Part 18 (2/2)

April 11

_Wherefore, beloved... be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless_,--2 PETER iii. 14.

His conscience knows no secret stings, While grace and joy combine To form a life whose holy springs Are hidden and divine.

I. WATTS

Even the smallest discontent of conscience may render turbid the whole temper of the mind; but only produce the effort that restores its peace, and over the whole atmosphere a breath of unexpected purity is spread; doubt and irritability pa.s.s as clouds away; the withered sympathies of earth and home open their leaves and live; and through the clearest blue the deep is seen of the heaven where G.o.d resides.

J. MARTINEAU.

The state of mind which is described as meekness, or quietness of spirit, is characterized in a high degree by inward harmony. There is not, as formerly, that inward jarring of thought contending with thought, and conscience a.s.serting rights which it could not maintain.

T. C. UPHAM.

April 12

_Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the G.o.d of love and peace shall be with you_.--2 COR. xiii. 11.

_He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love G.o.d whom he hath not seen_?--I JOHN iv. 20.

Lord! subdue our selfish will; Each to each our tempers suit, By Thy modulating skill, Heart to heart, as lute to lute.

C. WESLEY.

It requires far more of the constraining love of Christ to love our cousins and neighbors as members of the heavenly family, than to feel the heart warm to our suffering brethren in Tuscany or Madeira. To love the whole Church is one thing; to love--that is, to delight in the graces and veil the defects--of the person who misunderstood me and opposed my plans yesterday, whose peculiar infirmities grate on my most sensitive feelings, or whose natural faults are precisely those from which my natural character most revolts, is quite another.

ELIZABETH CHARLES.

April 13

_In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us_.--ROM. viii. 37.

Thus my soul before her G.o.d Lieth still, nor speaketh more, Conqueror thus o'er pain and wrong, That once smote her to the core; Like a silent ocean, bright With her G.o.d's great praise and light.

J. J. WINCKLER.

My mind is forever closed against embarra.s.sment and perplexity, against uncertainty, doubt, and anxiety; my heart against grief and desire. Calm and unmoved, I look down on all things, for I know that I cannot explain a single event, nor comprehend its connection with that which alone concerns me. In His world all things prosper; this satisfies me, and in this belief I stand fast as a rock. My breast is steeled against annoyance on account of personal offences and vexations, or exultation in personal merit; for my whole personality has disappeared in the contemplation of the purpose of my being.

J. G. FICHTE.

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