Nettie E Waychoff
and her sister Oma Mary
‘TWIXT A SMILE AND A SIGH
“On the sunniest slope of the garden of Paradise, the trees stand-in long pleasant rows. The air is always balmy, and the trees are always in bloom with pink and white blossoms. From a distance they look like apple trees, but close at hand, you see that the pink and white blossoms are little bows and streamers of ribbon and that the boughs are swaying gently with the weight of many dimpled babies. Walking up and down, are kind old storks, and as they walk, they turn their heads, looking upward, to see where there may be a a sweet pink and white baby ready to be carried away, out of the garden into the big strange world. It is a vast garden and there are many trees and many storks, and every moment there is a whirring of strong wings, and a stork has passed out of the garden with the dearest gift that Heaven can give to old Mother Earth.” Thus Nature begins life with a smile and leaves with us the power to end it with either a smile or a sigh.
This little life may be a tiny pendulum which begins its task with feeble but regular vibrations. It swings to and fro with perfect ease. The pendulum of the mechanical world, retarded by friction and untoward forces, makes shorter and shorter vibrations until it is finally brought to rest. But this little pendulum, if moved in the beginning by right influence and protected from wrong, swings industriously on, each vibration covering a little more space than the one preceding.

In some instances, however, malign influences are allowed to disturb the feeble pendulum. Then a struggle begins. On one side is Good, on the other, Evil. The one produces a smile, the other, a sigh. The struggle is a hard one. The world is full of the instruments of the two forces; envy, malice, and selfishness, vices which spring up and grow rapidly, if fostered, and by which, almost before it is realized, the whole aspect of life is changed, are pitted against faith, hope and love, the crowning characteristics of a beautiful, useful life.

Very early there must be strong influences of right thrown about the feeble pendulum. Its arc of vibration must be in the line of right living. A pendulum once disturbed cannot entirely adjust itself. Interrupted or shaken even though slightly it not only moves out of its old path at the point where the influence is felt, but the entire course is changed, and the former path is never regained. A life once turned from its true course will be influenced forever. The evil may, after a time, be so covered, that it will be practically unnoticed, but in some way it will appear, either in the life itself, or in some life which is dependent upon it. Hence we see the importance of a good beginning, for if we become accustomed to moving in a smooth regular path, the interruptions and jarrings of our daily life will have less influence.

Each experience that we swing through will lead to a lower or a higher experience as we choose, choose we must, and in us lies the power to make it a gateway to sin and disappointment, or a gateway to purity and blessing. Have a purpose and keep it well in view. Look to the higher power for assistance. God and only God knows the way through life and He will be our guide. There is a depth of meaning in the beautiful words of Lowell:

“Noble begin; though thou have time
For but one line, be that sublime.
Not failure, but low aim is crime.”

It is easy to mount on the wings of enthusiasm and swing swiftly on the road where inspiration keeps the spirit eager and unwearied, but perhaps the kind old stork carries its precious burden to some humble part of the world, where the hungry wolf lurks and where the struggle for existence leaves little opportunity or desire for widening influence. The usefulness of the life is not hindered thus. It can work on in its nook, however small, and nobly do the work laid out for it. The humble conditions which surround the life do not govern its achievements. The individual must adjust himself to his surroundings, make use of every opportunity that comes to him, and do the work that lies nearest. Sure as that is done there will come a time when the pendulum of his life will swing over space and a larger work will be allotted to him. Fortune will smile upon his efforts and success is sure to be his reward.

The ease with which certain favored persons appear to rise, the phenomenal successes of those from whose paths every obstruction seems to be removed, make the ordinary life look hard. But, after all, times for humble walking come to all sooner or later. “Wings for the azure, boots for the pavement.” All cannot always soar, and weary feet can only toil slowly on, patiently plodding the long hard road. Strength and courage for this is the highest attainment of all. Lofty enthusiasms fade in the pain and care of earth’s daily life. But the adornments of real worth may be gained by all. They are the gems dug by painstaking labor from the field of knowledge, not acquired for the asking, but only by long continued toil and search.

It is only by doing the little things along the way that greater responsibilities are granted. By so doing, too, is acquired the power and strength to take up whatever new work may come. As the mind and body develop, the pendulum swings farther and farther, and as the vibrations lengthen, greater becomes the responsibility, but greater also the capacity for meeting it. A life is not measured by what it has done, but by the good it has done. The average life, of necessity, cannot be made up of great sacrifices and duties, but rather of small ones, and in proportion as we perform or neglect those that come to our hands, just so do we add to the smiles of the world or add to its sighs. Golden opportunities come to us every day, but many are never repeated. The smile we did not return, the kind word we did not notice, the gentle look we received with coldness, are things of the past and will never come again.

The distance between a smile and a sigh is increased immeasurably by the true friendship and lasting enjoyment coming from the union of hearts and hands around the fireside of one’s own home. If smiles are not found there, they are rarely found at all. At home the rigorous mood of work and the nerve-strain of worry are laid aside, and the gentler graces of love and tenderness steal into our souls. Though dark clouds sometimes appear, beyond, the sun is always shining, the sky is always blue. Tears may come, but they serve only to soften our hearts and to disperse the clouds. When again we feel the sunshine of love and happiness, our hearts are filled with joy, there comes a song to our lips, and all earth seems a paradise.

Sweat of brow or brain is common to man. The statesman works as hard as the ploughman, station does not decide one’s happiness. Work as one may and fail, and there seems to be nothing in life. Strife brings enjoyment only while the battle is on. The only happiness that is lasting is in the remembrance of a duty well done. Life is the same yesterday and forever, in all ages and in all countries. It matters not whether in the ice bound regions of the North or in the sunny lands of the South, whether in the far East or in our own West, whether in darkest Africa or in the most enlightened nation of the earth, the wide world over, of every one it may be said with the poet:

“He suffered - but his pangs are o’er;
Enjoyed - but his delights are fled;
Had friends - his friends are now no more;
And foes - his foes are dead.”

Men hope and fear, smile and sigh, labor and rest, love and hate, live and die; and between these extremes the soul is always swinging. Thus it grows, thus it increases its power to feel, to do, to become. Hope gives it overcoming strength, fear gives wisdom; pain gives it sympathy, joy gives wings; struggle gives it resisting strength, ease gives dignity. The hatred of rivals engenders self-poise; the love of the good brings life - abundant life. Meanwhile the good hand of God is lengthening the sweep of this soul’s power. Wider and wider grows the arc of its beneficent usefulness; truer and truer becomes this segment of the infinite circle; until at last it swings into perfect harmony with the purpose of the Creator, when he hung this human pendulum ‘Twixt a Smile and a Sigh.

This was signed by both Oma and Nettie.
Nettie