Part 52

WILLIAM E. CHANNING.

July 11

When He giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?--JOB xxxiv. 29.

None of these things move me.--ACTS xx. 24.

I've many a cross to take up now, And many left behind; But present troubles move me not, Nor shake my quiet mind. And what may be to-morrow's cross I never seek to find; My Father says, "Leave that to me, And keep a quiet mind."

ANON.

Let us then think only of the present, and not even permit our minds to wander with curiosity into the future. This future is not yet ours; perhaps it never will be. It is exposing ourselves to temptation to wish to anticipate God, and to prepare ourselves for things which He may not destine for us. If such things should come to pass, He will give us light and strength according to the need. Why should we desire to meet difficulties prematurely, when we have neither strength nor light as yet provided for them? Let us give heed to the present, whose duties are pressing; it is fidelity to the present which prepares us for fidelity in the future.

FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.

Every hour comes with some little fagot of God's will fastened upon its back.

F. W. FABER.

July 12

Be strong, and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid ... for the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.--DEUT. xxxi. 6.

The timid it concerns to ask their way, And fear what foe in caves and swamps can stray, To make no step until the event is known, And ills to come as evils past bemoan. Not so the wise; no coward watch he keeps To spy what danger on his pathway creeps; Go where he will, the wise man is at home, His hearth the earth,--his hall the azure dome; Where his clear spirit leads him, there's his road, By God's own light illumined and foreshowed.

R. W. EMERSON.

Though I sympathize, I do not share in the least the feeling of being disheartened and cast down. It is not things of this sort that depress me, or ever will. The contrary things, praise, openings, the feeling of the greatness of my work, and my inability in relation to it, these things oppress and cast me down; but little hindrances, and closing up of accustomed or expected avenues, and the presence of difficulties to be overcome,--I'm not going to be cast down by trifles such as these.

JAMES HINTON.

July 13

And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought.--ISA. lviii. 11.

Wherever He may guide me, No want shall turn me back; My Shepherd is beside me, And nothing can I lack. His wisdom ever waketh, His sight is never dim,-- He knows the way He taketh, And I will walk with Him.

A. L. WARING.

Abandon yourself to His care and guidance, as a sheep in the care of a shepherd, and trust Him utterly. No matter though you may seem to yourself to be in the very midst of a desert, with nothing green about you, inwardly or outwardly, and may think you will have to make a long journey before you can get into the green pastures. Our Shepherd will turn that very place where you are into green pastures, for He has power to make the desert rejoice and blossom as a rose.

H. W. SMITH.

July 14

Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.--ROM. xii. 2.

Father, let our faithful mind Rest, on Thee alone inclined; Every anxious thought repress, Keep our souls in perfect peace.

C. WESLEY.

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.