Part 16

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES.

February 27

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.--PS. xxxvii. 3.

Build a little fence of trust Around to-day; Fill the space with loving work, And therein stay; Look not through the sheltering bars Upon to-morrow, God will help thee bear what comes, Of joy or sorrow.

MARY FRANVES BUTTS.

Let us bow our souls and say, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord!" Let us lift up our hearts and ask, "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?" Then light from the opened heaven shall stream on our daily task, revealing the grains of gold, where yesterday all seemed dust; a hand shall sustain us and our daily burden, so that, smiling at yesterday's fears, we shall say, "This is easy, this is light;" every "lion in the way," as we come up to it, shall be seen chained, and leave open the gates of the Palace Beautiful; and to us, even to us, feeble and fluctuating as we are, ministries shall be assigned, and through our hands blessings shall be conveyed in which the spirits of just men made perfect might delight.

ELIZABETH CHARLES.

February 28

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.--I JOHN iv. 7.

So to the calmly gathered thought The innermost of life is taught, The mystery dimly understood, That love of God is love of good; That to be saved is only this,-- Salvation from our selfishness.

J. G. Whittler.

The Spirit of Love, wherever it is, is its own blessing and happiness, because it is the truth and reality of God in the soul; and therefore is in the same joy of life, and is the same good to itself everywhere and on every occasion. Would you know the blessing of all blessings? It is this God of Love dwelling in your soul, and killing every root of bitterness, which is the pain and torment of every earthly, selfish love. For all wants are satisfied, all disorders of nature are removed, no life is any longer a burden, every day is a day of peace, everything you meet becomes a help to you, because everything you see or do is all done in the sweet, gentle element of Love.

WM. LAW.

February 29

Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings.--MAL. iv. 2.

O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me.--PS. xliii. 3.

Open our eyes, thou Sun of life and gladness, That we may see that glorious world of Thine! It shines for us in vain, while drooping sadness Enfolds us here like mist; come, Power benign, Touch our chilled hearts with vernal smile, Our wintry course do Thou beguile, Nor by the wayside ruins let us mourn, Who have th' eternal towers for our appointed bourn.

J. KEBLE.

Because all those scattered rays of beauty and loveliness which we behold spread up and down over all the world, are only the emanations of that inexhausted light which is above; therefore should we love them all in that, and climb up always by those sunbeams unto the eternal Father of lights: we should look upon Him, and take from Him the pattern of our lives, and always eying Him, should, as Hierocles speaks, "polish and shape our souls into the clearest resemblance of Him;" and in all our behavior in this world (that great temple of His) deport ourselves decently and reverently, with that humility, meekness, and modesty that becomes His house.

DR. JOHN SMITH.

March 1

Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.--MATT. vi. 25.

One there lives whose guardian eye Guides our earthly destiny; One there lives, who, Lord of all, Keeps His children lest they fall; Pass we, then, in love and praise, Trusting Him through all our days, Free from doubt and faithless sorrow,-- God provideth for the morrow.

R. HEBER.

It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when to-morrow's burden is added to the burden of to-day that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so, my friends. If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God's. He begs you to leave the future to Him, and mind the present.

G. MACDONALD.

Cast thy burdens upon the Lord,--hand it over, heave it upon Him,--and He shall sustain thee; shall bear both, if thou trust Him with both, both thee and thy burden: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

ROBERT LEIGHTON.