Sentiment is Power

Some people never do anything for the sake of sentiment. They pride themselves on being practical. Perhaps you remember the incident of the woman who broke an alabaster box and annointed Christ with the precious ointment of spikenard and how the practical minded men standing by accused her of being wasteful.

Columnist John R. Gunn writes, "If left up to them, such people would turn the whole Earth into a corn field with no room allowed for flower gardens. To be sure, the cornfield has its place, but without some flower gardens this would be a dreary looking Earth. We should feel sorry for those who have no sentiment in their nature. How do such people get any pleasure; any thrill out of life? They must be a misery to themselves. Certainly they do not make happy companions, for without sentiment the heart becomes cold and hard. Sentiment is a necessary thing - it is the poetry that mingles with the prose of everyday life. Sentiment makes much more endurable the hard prosaic, practical parts of life. The man who has a heart that responds to the tender and the beautiful is the man best prepared for life's sterner duties. Sentiment is not weakness - it is power. Sentiment is inspiration - it is the inspiration that lies back of the noblest deeds of self-sacrifice and love. Those who speak disparagingly of sentiment simply do not understand its value and meaning. Very precious indeed is the alabaster box of sentiment."