Part 11 (1/2)

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.

March 2

_But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices G.o.d is well pleased_.--HEB. xiii. 16.

_For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another_.--I JOHN iii. 11.

Be useful where thou livest, that they may Both want and wish thy pleasing presence still.

...Find out men's wants and will, And meet them there. All worldly joys go less To the one joy of doing kindnesses.

G. HERBERT.

Let the weakest, let the humblest remember, that in his daily course he can, if he will, shed around him almost a heaven. Kindly words, sympathizing attentions, watchfulness against wounding men's sensitiveness,--these cost very little, but they are priceless in their value. Are they not almost the staple of our daily happiness? From hour to hour, from moment to moment, we are supported, blest, by small kindnesses.

F. W. ROBERTSON.

Small kindnesses, small courtesies, small considerations, habitually practised in our social intercourse, give a greater charm to the character than the display of great talents and accomplishments.

M. A. KELTY.

March 3

_I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments_.--PS. cxix. 60.

_Ye know not what shall be on the morrow_.--JAMES iv. 14.

Never delay To do the duty which the hour brings, Whether it be in great or smaller things; For who doth know What he shall do the coming day?

ANON.

It is quite impossible that an idle, floating spirit can ever look up with clear eye to G.o.d; spreading its miserable anarchy before the symmetry of the creative Mind; in the midst of a disorderly being, that has neither centre nor circ.u.mference, kneeling beneath the glorious sky, that everywhere has both; and for a life that is _all_ failure, turning to the Lord of the silent stars, of whose punctual thought it is, that ”not one faileth.” The heavens, with their everlasting faithfulness, look down on no sadder contradiction, than the sluggard and the slattern in their prayers.

J. MARTINEAU.

March 4

_But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of G.o.d, and there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery, and their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace_.--WISDOM OF SOLOMON iii. 1-3.

But souls that of His own good life partake, He loves as His own self; dear as His eye They are to Him: He 'll never them forsake: When they shall die, then G.o.d Himself shall die; They live, they live in blest eternity.