Part 55

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.