Those who love darkness rather than light are morally blind. Here is a case of physical blindness:
Richmond, Va., has a nineteen-year-old
boy, Audrey Wilson, who is totally blind in
the day, but can see like a cat at night. He
can speed a bicycle where ordinary persons
have to walk with caution; but in the day
he gropes about, able only vaguely to distinguish
any object and with no discrimination
as to colors. He is quite a possum
hunter. He can easily distinguish the animals
in the trees without the aid of a lantern.
Needless to say, young Wilson is in
great demand by possum hunters.—Leslie's Weekly.
(664)
See Shadow; Solitude; Lesson of.
DARKNESS DEVELOPING CHARACTER
Darkness seems to be as necessary to life
and growth in this world as is light. An
earnest, tireless worker for Christ who has
recently suffered through months of illness,
writes a cheery word of sympathy to a fellow
sufferer, and adds about herself: "It is
a long time since I have done a day's work;
it is only a half-hour's work, or maybe fifteen
minutes at a time. And many days
have been in a dark room. I wonder, sometimes,
if a 'dark room' is as necessary for
the developing of character as it is for the
developing of negatives. If so, perhaps a
time will come when I can look back upon
the dark-room days with thankfulness. Just
now, I want to work." To wait and to trust,
if God directs that, even while one longs to
be out in the light and at work, is to gain
and grow in the development which only the
dark room can give. (Text.)
(665)
Darkness Frightens—See Fear of Man.
DARKNESS, GROWTH IN
There is a darkness which helps and
sweetens. Disappointments, difficulties, discouragements,
and all things dark, come to
us apparently to depress us, but these are
part of the experience which helps us. Black
charcoal will keep water sweet. Bulbs must
be buried in the darkness if they are to
grow. In the winter a florist endeavored with
success to grow some bulbs without placing
them in the ground. He gathered some
small stones and put them into basins, placing
the bulbs on the top of the stones. Then he
poured in sufficient water to touch the bulbs,
and to conserve the sweetness of the water
he introduced little pieces of charcoal
among the stones. He then placed the basin
in a dark cupboard and kept them there for
ten weeks, and when he took them out the
green leaves of the bulbs were showing.
(Text.)
(666)
DARKNESS, INFLUENCE OF
The nature of most birds seems so full of
vitality and gladness that the nocturnal habits
of certain species make a more melancholy
impression than is their due. The nightingale's
song is essentially strong and spirited;
but the bird has acquired a lasting reputation
for dolorousness, partly owing to the
influence of darkness and solitude on the
mind of the midnight listener, but largely
because of its apparent preference for night
over day. Half the impression of melancholy
vanishes from the nightingale's nocturnal
song, once the hearer has learned to
recognize the same music in the confusing
midday chorus. The owl's reputation, which
is sinister rather than merely mournful, is
equally little deserved. We do not set down
the jackdaw as a maleficent fowl for haunting
church-yards and ruins, or the jay for its
harshness of voice; but both these qualities
have been enough to excite an historic prejudice
against owls. Yet, if once the associations
of old superstitions are dispelled, owls
are recognized as among the most companionable
of birds, and their cries in the winter
nights as some of the most heartening sounds
in nature.—London Times.
(667)
DAUGHTERS ESTIMATED
The woman's place in Korea is, first as
daughter, one of contempt. A missionary's
little six-year-old once came to him with
tears in her eyes and said: "Papa, I have
a question." "Yes, what is it?" "Are you
sorry that I wasn't a boy?" "Well, I should
say not; I wouldn't trade you for a dozen
boys. But why do you ask?"
She said, "The Koreans were talking just now, and they pointed at me and said, 'What a pity that she wasn't a boy!'"—James S. Gale, "Korea in Transition."
(668)
Dawn Eternal—See Soul Flight.
DAWN OF CHRISTIAN LIGHT
It is related that near the North Pole, the
night lasting for months, when the people
