4. ABIDING IN CHRIST. Prayer for Christ's presence. THAT mystic word of Thine, O sovereign Lord, Is all too pure, too high, too deep for me; Abide in me, I pray, and I in Thee! From this good hour, O, leave me nevermore ! Then shall the discord cease, the wound be heal'd, The life-long bleeding of the soul be o'er. Abide in me; o'ershadow by Thy love One half hath not been told me Of all Thy power and grace; Thy beauty, Lord, and glory, The wonders of Thy love, Shall be the endless story Of all Thy saints above. 6. ABILITIES. Development of CALL now to mind what high capacious powers The praise of mortals may the eternal growth Each half-form'd purpose and dark thought of sin; Expand the blooming soul! What pity, then, Quench, e'er it rise, each selfish, low desire, And keep my soul as Thine, calm and divine. As some rare perfume in a vase of clay Pervades it with a fragrance not its own, So, when Thou dwellest in a mortal soul, All heaven's own sweetness seems around it thrown. The soul alone, like a neglected harp, Grows out of tune, and needs that Hand Divine : Dwell Thou within it, tune and touch the chords, Till every note and string shall answer Thine. Abide in me: there have been moments blest, Harriet Beecher Stowe. 5. ABIDING IN CHRIST: our only safety. O LAMB of God! still keep me Near to Thy wounded side; 'Tis only then in safety And peace I can abide. What foes and snares surround me! 'Tis only in Thee hiding, I feel my life secure, Only in Thee abiding, The conflict can endure: Soon shall my eyes behold Thee Should sloth's unkindly fogs depress to earth Of all familiar prospects, though beheld Of objects new and strange, to urge us on Those sacred stores that wait the ripening soul, 7. ABILITIES. Difference of ALAS! what differs more than man from man? And whence this difference?-whence but from himself? For, see the universal race endow'd With the same upright form! The sun is fix'd, Into all hearts. Throughout the world of sense, Is salutary, or its influence sweet, Are each and all enabled to perceive That power, that influence, by impartial law. Gifts nobler are vouchsafed alike to all ;Reason, and, with that reason, smiles and tears; Imagination, freedom of the will, Conscience to guide and check; and death To be foretasted-immortality presumed. Strange then, nor less than monstrous, might be deem'd The failure, if the Almighty, to this point From common understanding; leaving truth Strange, should He deal herein with nice respects, The charities, that soothe, and heal, and bless, Kind wishes, and good actions, and pure thoughts- For high and not for low-for proudly graced 8. ABRAHAM. A Legend of AT night, upon the silent plain, 'This is the Lord! This light shall shine Sank down and left its darken'd place. Then rose the moon, full orb'd and clear, Then came, unheralded, the dawn, And worship now the God who rules 9. ABRAHAM. The Sacrifice of IT was noon And Abraham on Moriah bow'd himself . . He rose up and laid Nathaniel Parker Willis. 10. ABSENCE. Effects of ALL flowers will droop in absence of the sun Love reckons hours for months, and days for years; 11. ABSENCE. Improvement of WHAT shall I do with all the days and hours Between this time and that sweet time of grace? Shall I in slumber steep each weary sense,— Weary with longing? Shall I flee away Into past days, and with some fond pretence Cheat myself to forget the present day? Shall love for thee lay on my soul the sin Of casting from me God's great gift of time? Shall I, these mists of memory lock'd within, Leave and forget life's purposes sublime? Oh, how or by what means may I contrive To bring the hour that brings thee back more near? How may I teach my drooping hope to live Until that blessed time, and thou art here? I see not a step before me as I tread the days of the year, 22. ACTION. Appointment of WHAT are we set on earth for? Say, to toilNor seek to leave thy tending of the vines, For all the heat o' day, till it declines, And what looks dark in the distance, may brighten And Death's mild curfew shall from work assoil. But the past is still in God's keeping, the future His mercy shall clear, as I draw near. For perhaps the dreaded future has less bitterness than I think, The Lord may sweeten the water before I stoop to drink. Or, if Marah must be Marah, He will stand beside its brink. It may be there is waiting for the coming of my feet, Some gift of such rare blessedness, some joy so strangely sweet, That my lips can only tremble with the thanks I cannot speak. O restful, blissful ignorance! 'Tis blessed not to know, It keeps me quiet in those arms which will not let me go, And hushes my soul to rest on the bosom which loves me so. So I go on not knowing. I would not if I might; God did anoint thee with His odorous oil, 23. ACTION. Call to DARE to do right! dare to be true! Dare to do right! dare to be true! Stand by your conscience, your honour, your faith; Dare to do right! dare to be true! I would rather walk with Him by faith than walk Cannot Omnipotence carry you through? alone by sight. City and mansion and throne all in sight, My heart shrinks back from trials which the future Can you not dare to be true and be right? may disclose, Yet I never had a sorrow but what the dear Lord chose ; Dare to do right! dare to be true! Keep the great judgment-seat always in view; So I send the coming tears back, with the whisper'd Scann'd by Jehovah and angels and men. word He knows.' Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Art is long and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave. In the world's broad field of battle, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Heart within, and God o'erhead! Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time ;Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, Let us, then, be up and doing, Learn to labour and to wait. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. [REPLY TO LONGFELLOW'S 'PSALM OF LIFE.'] 'Tis no theme for joyful numbers: Though thy work-day life be earnest, If some phantom be the goal, When thou to the dust returnest, Second death awaits thy soul. Though thou act that each to-morrow Rather be dumb driven cattle Than ignore our higher life, Rushing godless into battle, Single-handed in the strife. Lives of good men all remind us Wrecks upon the sands of time. Wrecks!-not trophies-mark, my brother- Men may work and wait for ever, And, like stoics, dare their fate. Dry rot lurks in all we do.-7. Mackay, B.D. 25. ACTION. End of Go, silly worm, drudge, trudge, and travel, 26. ACTION. God's Favour of WHEN Thou dost favour any action, It runs, it flies; All things concur to give it a perfection. When Thou dost bless, hath twelve: one wheel doth rise To twenty then, or more. But when Thou dost on business blow, It hangs, it clogs: Not all the teams of Albion in a row 27. ACTION. Haste to LIFE is too short to waste Ay mind thine own aim, and God speed the mark !-R. W. Emerson. |