By J.R. Miller
It is easy to let things run down. We begin carefully--but presently lapse into carelessness. A child's copy book is apt to show reasonably fair following of the copy in the top lines, and then the farther down the page, the worse. An old adage has it that a new broom sweeps clean; implying that as it gets older it does not do its work so well. This tendency from good to less good--from watchfulness to neglect--is not confined, however, to such inanimate instruments as brooms. The disposition is human and very common, if not almost universal.
Eternal vigilance is the price of other things besides liberty. Nothing but intense watchfulness will save us from the tendency to let things run down, whether in our personal habits, in our work, or in our character. We begin with enthusiasm, and succeed well because we do our work with zest and earnestness. For a time we keep up to our high standards, and then we begin to flag in our interest and also in our energy, and at once our work shows it.
This is one of the perils of business. A merchant opens a new store. He will run it in a new way, with improved methods. Everything about the place is bright. The goods are the best the market affords. The methods of business adopted, are modern and obliging. The salespeople are attentive and accommodating. Everything is done promptly and in a way to give the fullest satisfaction. Evidently the aim of the proprietor is to make his store as nearly perfect as possible. For a time the new broom sweeps clean. Everything is kept in perfect order. The store is attractive and beautiful. The improved methods are faithfully followed. There is no occasion for complaint, and if mistakes occur, they are cheerfully rectified.
But after a while, there is an evident lowering of the standard. The place is losing somewhat of its bright look. The newness is wearing off. There is not the same effort to please. The salespeople have not the old enthusiastic way of waiting upon their customers. The goods are not always satisfactory. Complaints are frequent and do not receive attention. People begin to say that the store is running down.
The same tendency is seen sometimes in a home. At the beginning everything is neat and tidy. Evidently the mistress looks after the smallest details of her housekeeping herself. Not a speck of dust is seen anywhere. Everything is kept in the best order. All who come admire the excellent taste displayed, and are charmed by the beautiful way in which the affairs of the household are administered. After a while, however, visitors begin to notice a change. The old tidiness is giving way to a condition of disorder and untidiness. Things are not kept in their place. The pictures are crooked on the walls. The furniture is not dusted as it used to be. The children are not so carefully dressed as they used to be. All about the house, the lessening interest shows, too, without and within. The grounds are not kept neat and attractive as they used to be. Gates, fences, and outbuildings have a tumble down appearance. Inside, walls, carpets, curtains, and furniture begin to have a neglected look. The whole air of the place has changed. The home is running down.
We find the same tendency also ofttimes in people. It manifests itself in many ways. It may be in personal habits. There are those who used to be almost fastidious in their appearance. Even though unable to wear the finest clothes, they always dressed in the best taste. But now signs of slovenliness show that there has been a relaxing of the carefulness. There is not the same attention to personal appearance. It little ways, the change is noted at first--but it gradually becomes more marked.
In people's personal lives, too, the same tendency often becomes apparent. We are apt to allow ourselves to slacken our diligence in our work. Especially is this true when our tasks are the same over and over, the old routine every day. It is hard to keep up the zest and interest with this everlasting repletion--in the home, in the office, or in the shop. It is very easy after doing the same things a thousand times, to do them a little less painstakingly.
In the care of the body, too, great watchfulness is required to avoid becoming neglectful. An old man of ninety said it had not taken half the energy for him to do the great tasks and to meet the large responsibilities of his long life, than it had for him to brush his teeth three times a day, year after year, and never once neglect it nor do it carelessly. It requires an unusual energy and persistence for a mechanic to do his work as conscientiously year after year, as he did at the beginning.
In the moralities it is not less difficult to keep up to tone. We set out determined to make the most of our life. We fix our standard high. We intend to live in all ways worthily, pleasing God. We begin well, and for a time are conscientious and faithful. We resist temptation and are loyal to our Master in the smallest things. We are diligent in the performance of all our duties. We cultivate the spirit of love in our relations with others, and strive to be patient, thoughtful, kind, helpful to all about us. We endeavor to live for the higher things, putting character above pleasure or self indulgence, and keeping ourselves unspotted from the world.
But too often we grow weary in well-doing and slacken our diligence. We are not so conscientious as we were about our daily prayer and Bible reading. We are more easily interrupted or hindered in our devotional habits. We keep a less vigilant watch over our tongues, and sometimes speak words which are not true, or which are unkind and uncharitable. We let the reins slip from our hands, allowing our temper to run wild, hurting gentle lives and bringing shame upon ourselves. We grow remiss in our religious activities, dropping tasks and withdrawing from responsibilities. It is easy thus to allow our lives to run down in their moralities.
The only way to prevent this unhappy tendency in any department of life, is to watch against the smallest beginnings of neglect or inattention. Our lives must be kept up to tone at every point. The musician has his piano tuned frequently, that its strings may not fall below concert pitch. An artist kept some highly colored stones in his studio, and said it was to keep his eye up to tone. We need continually to keep before us high ideals, lofty standards, for if our ideals and standards are lowered, our attainments will be lowered too.
One of the effects of mingling with people, is that we allow ourselves to be influenced by their example and to become tolerant of imperfection, of failure, of neglect in ourselves. The Christian needs always to keep Christ before his eye--that by His perfect life he may be inspired to do his best. One of the reasons for daily Bible reading, is that by its heavenly teachings, we may be kept continually in mind of what we ought to be and what we ought to do.
