Sometimes you receive a gift you didn’t realize you needed. A few weeks ago, John Weigant offered me a small book that had been in his possession for some years. It’s quite old-timey, with a well-worn leather cover and a gold embossed insignia of an organization called “Friendly Fellows.” You can see it in the pictures below. In 1931, the book was inscribed to a recipient here in Portland by the author, a one Sidney J. Burgoyne of Philadelphia.

At first, I assumed the little book would be a dated compendium of platitudes about daily living. And, in some ways, I suppose it is. Yet, being the grounded optimist that I am, I couldn’t resist exploring the musings of “A society formed for the purpose of seeking and finding the good in others” (as the title page explains).

Sidney suggests that our mantra upon meeting others could be: “I know something good about you.” But is it? In this divided country we’re living in (and even within the smaller society of our congregation), are we attempting to “seek and find the good in others?” Or have we been conditioned to ferret out the worst? To judge? To greet others more suspiciously with the hidden thought,” I imagine something bad about you?”

Mr. Burgoyne’s daily thoughts had me hooked by the January 4th entry. Yes, it is so goody-two-shoes and so syrupy it could give you a cavity. But a bit of Depression-era optimism never hurt anyone, I reckon. Here’s a portion of the entry for May 1st:

The Test of Living
Making the most of what we have,
Turning dull hours to gold,
Finding joy in commonplace things,
And warmth in a heart grown cold.
Seeing the good in a lowly place,
Blessing the spot where we are,
And hitching our wagon to where we have,
If life doesn’t send us a star.
That is the test of living, my friend,
Which shows if we’re great or small,
Getting the most out of what life brings,
And finding it good – that’s all.“

Thanks Sydney. And thanks John Weigant for being Eastrose’s own friendly fellow.