The Gravitation Of Sin
This, then, is the law I find—that when I want to do right, it is easier for me to do wrong! At heart I delight in the Law of God; but throughout my body I see a different law, one which is in conflict with the law accepted by my reason, and which makes me a prisoner—a prisoner to that law of sin which exists throughout my body. What a miserable man I am! Who will deliver me from this body which is drawing me down to death? Thank God, deliverance has come through Jesus Christ, our Lord!
—Paul to the Romans.
Flower In The Crannied Wall
Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the cranny—
Hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower—but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.
—Alfred Tennyson.
If Man Could Make A Rose
If a man could make a single rose we would give him an empire; yet flowers no less beautiful are scattered in profusion over the world, and no one regards them.
—Martin Luther.
“Home—the center of affection, round which our heart’s best wishes twine.”
The Burden Of Bad Habits
Do not be deceived. God is not to be trifled with. What men sow they will reap. For those who sow the field of their earthly nature will from it reap decay; while those who sow the field of the spirit will from it reap enduring life.
—Paul to the Galatians.
The Burden Of An Immoral Life
Under a great gray sky, in a great powdery plain without roads, without grass, without a thistle, without a nettle, I met several men who were walking with heads bowed down.
Each one bore upon his back an enormous chimera, as heavy as a bag of flour or the accoutrements of a Roman soldier.
But the monstrous beast was not an inert weight; on the contrary, it ehveloped and oppressed the man with its elastic and mighty muscles; it fastened with its two vast claws to the breast of the bearer, and its fabulous head surmounted the brow of the man, like one of those horrible helmets by which the ancient warriors hoped to increase the terror of the enemy.
I questioned one of these men, and I asked him whether they were bound thus. He answered that he knew not, neither he nor the others; but that evidently they were bound somewhere, since they were impelled by an irresistible desire to go forward.
It is curious to note that not one of these travelers looked irritated at the ferocious beast suspended from his neck and glued against his back; it seemed as though he considered it as making part of himself. None of these weary and serious faces bore witness to any despair; under the sullen cupola of the sky, their feet plunged into the dust of a soil as desolate as the sky, they went their way with the resigned countenances of those who have condemned themselves to hope against hope forever.
—Charles Baudelaire.
Alternate Reading: John 6: 26-71.
The True Measure
“Sell what belongs to you, and give in charity. Make yourselves purses that will not wear out—an inexhaustible treasure in Heaven, where no thief comes near, or moth works ruin. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
Watchfulness
“Make yourselves ready, with your lamps alight; and be like men who are waiting for their Master’s return from his wedding, so that, when he comes and knocks, they may open the door for him at once. Happy are those servants whom, on his return, the Master will find watching. I tell you that he will make himself ready, and bid them take their places at table, and will come and wait upon them. Whether it is late at night, or in the early morning that he comes, if he finds all as it should be, then happy are they. This you do know, that, had the owner of the house known at what time the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, and would not have let his house be broken into. Do you also prepare, for when you are least expecting him the Son of Man will come.”
—Luke.
Heaven Very Near
My Father in heaven, teach me that heaven is very near, as near to me as my need. May I not conceive the home-land as being far away, almost beyond the call of my weak voice! May I think that even my whispers are near in the beautiful country.
—J. H. Jowett.
One’s Judgment Upon Himself
How few there are who would thus dare to address God each night:
“Lord, deal with me to-morrow as I have this day dealt with others—those to whom I was harsh, and from malice or to show my own superiority exposed their feelings; others to whom from pride or dislike I refused to speak,—one I avoided—another I cannot like because she displeases me—I will not forgive—to whom I will not show any kindness.”
And yet, let us never forget, that sooner or later God will do unto us even as we have done unto them.
If you must get angry and use ugly words and tones, at least be decent and wait till you can hurry beyond the three mile limit from home.
—Anon.
The Golden Milestone
Each man’s chimney is his golden milestone,
Is the central point from which he measures every distance
Through the gateways of the world around him.
Happy he whom neither wealth nor fashion
Nor the march of the encroaching city drives in exile
From the hearth of his ancestral homestead.
—Henry W. Longfellow.
Alternate Reading: Psalms 23.
Loveliness Of Baby
A baby’s hands, like rose-buds furled,
Whence yet no leaf expands,
Ope if you touch, though dose upcurled,
A baby’s hands.
Then, even as warriors grip their brands
When battle’s bolt is hurled,
They close, denched hard like tightening bands.
No rosebuds yet by dawn impearled
Match, even in loveliest lands,
The sweetest flower in all the world—
A baby’s hands.
A baby’s eyes, ere speech begin,
Ere lips learn words or sighs,
Bless all things bright enough to win
A baby’s eyes.
Love, while the sweet thing laughs and lies,
And sleep flows out and in,
Lies perfect in their paradise.
Their glance might cast out pain and sin,
Their speech make dumb the wise;
By mute glad godlife felt within
A baby’s eyes.
—A. C. Swinburne.
O Ye Children
Come to me, O ye children!
For I hear you at your play,
And the questions that perplex me
Have vanished quite away.
Ye are better than all the ballads,
That ever were sung or said;
For ye are living poems,
And all the rest are dead.
—Henry W. Longfellow.
Alternate Reading: II Peter 2: 9-22.
Jesus Talks On Covetousness
And then Jesus added:
” Take care to keep yourselves free from every form of covetousness; for even in the height of his prosperity a man’s true Life does not depend on what he has.”
Then Jesus told them this parable—
“There was once a rich man whose land was very fertile; and he began to ask himself ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? This is what I will do/ he said;’ I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them; and I will say to myself, Now you have plenty of good things put by for many years; take your ease, eat, drink,- and enjoy yourself.’ But God said to the man ‘Fool! This very night your life is being demanded; and as for all that you have prepared—who will have it?’
“So it is with those who lay by wealth for themselves and are not rich to the glory of God.”
The Cares Of Life
And Jesus said to his disciples:
“That is why I say to you, Do not be anxious about the life here—what you can get to eat; nor yet about your body—what you can get to wear. For life is more than food, and the body than its clothes. Think of the ravens—they neither sow nor reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn; and yet God feeds them! And how much more precious are you than birds! But which of you, by being anxious, can prolong his life a moment? And, if you cannot do even the smallest thing, why be anxious about other things? Think of the lilies, and how they grow. They neither toil nor spin; yet, I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendor was not robed like one of these. If, even in the field, God so clothes the grass which is living to-day and to-morrow will be thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O men of little faith! And you—do not be always seeking what you can get to eat or what you can get to drink; and do not waver. These are the things for which all the nations of the world are seeking, and your Father knows that you need them. No, seek his Kingdom, and these things shall be added for you. So do not be afraid, my little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom.”
—Luke.
Man has but two fundamental allegiances—Home and the Kingdom of God.
On His Blindness
“All service ranks the same with God I There is no first or last.”
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide,
Lodg’d with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He, returning, chide;
Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?
I fondly ask: but Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
Either man’s work, or His own gifts; who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best; His state
Is kingly; thousands at His bidding speed,
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.
—John Milton.
Sympathy
And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud.
—Walt Whitman.
How To Find Rest
Christ’s invitation to the weary and heavy-laden is a call to begin life over again upon a new principle—upon His own principle. “Watch my way of doing things,” He says.- “Follow me.” Take life as I take it. Be meek and lowly, and you will find rest.
—Henry Drummond.
Alternate Reading: Jonah 3 and 4.
Heaven Is Not Reached At A Single Bound
Heaven is not reached at a single bound,
But we build the ladder by which we rise
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,
And we mount to its summit round by round.
I count this thing to be grandly true:
That a noble deed is a step toward God,—
Lifting the soul from the common clod
To a purer air and a broader view.
—J. G. Holland.
Where To Find God
No one could tell me where my Soul might be.
I searched for God, but God eluded me.
I sought my brother out, and found all three.
—Ernest H. Crosby.
I Shot An Arrow Into The Air
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I know not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
— Henry W. Longfellow.
Alternate Reading: Psalms 41: 1-3.
The Heritage Of God’s Children
God is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup:
Thou maintained my lot.
The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places;
Yea, I have a goodly heritage.
I will bless God, who hath given me counsel;
Yea, my heart instructeth me in the night seasons.
I have set God always before me:
Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
My flesh also shall dwell in safety.
For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol;
Neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption.
Thou wilt show me the path of life:
In thy presence is fulness of joy;
In thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness;
I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form.
—Psalms.
The Evergreen Lives
There are evergreen men and women in the world, praise be to God!—not many of them, but a few. They are not the showy folk. (Nature is an old-fashioned shopkeeper; she never puts her best goods in the window.) They are only the quiet, strong folk; they are stronger than Fate. The storms of life sweep over them, and the biting frosts creep round them; but the winds and the frosts pass away, and they are still standing, green and straight.
—Jerome K. Jerome.
Death Is Busy Everywhere
Death is here and death is there.
Death is busy everywhere,
All around, within, beneath,
Above is death—and we are death.
Death hath set his mark and seal
On all we are and all we feel,
On all we know and all we fear
…
First our pleasures die—and then
Our hopes, and then our fears—and when
These are dead, the debt is due,
Dust claims dust—and we die too.
All things that we love and cherish,
Like ourselves must fade and perish,
Such is our rude mortal lot—
Love itself would, did they not.
—Percy B. Shelley.
By A Bierside
This is a sacred city built of marvelous earth.
Life was lived nobly here to give such beauty birth.
Beauty was in this brain and in this eager hand;
Death is so blind and dumb, Death does not understand.
Death drifts the brain with dust and soils the young limbs’ glory.
Death makes justice a dream, and strength a traveler’s story.
Death drives the lovely soul to wander under the sky.
Death opens unknown doors. It is most grand to die.
—John Masefield.
I Shall See God
For I know that my Vindicator liveth,
And that He shall stand at last upon the earth;
And after my skin hath been thus destroyed,
Yet without my flesh shall I see God!
Whom I shall see on my side,
And mine eyes shall behold and not another.
—My reins are consumed within me—
—Job.
(Job thus ends his speech; he is unable to go on.)
Alternate Reading: II Peter 1: 2-21.