The Home Council

God Will Keep His Word Spoken In Man’s Heart

I move through life guided by a force that I cannot explain. By what strange impulse was I impelled to follow this profession—this and no other? By what freak of fate did I marry this wife—this and no other? By what stroke of fortune did I settle in this land? Looking back on life, it seems almost like a drift; we seem to have reached this position by the veriest chance. And yet it has all turned out too well to be the result of chance. The fact is that like the swallow we acted instinctively. And that instinct was God. We say with Browning’s Paracelsus:

I see my way as birds their trackless way,
I shall arrive! What time, what circuit first,
I ask not: but unless God send His hail,
Or blinding fireballs, sleet or stifling snow,
In some time, His good time, I shall arrive:
He guides me and the bird. In His good time!

And what of the greatest of all our migratory instincts—the instinct of immortality? For, after all, immortality is an instinct and not an argument. A few may think that they can prove it. But there are millions who, unable to prove it, nevertheless feel it. Two American senators spent twenty-five years in searching for evidence of the immortality of the soul. And Emerson marvels that they failed to notice that the impulse that prompted them to seek that evidence so patiently was in itself the strongest proof they could desire. I like to watch the swallow turn its face towards the ocean, and set fearlessly out over the waters. If I had no other proof of lands beyond the sea, the instinct of the swallow would satisfy me. “Sir,” says Emerson grandly, “I hold that God who keeps His word with the swallows and the fishes in all their migratory instincts will keep His word with man.”

One of these days I shall set out on my own great voyage of exploration. I shall see my last sun sinking, and shall set out for the land that is mantled with the flush of morning. I shall be surrounded on every hand by the wonders that here were beyond me, by the mysteries that here baffled my comprehension. When I take the wings of the morning, and fly out into the uttermost of the uttermost, even there shall Thy hand lead me!

—F. W. Boreham.

Alternate Reading: I Kings 18:1-46.

Jesus’ Teaching On Tolerance And Sincerity

As the days before his being taken up to Heaven were growing few, Jesus set his face resolutely in the direction of Jerusalem; and ho sent on messengers in advance. On their way, they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him. The people there did not welcome him, because his face was set in the direction of Jerusalem; and when James and John saw this, they said:

“Master, do you wish us to call for fire to come down from the sky and consume them?”

But Jesus turned and rebuked them; and so they found their way to a different village.

Here, while they were still on their way, a man said to Jesus:

“I will follow you wherever you go.”

“Foxes have holes,” replied Jesus, “and wild birds have roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

To another man Jesus said: “Follow me.”

“Give me leave,” the man replied, “to go and bury my father first.”

But Jesus said:

“Leave dead men to bury their own dead; but go yourself and carry far and wide the news of the Kingdom of God.”

“Master,” said another, “I will follow you; but give me leave to say good-bye to my family first.”

But Jesus answered:

“No one who looks back, after putting his hand to the plough, is fitted for the Kingdom of God.”

—Luke.

I do not think much of a man who is not wiser to-day than he was yesterday.

—Abraham Lincoln.

He that wrongs another, wrongs himself more.

—Alfred Tennyson.

In The Home Circle

Then kneeling down, to Heaven’s Eternal King
The saint, the father, and the husband prays:
Hope “Springs exultant on triumphant wing”
That thus they all shall meet in future days:
There ever bask in uncreated rays,
No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear,
Together hymning their Creator’s praise,
In such society, yet still more dear;
While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere.

Compared with this, how poor religion’s pride,
In all the pomp of method and of art,
When men display to congregations wide
Devotion’s every grace, except the heart!
The power, incensed, the pageant will desert,
The pompous strain, the sacerdotal stole;
But haply in some cottage far apart,
May hear, well pleased, the language of the soul;
And in his book of Life the inmates poor enroll.

Then homeward all take off their several ways;
The youngling cottagers retire to rest:
The parent pair their secret homage pay,
And proffer up to Heaven the warm request
That He who stills the raven’s clamorous nest,
And decks the lily fair in flowery pride,
Would, in the way His wisdom sees the best,
For them and for their little ones provide;
But chiefly in their hearts with grace divine preside.

From scenes like these old Scotia’s grandeur springs,
That makes her loved at home, revered abroad;
Princes and lords are but the breath of kings,
“An honest man’s the noblest work of God”:
And certes, in fair virtue’s heavenly road,
The cottage leaves the palace far behind.

—Robert Burns.

Alternate Reading: II Kings 4: 8-37.

Arbor Day

The Planting Of The Apple-Tree

Come, let ua plant the apple-tree.
Cleave the tough greensward with the spade;
Wide let its hollow bed be made;
There gently lay the roots, and there
Sift the dark mould with kindly care,
And press it o’er them tenderly.
As round the sleeping infant’s feet
We softly fold the cradle sheet;
So plant we the apple-tree.

What plant we in this apple-tree?
Sweets for a hundred flowery springs,
To load the May wind’s restless wings,
When, from the orchard row, he pours
Its fragrance through our open doors;
A world of blossoms for the bee,
Flowers for the sick girl’s silent room,
For the glad infant sprigs of bloom,
We plant with the apple-tree.

What plant we in this apple-tree?
Fruits that shall swell in sunny June,
And redden in the August noon,
And drop, when gentle airs come by,
That fan the blue September sky,
While children come, with cries of glee,
And seek them where the fragrant grass
Betrays their bed to those who pass,
At the foot of the apple-tree.

“Who planted this old apple-tree?”
The children of that distant day
Thus to some aged man shall say;
And, gazing on its mossy stem,
The gray-haired man shall answer them:
“A poet of the land was he,
Born in the rude but good old times;
‘Tis said be made some quaint old rhymes
On planting the apple-tree.”

—William Cullen Bryant.

Alternate Reading: James 4: 4-12.

In The Shadow Of The Almighty

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shall thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation.

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

—Psalms.

The Secret Of Living Well

To look up and not down,
To look forward and not back,
To look out and not in, and
To lend a hand.

—Edward E. Hale.

The poor man with a pure home gets more out of life than any millionaire that ever lived.

I Myself Am Heaven And Hell

I sent my soul through the Invisible
Some letter of that after-life to spell:
And by and by my soul returned to me
And answered, “I myself am Heaven and Hell”
Heaven but the vision of fulfilled Desire,
And Hell the shadow from a soul on fire.

—Omar Khattam.

God In The Soul

But God is never so far off
As even to be near;
He is within: our spirit is
The home He holds most dear.
To think of Him as by our side
Is almost as untrue,
As to remove His throne beyond
Those skies of starry blue.

—F. W. Faber.

Responsibilities That Lift

A kite will not fly unless it has a string tying it down. It is just so in life. The man who is tied down by a half dozen promising responsibilities and their mother will make a higher and stronger flight than the bachelor who, having nothing to keep him steady, is always floundering in the mud. If you want to ascend in the world tie yourself to somebody.

—O. S. Marden.

Alternate Reading: I Corinthians 13.

This Will Pass Away

“Give me a motto!” said a youth
To one whom years had rendered wise;
“Some pleasant thought, or weighty truth,
That briefest syllables comprise;
Some word of warning or of cheer
To grave upon my signet here.

“And, reverend father,” said the boy,
“Since life, they say, is ever made
A mingled web of grief and joy;
Since cares may come and pleasures fade,—
Pray, let the motto have a range
Of meaning matching every change.”

“Sooth!” said the sire, “methinks you ask
A labor something over-nice,
That well a finer brain might task.
What think you, lad, of this device
(Older than I, though I am gray),
‘Tis simple,— ‘This will pass away’?

“When wafted on by fortune’s breese,
In endless peace thou seem’st to glide,
Prepare betimes for rougher seas,
And check the boast of foolish pride;
Though smiling joy is thine to-day,
Remember, ‘This will pass away!’

“When all the sky is draped in black,
And, beaten by tempestuous gales,
Thy shuddering ship seems all a-wreck,
Then trim again thy tattered sails;
To grim despair be not a prey;
Bethink thee, ‘This will pass away!’

“Thus, O my son, be not o’er proud,
Nor yet cast down; judge thou aright;
When skies are clear, expect the cloud;
In darkness, wait the coming light;
Whatever be thy fate to-day,
Remember, ‘This will pass away!'”

—J. G. Saxe.

Alternate Reading: Psalms 126: 5-6.

The Love That Hopeth And Endureth All Things

And when it can no longer believe, then love hopeth all things. Is any evil related of any man? Love hopes that the relation is not true, that the thing related was never done. Is it certain it was?—”But perhaps it was not done with such circumstances as are related; so that showing the facts, there is room to hope it was not so ill as it is reported.” Was the action apparently, undeniably evil? Love hopes the intention was not so. Is it clear the design was evil too?—”Yet might it not spring, not from the settled temper of the heart, but from a start of passion, or from some vehement temptation, which hurried the man beyond himself?” And even when it cannot be doubted but all the actions, designs, and tempers are equally evil, still love hopes that God will at last triumph with loving mercy; and that there shall be joy in heaven over this sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance.

Love “endureth all things.” This completes the character of him that is truly merciful. He endureth not some, not many things only, not most, but absolutely all things. Whatever the injustice, the malice, the cruelty of men can inflict, he is able to suffer. He calls nothing intolerable; he never says of anything, “this is not to be borne.” No: he can not only do but suffer all things through Christ which strengtheneth him. And all he suffers does not destroy his love, nor impair it in the least. It is proof against all. It is a flame that burns in the midst of the great deep. ” Many waters cannot quench his love, neither can the floods drown it.” It triumphs over all. It never faileth, neither in time or in eternity.

Thus in obedience to what heaven decrees,
Knowledge shall fail, and prophecy shall cease;
But lasting love’s more ample sway—
Nor bound by time, nor subject to decay—
In happy triumph shall forever live,
And endless good diffuse, and endless praise receive.

—John Wesley.

Alternate Reading: I John 4: 7-21.

The Light Of The World

Jesus again addressed the people.

“I am the Light of the World,” he said. “He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life.”

“You are bearing testimony to yourself!” exclaimed the Pharisees, “your testimony is not trustworthy.”

“Even if I bear testimony to myself,” answered Jesus, “my testimony is trustworthy; for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from, nor where I am going. You judge by appearances; I judge no one. Yet, even if I were to judge, my judgment would be trustworthy; because I am not alone, but the Father who sent me is with me. Why, in your own Law it is said that the testimony of two persons is trustworthy. I, who bear testimony to myself, am one, and the Father who sent me also bears testimony to me.”

—John.

Life’s Sweet Contentment

This is peace
To conquer love of self and lust of life,
To tear deep-rooted passion from the breast,
To still the inward strife;
For love to clasp eternal beauty close;
For glory to be lord of self, for pleasure
To live beyond with God; for countless wealth
To lay up lasting treasure

Of perfect service rendered, duties done
In charity, soft speech, and stainless days:
These riches shall not fade away in life,
Nor any death dispraise.
Then sorrow ends, for Life and Death have ceased;
How should lamps flicker when their oil is spent?
The old sad count is clear, the new is clean;
Thus hath a man content.

—Prince Gautama.

Make home your hobby, and have no other.

Your House Of Happiness

Take what God gives, O heart of mine,
And build your house of happiness.
Perchance some have been given more;
But many have been given less.
The treasure lying at your feet,
Whose value you but faintly guess,
Another builder, looking on,
Would barter heaven to possess.

Have you found work that you can do?
Is there a heart that loves you best?
Is there a spot somewhere called home
Where, spent and worn, your soul may rest?
A friendly tree? A book? A song?
A dog that loves your hand’s caress?
A store of health to meet life’s needs?
Oh, build your house of happiness!

Trust not to-morrow’s dawn to bring
The dreamed-of joy for which you wait;
You have enough of pleasant things
To house your soul in goodly state;
To-morrow Time’s relentless stream
May bear what now you have away;
Take what God gives, O heart, and build
Your house of happiness to-day!

—B. Y. Williams.

Beauty And Service

Every right action and true thought sets the seal of its beauty on person and face.

Do all the good you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can, in every place you can.

—John Ruskin.

Alternate Reading: Colossians 3: 5-25.