The Constancy of Compensation

Sometimes it may seem that rewards are long delayed. Sometimes it may seem that

those who are selfish, that those who shirk, that those who engage in sharp practice, acquires

an enviable living and live an enviable life. If it seems so, it is because we see only one side – for

what is acquired in wrong ways is not quite what it sometimes seems to be. To put it another

way: Suppose we assume that undeserving people sometimes seem to be successful. But if we

knew enough, if we could see all sides (including inside), if we knew all the elements that go

into the making of man, that go into the making of his happiness; the things that give

understanding and appreciation and peace – if we knew all this, we should know that there is a

reward for Tightness, that there is constancy of compensation. There is compensation in the

very make-up of a man. In the words of William James: “Every smallest stroke of virtue or of

vice leaves its never so little scar.” Every thought and act and word is being counted “among

the molecules and nerve cells and fibers.”… “Nothing we ever do is in strict scientific literalness

wiped out.” An abused conscience, for example, impairs the capacity for genuine enjoyment. “Punishment,” added Emerson, “is a fruit that unsuspected, ripens within the flower of the

pleasure which concealed it… Seed and fruit cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms

in the cause… the fruit in the seed.”… “What will you have? quoth God; pay for it and take it…

Thou shalt be paid exactly for what thou hast done, no more, no less.”… “The cheat, the

defaulter, the gambler cannot [take] the benefit.”… “Everything has its price;… It is impossible

to get anything without its price.” In ways that we are not always immediately aware of, there

is a reward received or a penalty paid for everything we do or fail to do. Aside from ultimate

and eternal consideration, there is compensation in the very make-up of man.