!" he cried, "Will trouble never cease? Now they are trying to drown me." Still no one came to help him and he was left underground to grumble all by himself. Autumn came and the leaves fell to earth, "Go away. Do you want to smother me?" said Grandfather Rose. Then came the winter and the snow and ice. Said Grandfather Rose, "Ah, me! I'll never get out of this dungeon alive. What have I done to deserve this?" The spring came and the snow melted. The melted snow began to seep into the ground and the Grandfather Rose had to drink it. "Now they are poisoning me. What a life." Soon after that the skin on the stem began to break open. "Now look what they've done. I'm dead for sure this time." He began to grow up and up until his head was above the ground. "You get me out of here," he said to the gardener. But the gardener came along with a pair of scissors and cut off one or two leaves. I won't tell, you what Grandfather Rose said that time. But he kept growing and growing until last year he won a prize in a flower show.
Now tell me the lesson hidden in that parable. Don't grumble. Yes. You are all little roses planted in the soil of this life, destined to climb up through the mud to heaven. The pains of this life are the price we pay for the joy of the next. So when you are told to go to bed early don't be a surly old plant and murmur, "They're trying to make a sissy out of me," or when you are told to do your homework, don't say, "They take all the fun out of life." You are being trained just as Grandfather Rose Was. You can suggest your own little task for this week. Do your homework. That is a good idea. And remember that the rose which gets the most care wins the prize at the flower show. So there is not much sense in being Captain Crabby around the house. How much nicer to be the opposite to him. Who is the opposite to Captain Crabby, do you remember? He is the one you are to be like around the house. His name is Captain Cheerful.
- Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941 -
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