Chapter 16

For myself I am certain that the good of human life cannot lie in the possession of things which for one man to possess is for the rest to lose, but rather in things which all can possess alike, and where one man's wealth promotes his neighbor's.

B. SPINOZA.

Every lot is happy to a person who bears it with tranquillity.

BOETHIUS.

November 22

_Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of_.--MATT. vi. 8.

_Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you_.--MATT. vi. 33.

Thy kingdom come, with power and grace, To every heart of man; Thy peace, and joy, and righteousness In all our bosoms reign.

C. WESLEY.

God bids us, then, by past mercies, by present grace, by fears of coming ill, by hopes in His goodness, earnestly, with our whole hearts, seek Him and His righteousness, and all these things, all ye need for soul and body, peace, comfort, joy, the overflowing of His consolations, shall be added over and above to you.

E. B. PUSEY.

Grant us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, always to seek Thy kingdom and righteousness, and of whatsoever Thou seest us to stand in need, mercifully grant us an abundant portion. Amen.

Be content to be a child, and let the Father proportion out daily to thee what light, what power, what exercises, what straits, what fears, what troubles He sees fit for thee.

I. PENINGTON.

November 23

_I have taught thee In the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths_.--PROV. iv. 11.

We know not what the path may be As yet by us untrod; But we can trust our all to Thee, Our Father and our God.

WM. J. IRONS.

We have very little command over the circumstances in which we may be called by God to bear our part--unlimited command over the temper of our souls, but next to no command over the outward forms of trial. The most energetic will cannot order the events by which our spirits are to be perilled and tested. Powers quite beyond our reach--death, accident, fortune, another's sin--may change in a moment all the conditions of our life. With to-morrow's sun existence may have new and awful aspects for any of us.

J. H. THOM.

Oh, my friend, look not _out_ at what stands in the way; what if it look dreadfully as a lion, is not the Lord stronger than the mountains of prey? but look _in_, where the law of life is written, and the will of the Lord revealed, that thou mayest know what is the Lord's will concerning thee.

I. PENINGTON.

November 24

_Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord_.--PS. xxxi. 24.

_Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid_.--JOHN xiv. 27.

In heavenly love abiding, No change my heart shall fear; And safe is such confiding, For nothing changes here.

A. L. WARING.

A true Christian, that hath power over his own will, may live nobly and happily, and enjoy a clear heaven within the serenity of his own mind perpetually. When the sea of this world is most rough and tempestuous about him, then can he ride safely at anchor within the haven, by a sweet compliance of his will with God's will. He can look about him, and with an even and indifferent mind behold the world either to smile or frown upon him; neither will he abate of the least of his contentment for all the ill and unkind usage he meets withal in this life. He that hath got the mastery over his own will feels no violence from without, finds no contests within; and when God calls for him out of this state of mortality, he finds in himself a power to lay down his own life; neither is it so much taken from him, as quietly and freely surrendered up by him.

DR. JOHN SMITH.

November 25

_And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed_.--DEUT. xxxi. 8.

Know well, my soul, God's hand controls Whatever thou fearest; Round Him in calmest music rolls Whate'er thou hearest.

J. G. WHITTIER.

The lessons of the moral sentiment are, once for all, an emancipation from that anxiety which takes the joy out of all life. It teaches a great peace. It comes itself from the highest place. It is that, which being in all sound natures, and strongest in the best and most gifted men, we know to be implanted by the Creator of men. It is a commandment at every moment, and in every condition of life, to do the duty of that moment, and to abstain from doing the wrong.

R. W. EMERSON.

Go face the fire at sea, or the cholera in your friend's house, or the burglar in your own, or what danger lies in the way of duty, knowing you are guarded by the cherubim of Destiny.

R. W. EMERSON.

November 26

_Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou guest_.--GEN. xxviii. 15.

Be quiet, soul: Why shouldst thou care and sadness borrow, Why sit in nameless fear and sorrow, The livelong day? God will mark out thy path to-morrow In His best way.

ANON.

I had hoped, Madame, to find you here, and was rejoicing in that hope; but God has sent you elsewhere. The best place is wherever He puts us, and any other would be undesirable, all the worse because it would please our fancy, and would be of our own choice. Do not think about distant events. This uneasiness about the future is unwholesome for you. We must leave to God all that depends on Him, and think only of being faithful in all that depends upon ourselves. When God takes away that which He has given you, He knows well how to replace it, either through other means or by Himself.

FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.

November 27

_The Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us_.--PS. cxv. 12.

My Father! what am I, that all Thy mercies sweet like sunlight fall So constant o'er my way? That Thy great love should shelter me, And guide my steps so tenderly Through every changing day?

ANON.

What a strength and spring of life, what hope and trust, what glad, unresting energy, is in this one thought,--to serve Him who is "my Lord," ever near me, ever looking on; seeing my intentions before He beholds my failures; knowing my desires before He sees my faults; cheering me to endeavor greater things, and yet accepting the least; inviting my poor service, and yet, above all, content with my poorer love. Let us try to realize this, whatsoever, wheresoever we be. The humblest and the simplest, the weakest and the most encumbered, may love Him not less than the busiest and strongest, the most gifted and laborious. If our heart be clear before Him; if He be to us our chief and sovereign choice, dear above all, and beyond all desired; then all else matters little. That which concerneth us He will perfect in stillness and in power.

H. E. MANNING.

November 28

_Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee_.--JER. xxxi. 3.

On the great love of God I lean, Love of the Infinite, Unseen, With nought of heaven or earth between. This God is mine, and I am His; His love is all I need of bliss.

H. BONAR.

If ever human love was tender, and self-sacrificing, and devoted; if ever it could bear and forbear; if ever it could suffer gladly for its loved ones; if ever it was willing to pour itself out in a lavish abandonment for the comfort or pleasure of its objects; then infinitely more is Divine love tender, and self-sacrificing, and devoted, and glad to bear and forbear, and to suffer, and to lavish its best of gifts and blessings upon the objects of its love. Put together all the tenderest love you know of, the deepest you have ever felt, and the strongest that has ever been poured out upon you, and heap upon it all the love of all the loving human hearts in the world, and then multiply it by infinity, and you will begin, perhaps, to have some faint glimpse of what the love of God is.

H. W. SMITH.

November 29

_My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him_.--2 CHRON. xxix. 11.

Bright be my prospect as I pass along;-- An ardent service at the cost of all,-- Love by untiring ministry made strong, And ready for the first, the softest call.

A. L. WARING.

There are many things that appear trifles, which greatly tend to enervate the soul, and hinder its progress in the path to virtue and glory. The habit of indulging in things which our judgment cannot thoroughly approve, grows stronger and stronger by every act of self-gratification, and we are led on by degrees to an excess of luxury which must greatly weaken our hands in the spiritual warfare. If we do not endeavor to do that which is right in every particular circumstance, though trifling, we shall be in great danger of letting the same negligence take place in matters more essential.

MARGARET WOODS.

The will can only be made submissive by frequent self-denials, which must keep in subjection its sallies and inclinations. Great weakness is often produced by indulgences which seem of no importance.

M. DE MOLINOS.

November 30

_Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance_.--PS. xlii. 5.

_We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed_.--2 COR. iv. 8.

Oh, my soul, why art thou vexed? Let things go e'en as they will; Though to thee they seem perplexed, Yet His order they fulfil.

A. H. FRANCKE.

The vexation, restlessness, and impatience which small trials cause, arise wholly from our ignorance and want of self-control. We may be thwarted and troubled, it is true, but these things put us into a condition for exercising patience and meek submission, and the self-abnegation wherein alone the fulness of God is to be found.

DE RENTY.

Every day deny yourself some satisfaction;--bearing all the inconveniences of life (for the love of God), cold, hunger, restless nights, ill health, unwelcome news, the faults of servants, contempt, ingratitude of friends, malice of enemies, calumnies, our own failings, lowness of spirits, the struggle in overcoming our corruptions;--bearing all these with patience and resignation to the will of God. Do all this as unto God, with the greatest privacy.

THOMAS WILSON.

December 1

_Charity envieth not, ... thinketh no evil_--I COR. xiii. 4, 5.

_Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother_?--ROM. xiv. 10.

_He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth_.--PROV. xiv. 21.

Look thou with pity on a brother's fall, But dwell not with stern anger on his fault; The grace of God alone holds thee, holds all; Were that withdrawn, thou too wouldst swerve and halt.

J. EDMESTON.

If, on hearing of the fall of a brother, however differing or severed from us, we feel the least inclination to linger over it, instead of hiding it in grief and shame, or veiling it in the love which covereth a multitude of sins; if, in seeing a joy or a grace or an effective service given to others, we do not rejoice, but feel depressed, let us be very watchful; the most diabolical of passions may mask itself as humility, or zeal for the glory of God.

ELIZABETH CHARLES.

Love taketh up no malign elements; its spirit prompteth it to cover in mercy all things that ought not to be exposed, to believe all of good that can be believed, to hope all things that a good God makes possible, and to endure all things that the hope may be made good.

J. H. THOM.

December 2

_Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things_.--ROM. ii. I.

Search thine own heart. What paineth thee In others, in thyself may be; All dust is frail, all flesh is weak; Be thou the true man thou dost seek.

J. G. WHITTIER.

A saint's life in one man may be less than common honesty in another. From us, whose consciences He has reached and enlightened, God may look for a martyr's truth, a Christian's unworldly simplicity, before He will place us on a level even with the average of the exposed classes. We perhaps think our lives at least harmless. We do not consider what He may think of them, when compared with the invitations of His that we have slighted, with the aims of His Providence we are leaving without our help, with the glory for ourselves we are refusing and casting away, with the vast sum of blessed work that daily faithfulness in time can rear without overwork on any single day.

J. H. THOM.

December 3

_Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost_.--ROM. xv. 13.

To heaven I lift my waiting eyes; There all my hopes are laid; The Lord that built the earth and skies Is my perpetual aid.

I. WATTS.

Grovel not in things below, among earthly cares, pleasures, anxieties, toils, if thou wouldst have a good strong hope on high. Lift up thy cares with thy heart to God, if thou wouldst hope in Him. Then see what in thee is most displeasing to God. This it is which holdeth thy hope down. Strike firmly, repeatedly, in the might of God, until it give way. Thy hope will soar at once with thy thanks to God who delivered thee.

E. B. PUSEY.

The snares of the enemy will be so known to thee and discerned, the way of help so manifest and easy, that their strength will be broken, and the poor entangled bird will fly away singing, from the nets and entanglements of the fowler; and praises will spring up, and great love in thy heart to the Forgiver and Redeemer.

I. PENINGTON.

December 4

_Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called_.--I TIM. vi. 12.

Oh, dream no more of quiet life; Care finds the careless out; more wise to vow Thy heart entire to faith's pure strife; So peace will come, thou knowest not when or how.

LYRA APOSTOLICA.

Who art thou that complainest of thy life of toil? Complain not. Look up, my wearied brother; see thy fellow-workmen there, in God's Eternity; surviving there, they alone surviving; sacred band of the Immortals, celestial body-guard of the empire of mankind. To thee Heaven, though severe, is _not_ unkind; Heaven is kind,--as a noble mother; as that Spartan mother, saying while she gave her son his shield, "With it, my son, or upon it." Thou too shall return _home_ in honor; to thy far-distant Home, in honor; doubt it not,--if in the battle thou keep thy shield! Thou, in the Eternities and deepest death-kingdoms art not an alien; thou everywhere art a denizen. Complain not.

T. CARLYLE.

December 5

_The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you_.--I PET. v. 10.

_Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted_.--ISA. vii. 4.

How shall thou bear the cross that now So dread a weight appears? Keep quietly to God, and think Upon the Eternal Years.

F. W. FABER.

God forgive them that raise an ill report upon the sweet cross of Christ; it is but our weak and dim eyes, that look but to the black side, that makes us mistake; those that can take that crabbed tree handsomely upon their backs, and fasten it on cannily, shall find it such a burden as wings unto a bird, or sails to a ship.

S. RUTHERFORD.

Blessed is any weight, however overwhelming, which God has been so good as to fasten with His own hand upon our shoulders.

F. W. FABER.

We cannot say this or that trouble shall not befall, yet we may, by help of the Spirit, say, nothing that doth befall shall make me do that which is unworthy of a Christian.

R. SIBBES.

December 6

_This God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death_.--PS. xlviii. 14.

_For the Lord shall be thy confidence_.--PROV. iii. 26.

Be still, my soul! Thy God doth undertake To guide the future, as He has the past: Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake, All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

J. BORTHWJCK.

He has kept and folded us from ten thousand ills when we did not know it: in the midst of our security we should have perished every hour, but that He sheltered us "from the terror by night and from the arrow that flieth by day"--from the powers of evil that walk in darkness, from snares of our own evil will. He has kept us even against ourselves, and saved us even from our own undoing. Let us read the traces of His hand in all our ways, in all the events, the chances, the changes of this troubled state. It is He that folds and feeds us, that makes us to go in and out,--to be faint, or to find pasture,--to lie down by the still waters, or to walk by the way that is parched and desert.

H. E. MANNING.

We are never without help. We have no right to say of any good work, it is too hard for me to do, or of any sorrow, it is too hard for me to bear; or of any sinful habit, it is too hard for me to overcome.

ELIZABETH CHARLES.

December 7

_Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace_.--JOB xxii. 21.

_All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children_.--ISA. liv. 13.

Unite, my roving thoughts, unite In silence soft and sweet; And thou, my soul, sit gently down At thy great Sovereign's feet.

P. DODDRIDGE.

Yes! blessed are those holy hours in which the soul retires from the world to be alone with God. God's voice, as Himself, is everywhere. Within and without, He speaks to our souls, if we would hear. Only the din of the world, or the tumult of our own hearts, deafens our inward ear to it. Learn to commune with Him in stillness, and He, whom thou hast sought in stillness, will be with thee when thou goest abroad.

E. B. PUSEY.

The great step and direct path to the fear and awful reverence of God, is to meditate, and with a sedate and silent hush to turn the eyes of the mind inwards; there to seek, and with a submissive spirit wait at the gates of Wisdom's temple; and then the Divine Voice and Distinguishing Power will arise in the light and centre of a man's self.

THOMAS TRYON.

December 8

_Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings_.--EPH. i. 3.

_As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing_.--2 COR. vi. 10.

It is not happiness I seek, Its name I hardly dare to speak; It is not made for man or earth, And Heaven alone can give it birth.

There is a something sweet and pure, Through life, through death it may endure; With steady foot I onward press, And long to win that Blessedness.

LOUISA J. HALL.

The elements of _happiness_ in this present life no man can command, even if he could command himself, for they depend on the action of many wills, on the purity of many hearts, and by the highest law of God the holiest must ever bear the sins and sorrows of the rest; but over the _blessedness_ of his own spirit circumstance need have no control; God has therein given an unlimited power to the means of preservation, of grace and growth, at every man's command.

J. H. THOM.

There is in man a higher than love of happiness: he can do without happiness, and instead thereof find blessedness!

T. CARLYLE.

December 9

_For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him_.--PS. xxxii. 6.

Be not o'ermastered by thy pain, But cling to God, thou shall not fall; The floods sweep over thee in vain, Thou yet shall rise above them all; For when thy trial seems too hard to bear, Lo! God, thy King, hath granted all thy prayer: Be thou content.

P. GERHARDT.

It is the Lord's mercy, to give thee breathings after life, and cries unto Him against that which oppresseth thee; and happy wilt thou be, when He shall fill thy soul with that which He hath given thee to breathe after. Be not troubled; for if troubles abound, and there be tossing, and storms, and tempests, and no peace, nor anything visible left to support; yet, lie still, and sink beneath, till a secret hope stir, which will stay the heart in the midst of all these; until the Lord administer comfort, who knows how and what relief to give to the weary traveller, that knows not where it is, nor which way to look, nor where to expect a path.

I. PENINGTON.

December 10

_Behold, we count them happy which endure_.--JAMES v. 11.

_If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons_.--HEB. xii. 7.

Trials must and will befall; But with humble faith to see Love inscribed upon them all, This is happiness to me.

W. COWPER.

Be not afraid of those trials which God may see fit to send upon thee. It is with the wind and storm of tribulation that God separates the true wheat from the chaff. Always remember, therefore, that God comes to thee in thy sorrows, as really as in thy joys. He lays low, and He builds up. Thou wilt find thyself far from perfection, if thou dost not find God in everything.

M. DE MOLINOS.

God hath provided a sweet and quiet life for His children, could they improve and use it; a calm and firm conviction in all the storms and troubles that are about them, however things go, to find content, and be careful for nothing.

R. LEIGHTON.

December 11

_Oh, that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me_!--I CHRON. iv. 10.

_Ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread and thy water_.--EX. xxiii. 25.

What I possess, or what I crave, Brings no content, great God, to me, If what I would, or what I have, Be not possest, and blest, in Thee; What I enjoy, O make it mine, In making me that have it, Thine.

J. QUARLES.

Offer up to God all pure affections, desires, regrets, and all the bonds which link us to home, kindred, and friends, together with all our works, purposes, and labors. These things, which are not only lawful, but sacred, become then the matter of thanksgiving and oblation. Memories, plans for the future, wishes, intentions; works just begun, half done, all but completed; emotions, sympathies, affections,--all these things throng tumultuously and dangerously in the heart and will. The only way to master them is to offer them up to Him, as once ours, under Him, always His by right.

H. E. MANNING.

December 12

_I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart_.--PS. xl. 8.

A patient, a victorious mind, That life and all things casts behind, Springs forth obedient to Thy call; A heart that no desire can move, But still to adore, believe, and love, Give me, my Lord, my Life, my All.

P. GERHARDT.

That piety which sanctifies us, and which is a true devotion to God, consists in doing all His will precisely at the time, in the situation, and under the circumstances, in which He has placed us. Perfect devotedness requires, not only that we do the will of God, but that we do it with love. God would have us serve Him with delight; it is our hearts that He asks of us.

FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.

Devotion is really neither more nor less than a general inclination and readiness to do that which we know to be acceptable to God. It is that "free spirit," of which David spoke when he said, "I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou hast set my heart at liberty." People of ordinary goodness walk in God's way, but the devout run in it, and at length they almost fly therein. To be truly devout, we must not only do God's will, but we must do it cheerfully.

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES.

December 13

_So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom_.--PS. xc. 12.

_Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind_.--LUKE xii. 29.