Have you ever been so out of sorts with the world
That you just didn’t know what to do?
And if you had to, you couldn’t tell the reason why
You were feeling so blue?
Oh, I know we all have days like that,
When home life seems so full of care
That you feel like you’d just like to put on your hat
And run, well, most anywhere.
On a gloomy morning not long ago,
I was feeling that way;
I answered by telephone to hear a sweet voice say,
“We’d like you to go along with us to the Home for Incurables today”.
“We want to cheer up those poor folks,
Their lives are so dreary and gray”.
Well, imagine on that day of all days when I was in such a mood,
But I answered her I’d try and be there, for it might do me good.
But just how much good it was going to do me I’m sure I never knew,
For it opened my eyes to my blessings as nothing else could do.
And I learned a wonderful lesson that day, a lesson I’ll never forget,
Should I live to be a century old, it will cling to my memory yet.
As I wandered around there from room to room,
And saw a smile on each careworn face,
I wondered if I could smile like that –
If I were put in their place.
There were some folks who could not walk,
Others who could not see;
Some who were confined to their beds,
And yet, each one had a smile for me.
And I thought, why we came here to help these folks,
The bright side of life to see —
And instead it is they
Who are showing the bright side of life to me.
For each and every one wore a smile,
Regardless of what burdens they had to bear.
And it taught me to be a great deal more thankful,
For a life that was free from care.
And that night I thanked God for my blessings,
Thanked him for His great gift of wealth,
Not given in jewels and dollars —
But given in strength and health.
And I prayed that if along life’s journey,
Such burdens as their’s came to me,
That He’d give me the strength they had
The bright side of life to see.
In their world of pain and trouble,
Even they have a task to do.
For I believe God wants them to smile through their worries,
To teach a lesson to me and to you.
And when I saw them smiling so bravely,
I was ashamed that I ever was blue;
For God has been quite good to me —
Has He not been that good to you ?
Now, the next time you feel all out of sorts with the world,
You just put on your coat and hat;
Take a trip to Longview or the Incurables Home,
It’s the best cure in the world for that.
And that night when you bow your head to pray,
I know that you too will say —
“Thanks, God, for the wonderful lesson
That I have learned today”.
