Chapter 10

Retirement from anxieties of every kind; entering into no disputes; avoiding all frivolous talk; and simplifying everything we engage in, whether in a way of doing or suffering; denying the, imagination its false activities, and the intellect its false searchings after what it cannot obtain,--these seem to be some of the steps that lead to obedience to the holy precept in our text.

JAMES P. GREAVES.

Retire inwardly; wait to feel somewhat of God's Spirit, discovering and drawing away from that which is contrary to His holy nature, and leading into that which is acceptable to Him. As the mind is joined to this, some true light and life is received.

I. PENINGTON.

Act up faithfully to your convictions; and when you have been unfaithful, bear with yourself, and resume always with calm simplicity your little task. Suppress, as much as you possibly can, all recurrence to yourself, and you will suppress much vanity. Accustom yourself to much calmness and an indifference to events.

MADAME GUYON.

July 15

_Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in_.--PS. xxiv. 9.

_Ye are the temple of the living God_.--2 COR. vi. 16.

Fling wide the portals of your heart, Make it a temple set apart From earthly use for Heaven's employ, Adorned with prayer, and love, and joy. So shall your Sovereign enter in, And new and nobler life begin.

G. WEISSEL.

Thou art to know that thy soul is the centre, habitation, and kingdom of God. That, therefore, to the end the sovereign King may rest on that throne of thy soul, thou oughtest to take pains to keep it clean, quiet, and peaceable,--clean from guilt and defects; quiet from fears; and peaceable in temptations and tribulations. Thou oughtest always, then, to keep thine heart in peace, that thou mayest keep pure that temple of God; and with a right and pure intention thou art to work, pray, obey, and suffer (without being in the least moved), whatever it pleases the Lord to send unto thee.

M. DE MOLINOS

July 16

_Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee_.--PS. xxxi. 19.

_I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me_.--PS. xiii. 6.

Thy calmness bends serene above My restlessness to still; Around me flows Thy quickening life, To nerve my faltering will; Thy presence fills my solitude; Thy providence turns all to good.

S. LONGFELLOW.

With a heart devoted to God and full of God, no longer seek Him in the heavens above or the earth beneath, or in the things under the earth, but recognize Him as the great fact of the universe, separate from no place or part, but revealed in all places and in all things and events, _moment by moment_. And as eternity alone will exhaust this momentary revelation, which has sometimes been called the ETERNAL Now, thou shalt thus find God ever present and ever new; and thy soul shall adore Him and feed upon Him in the things and events which each new moment brings; and thou shalt never be absent from Him, and He shall never be absent from thee.

T. C. UPHAM.

July 17

_For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us_.--ROM. viii. 18.

_The power of an endless life_.--HEB. vii. 16.

Believ'st thou in eternal things? Thou knowest, in thy inmost heart, Thou art not clay; thy soul hath wings, And what thou seest is but part. Make this thy med'cine for the smart Of every day's distress; be dumb, In each new loss thou truly art Tasting the power of things that come.

T. W. Parsons.

Every contradiction of our will, every little ailment, every petty disappointment, will, if we take it patiently, become a blessing. So, walking on earth, we may be in heaven; the ill-tempers of others, the slights and rudenesses of the world, ill-health, the daily accidents with which God has mercifully strewed our paths, instead of ruffling or disturbing our peace, may cause His peace to be shed abroad in our hearts abundantly.

E. B. PUSEY.

July 18

_A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another_.--JOHN xiii. 34.

_And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love, one toward another, and toward all men_.--I THESS. iii. 12.

Let love through all my conduct shine, An image fair, though faint, of Thine; Thus let me His disciple prove, Who came to manifest Thy love.

Simon Browne.

We should arrive at a fulness of love extending to the whole creation, a desire to impart, to pour out in full and copious streams the love and goodness we bear to all around us.

J. P. GREAVES.

Goodness and love mould the form into their own image, and cause the joy and beauty of love to shine forth from every part of the face. When this form of love is seen, it appears ineffably beautiful, and affects with delight the inmost life of the soul.

E. SWEDENBORG.

The soul within had so often lighted up her countenance with its own full happiness and joy, that something of a permanent radiance remained upon it.

SARAH W. STEPHEN.

July 19

_The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works_.--PS. cxlv. 9.

_For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills_.--PS. 1. 10.

Maker of earth and sea and sky, Creation's sovereign Lord and King, Who hung the starry worlds on high, And formed alike the sparrow's wing; Bless the dumb creatures of Thy care, And listen to their voiceless prayer.

ANON.

I believe where the love of God is verily perfected, and the true spirit of government watchfully attended to, a tenderness towards all creatures made subject to us will be experienced; and a care felt in us, that we do not lessen that sweetness of life in the animal creation, which the great Creator intends for them under our government. To say we love God as unseen, and at the same time exercise cruelty toward the least creature moving by His life, or by life derived from Him, was a contradiction in itself.

JOHN WOOLMAN.

I would give nothing for that man's religion whose very dog and cat are not the better for it.

ROWLAND HILL.

July 20

_Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain_.--ISA. xlix. 4.

Because I spent the strength Thou gavest me In struggle which Thou never didst ordain, And have but dregs of life to offer Thee-- O Lord, I do repent.

SARAH WILLIAMS.

Mind, it is our best work that He wants, not the dregs of our exhaustion. I think He must prefer quality to quantity.

GEORGE MACDONALD.

If the people about you are carrying on their business or their benevolence at a pace which drains the life out of you, resolutely take a slower pace; be called a laggard, make less money, accomplish less work than they, but be what you were meant to be and can be. You have your natural limit of power as much as an engine,--ten-horse power, or twenty, or a hundred. You are fit to do certain kinds of work, and you need a certain kind and amount of fuel, and a certain kind of handling.

GEORGE S. MERRIAM.

In your occupations, try to possess your soul in peace. It is not a good plan to be in haste to perform any action that it may be the sooner over. On the contrary, you should accustom yourself to do whatever you have to do with tranquillity, in order that you may retain the possession of yourself and of settled peace.

MADAME GUYON.

July 21

_For which cause we faint not; but, though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day_.--2 COR. iv. 16.

Let my soul beneath her load Faint not through the o'erwearied flesh; Let me hourly drink afresh Love and peace from Thee, my God!

C. F. RICHTER.

In my attempts to promote the comfort of my family, the quiet of my spirit has been disturbed. Some of this is doubtless owing to physical weakness; but, with every temptation, there is a way of escape; there is _never_ any _need_ to sin. Another thing I have suffered loss from,--entering into the business of the day without seeking to have my spirit quieted and directed. So many things press upon me, this is sometimes neglected; shame to me that it should be so.

This is of great importance, to watch carefully,--now I am so weak--not to over-fatigue myself, because then I cannot contribute to the pleasure of others; and a placid face and a gentle tone will make my family more happy than anything else I can do for them. Our own will gets sadly into the performance of our duties sometimes.

ELIZABETH T. KING.

July 22

_Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord_.--PS. cvii. 43.

What channel needs our faith, except the eyes? God leaves no spot of earth unglorified; Profuse and wasteful, lovelinesses rise; New beauties dawn before the old have died.

Trust thou thy joys in keeping of the Power Who holds these changing shadows in His hand; Believe and live, and know that hour by hour Will ripple newer beauty to thy strand.

T. W. HIGGINSON.

I wondered over again for the hundredth time what could be the principle which, in the wildest, most lawless, fantastically chaotic, apparently capricious work of nature, always kept it beautiful. The beauty of holiness must be at the heart of it somehow, I thought. Because our God is so free from stain, so loving, so unselfish, so good, so altogether what He wants us to be, so holy, therefore all His works declare Him in beauty; His fingers can touch nothing but to mould it into loveliness; and even the play of His elements is in grace and tenderness of form.

G. MACDONALD.

July 23

_Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind_.--LUKE x. 27.

O God, what offering shall I give To Thee, the Lord of earth and skies? My spirit, soul, and flesh receive, A holy, living sacrifice.

J. LANGE.

To love God "with all our heart," is to know the spiritual passion of measureless gratitude for loving-kindness, and self-devotedness to goodness; to love Him "with all our mind," is to know the passion for Truth that is the enthusiasm of Science, the passion for Beauty that inspires the poet and the artist, when all truth and beauty are regarded as the self-revealings of God; to love Him "with all our soul," is to know the saint's rapture of devotion and gaze of penitential awe into the face of the All-holy, the saint's abhorrence of sin, and agony of desire to save a sinner's soul; and to love Him "with all our strength," is the supreme spiritual passion that tests the rest; the passion for reality, for worship in spirit and in truth, for being what we adore, for doing what we know to be God's word; the loyalty that exacts the living sacrifice, the whole burnt-offering that is our reasonable service, and in our coldest hours keeps steadfast to what seemed good when we were aglow.

J. H. THOM.

July 24

_Walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory_.--I THESS. ii. 12.

_Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not_.--GEN. xxviii. 16.

Thou earnest not to thy place by accident, It is the very place God meant for thee; And shouldst thou there small scope for action see, Do not for this give room to discontent.

R. C. TRENCH.

Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.

R. W. EMERSON.

Adapt thyself to the things with which thy lot has been cast; and love the men with whom it is thy portion to live, and that with a sincere affection. No longer be either dissatisfied with thy present lot, or shrink from the future.

MARCUS ANTONINUS.

I love best to have each thing in its season, doing without it at all other times. I have never got over my surprise that I should have been born into the most estimable place in all the world, and in the very nick of time too.

H. D. THOREAU.

July 25

_He knoweth the way that I take_.--JOB xxiii. 10.

_Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way_?--PROV. xx. 24.

Be quiet, why this anxious heed About thy tangled ways? God knows them all, He giveth speed, And He allows delays.

E. W.

We complain of the slow, dull life we are forced to lead, of our humble sphere of action, of our low position in the scale of society, of our having no room to make ourselves known, of our wasted energies, of our years of patience. So do we say that we have no Father who is directing our life; so do we say that God has forgotten us; so do we boldly judge what life is best for us, and so by our complaining do we lose the use and profit of the quiet years. O men of little faith! Because you are not sent out yet into your labor, do you think God has ceased to remember you? Because you are forced to be outwardly inactive, do you think you, also, may not be, in your years of quiet, "about your Father's business"? It is a period given to us in which to mature ourselves for the work which God will give us to do.

STOPFORD A. BROOKE.

July 26

_They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even for ever_.--PS. cxxv. I, 2.

How on a rock they stand, Who watch His eye, and hold His guiding hand! Not half so fixed amid her vassal hills, Rises the holy pile that Kedron's valley fills.

J. KEBLE.

That is the way to be immovable in the midst of troubles, as a rock amidst the waves. When God is in the midst of a kingdom or city, He makes it firm as Mount Sion, that cannot be removed. When He is in the midst of a soul, though calamities throng about it on all hands, and roar like the billows of the sea, yet there is a constant calm within, such a peace as the world can neither give nor take away. What is it but want of lodging God in the soul, and that in His stead the world is in men's hearts, that makes them shake like leaves at every blast of danger?

R. LEIGHTON.

July 27

_He that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty_.--MATT. xiii. 23.

Then bless thy secret growth, nor catch At noise, but thrive unseen and dumb; Keep clean, bear fruit, earn life, and watch Till the white-winged reapers come.

H. VAUGHAN.

He does not need to transplant us into a different field, but right where we are, with just the circumstances that surround us, He makes His sun to shine and His dew to fall upon us, and transforms the very things that were before our greatest hindrances, into the chiefest and most blessed means of our growth. No difficulties in your case can baffle Him. No dwarfing of your growth in years that are past, no apparent dryness of your inward springs of life, no crookedness or deformity in any of your past development, can in the least mar the perfect work that He will accomplish, if you will only put yourselves absolutely into His hands, and let Him have His own way with you.

H. W. SMITH.

July 28

_But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope_.--I THESS. iv. 13.

Yet Love will dream, and Faith will trust (Since He who knows our need is just), That somehow, somewhere, meet we must. Alas for him who never sees The stars shine through his cypress trees; Who hath not learned in hours of faith, The truth to flesh and sense unknown, That life is ever Lord of Death, And Love can never lose its own.

J. G. WHITTIER.

While we poor wayfarers still toil, with hot and bleeding feet, along the highway and the dust of life, our companions have but mounted the divergent path, to explore the more sacred streams, and visit the diviner vales, and wander amid the everlasting Alps, of God's upper province of creation. And so we keep up the courage of our hearts, and refresh ourselves with the memories of love, and travel forward in the ways of duty, with less weary step, feeling ever for the hand of God, and listening for the domestic voices of the immortals whose happy welcome waits us. Death, in short, under the Christian aspect, is but God's method of colonization; the transition from this mother-country of our race to the fairer and newer world of our emigration.

J. MARTINEAU.

July 29

_But this I say, brethren, the time is short_.--I COR. vii. 29.

I sometimes feel the thread of life is slender, And soon with me the labor will be wrought; Then grows my heart to other hearts more tender. The time is short.

D. M. CRAIK.

Oh, my dear friends, you who are letting miserable misunderstandings run on from year to year, meaning to clear them up some day; you who are keeping wretched quarrels alive because you cannot quite make up your mind that now is the day to sacrifice your pride and kill them; you who are passing men sullenly upon the street, not speaking to them out of some silly spite, and yet knowing that it would fill you with shame and remorse if you heard that one of those men were dead tomorrow morning; you who are letting your neighbor starve, till you hear that he is dying of starvation; or letting your friend's heart ache for a word of appreciation or sympathy, which you mean to give him some day,--if you only could know and see and feel, all of a sudden, that "the time is short," how it would break the spell! How you would go instantly and do the thing which you might never have another chance to do.

PHILLIPS BROOKS.

July 30

_Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness' sake, O Lord_.--PS. XXV. 7.

When on my aching, burdened heart My sins lie heavily, My pardon speak, new peace impart, In love remember me.

T. HAWEIS.

We need to know that our sins are forgiven. And how shall we know this? By feeling that we have peace with God,--by feeling that we are able so to trust in the divine compassion and infinite tenderness of our Father, as to arise and go to Him, whenever we commit sin, and say at once to Him, "Father, I have sinned; forgive me." To know that we are forgiven, it is only necessary to look at our Father's love till it sinks into our heart, to open our soul to Him till He shall pour His love into it; to wait on Him till we find peace, till our conscience no longer torments us, till the weight of responsibility ceases to be an oppressive burden to us, till we can feel that our sins, great as they are, cannot keep us away from our Heavenly Father.

J. F. CLARKE.

July 31

_I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee_.--ISA. xliv. 22.

_He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea_.--MICAH vii. 19.

If my shut eyes should dare their lids to part, I know how they must quail beneath the blaze Of Thy Love's greatness. No; I dare not raise One prayer, to look aloft, lest it should gaze On such forgiveness as would break my heart.

H. S. SUTTON.

O Lord God gracious and merciful, give us, I entreat Thee, a humble trust in Thy mercy, and suffer not our heart to fail us. Though our sins be seven, though our sins be seventy times seven, though our sins be more in number than the hairs of our head, yet give us grace in loving penitence to cast ourselves down into the depth of Thy compassion. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord. Amen.

C. G. ROSSETTI.

August 1

_Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools_.--ECCLES. vii. 9.

_Let not the sun go down upon your wrath_--EPH. iv. 26.

Quench thou the fires of hate and strife, The wasting fever of the heart; From perils guard our feeble life, And to our souls Thy peace impart.

J. H. NEWMAN, _Tr. from Latin_.

When thou art offended or annoyed by others, suffer not thy thoughts to dwell thereon, or on anything relating to them. For example, "that they ought not so to have treated thee; who they are, or whom they think themselves to be;" or the like; for all this is fuel and kindling of wrath, anger, and hatred.

L. SCUPOLI.

Struggle diligently against your impatience, and strive to be amiable and gentle, in season and out of season, towards every one, however much they may vex and annoy you, and be sure God will bless your efforts.

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES.

August 2

_Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation_.--ISA. xii. 2.

_Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith_?--MARK. iv. 40.

Still heavy is thy heart? Still sink thy spirits down? Cast off the weight, let fear depart, And every care be gone.

P. GERHARDT.

Go on in all simplicity; do not be so anxious to win a quiet mind, and it will be all the quieter. Do not examine so closely into the progress of your soul. Do not crave so much to be perfect, but let your spiritual life be formed by your duties, and by the actions which are called forth by circumstances. Do not take overmuch thought for to-morrow. God, who has led you safely on so far, will lead you on to the end. Be altogether at rest in the loving holy confidence which you ought to have in His heavenly Providence.

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES.

August 3

_Thou hast made him exceeding glad with Thy countenance_.--PS. xxi. 6.

MY heart for gladness springs, It cannot more be sad, For very joy it laughs and sings, Sees nought but sunshine glad.

P. GERHARDT.

A new day rose upon me. It was as if another sun had risen into the sky; the heavens were indescribably brighter, and the earth fairer; and that day has gone on brightening to the present hour. I have known the other joys of life, I suppose, as much as most men; I have known art and beauty, music and gladness; I have known friendship and love and family ties; but it is certain that till we see GOD in the world--GOD in the bright and boundless universe--we never know the highest joy. It is far more than if one were translated to a world a thousand times fairer than this; for that supreme and central Light of Infinite Love and Wisdom, shining over this world and all worlds, alone can show us how noble and beautiful, how fair and glorious they are.

ORVILLE DEWEY.

When I look like this into the blue sky, it seems so deep, so peaceful, so full of a mysterious tenderness, that I could lie for centuries and wait for the dawning of the face of God out of the awful loving-kindness.

G. MACDONALD.

August 4

_He satisfieth the longing soul, and the hungry soul He filleth with good_.--PS. cvii. 9 (R. V.).

_That ye might be filled with all the fulness of God_.--EPH. iii. 19.

Enough that He who made can fill the soul Here and hereafter till its deeps o'erflow; Enough that love and tenderness control Our fate where'er in joy or doubt we go.

ANON.

O God, the Life of the Faithful, the Bliss of the righteous, mercifully receive the prayers of Thy suppliants, that the souls which thirst for Thy promises may evermore be filled from Thy abundance. Amen.

GELASIAN SACRAMENTARY, A. D. 490.

God makes every common thing serve, if thou wilt, to enlarge that capacity of bliss in His love. Not a prayer, not an act of faithfulness in your calling, not a self-denying or kind word or deed, done out of love for Himself; not a weariness or painfulness endured patiently; not a duty performed; not a temptation resisted; but it enlarges the whole soul for the endless capacity of the love of God.

E. B. PUSEY.

August 5