Many of us enjoy walking in the woods, don’t we! Hiking, picking berries, listening to birds, or just walking there whether alone or in the company of friends. If you are one of these people, it is probably easy for you to identify with the following quote:

“Use what talents you possess: the woods would be
very silent if no birds sang there except those
that sang best”

Imagine if some birds could and then would decide not to sing if they thought their song was not up to standard that day, or any day! The woods really might be a much more silent place! Likewise, we human beings must do what comes naturally to all of us: to express ourselves, no matter which way we do it. We have our voice, we have some inherent or learn talent, we have dreams. We have what it takes - environment allowing - to grow and prosper.

And who said that?

It was Henry van Dyke Jr. (1852-1819), an author, educator and clergyman from Germantown, Pennsylvania. And he knew what he was talking about. Of course, he had his faith to lean on too: “I’m not an optimist, there’s too much evil in the world and in me. Nor am I a pessimist; there is too much good in the world and in God. So I am just a meliorist, believing that He wills to make the world better, and trying to do my bit to help and wishing that it were more.”