Said a white sister for whom old Aunt Hannah was washing:
“Aunt Hannah, did you know that you have been accused of stealing?”
“Yes, I hearn about it,” said Aunt Hannah, and went on with her washing.
“Well, you won’t rest under it, will you?” said the sister.
Aunt Hannah raised herself up from her work, with a broad smile on her face, and looking up full at the white sister, said:
“De Lord knows I ain’t stole nuthin’, and I knows I ain’t, an’ life’s too short for me to be provin’ and ’splainin’ all de time; so I jest goes on my way rejoicin’. Dey know dey ain’t tellin’ the truf, and dey’ll feel ashamed and quit after awhile. If I can please de Lord dat is enough for me.”
Let us remember this, and be satisfied with pleasing the Lord. And let us not be too critical of others. Says Marcus Aurelius:
“How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbor says, or does, or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it may be just and pure.”
There is always danger of forming ourselves into a mutual admiration society, and nothing is more of a hindrance to progress. Self-satisfaction is fatal to self-development. And here our enemies may have been all actual benefit to us, in order that we might not think more of ourselves than we ought to have done.