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XXI.

Nearer my God to Thee!

Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth whom I desire besides Thee.-Psalm lxxiii, 25.

HE question is asked: Why is this world unsatisfying? It is the grandeur of the soul which God has given us, which makes it insatiable in its desires-with an infinite void which cannot be filled up, a soul which was made for God, how can the world fill it? If the ocean can be still with miles of unstable waters beneath it, then, the soul of man, rocking itself upon its own deep longings, with the Infinite beneath it, may rest. . . There is nothing left for us but to fill up the hollowness of the soul with God.

But let not that expression-filling the soul with Godpass away without a distinct meaning. God is love and goodness. Fill the soul with goodness, and fill the soul with love-that is the filling it with God. If we love one another God dwelleth within us.

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NTO the house of peace my spirit yearns,

F. W. ROBERTSON.

Unto the source of being my soul turns;
To where the sacred light of heaven burns,
She struggles thitherward by day and night.

To her the wonder of God's works appear;
She longs with fervor Him to draw anear;

The tidings of His glory doth she hear

From morn to even and trom night to night.—Jehudah Halevi.

XXII.

The Accepted Worship.

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even unto me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning; and rend your heart and not your garment; for the Lord is gracious and merciful -Joel ii. 12, 13.

O not seek for the City of God on earth, for it is not built of wood or stone; but seek it in the soul of the man who is at peace with himself and is a lover of true wisdom.

If a man practices ablutions of the body, but defiles his mind; if he offers hecatombs, founds a temple, adorns a shrine, and does nothing for making his soul beautiful; let him not be called religious. He has wandered far from real religion, mistaking ritual for holiness; attempting, as it were, to bribe the Incorruptible and to flatter Him whom none can flatter. God welcomes the genuine service of a soul, the sacrifice of truth, but from display of wealth He turns away.

Will any man with impure soul and with no intention to repent, dare to approach the most High God? The grateful soul of the wise man is the true altar of God. PHILO JUDÆUS.

OH, were it not for mercy such as Thine,

How could the conscious sinner seek Thy shrine?

How hope for grace, when long arrears of sin
Recorded stand upon the soul within?
But Thou, O Lord, with clemency Divine,
Wilt not the guilty to despair consign.

XXIII.

Reverence God and Help Men.

Ye are blessed of the Lord who made heaven and earth. The heaven is the heaven of God, but the earth hath He given to the children of men.Psalm cxv. 15, 16.

OME people attaching themselves to one portion of the Decalogue, neglect the other. For, filled with the unmixed draught of religous yearning, they bid farewell to all other occupations and dedicate their whole life to God. Others, who believe there is no good beyond well-doing towards men, care only for human intercourse; and, by their social zeal, share their possessions with their fellows and seek to alleviate distress to the utmost of their power. Now, both the exclusive lover of man and the exclusive lover of God, we may rightly call half perfect. The perfectly virtuous are those who excel in both. PHILO JUDÆUS.

Reverence God and help men; there is but one fruit of this earthly life: a holy disposition and social acts. ANTONINUS.

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XXIV.

The God of the Good.

The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine; as for the world and the fullness thereof, Thou hast fouuded it.-Psalm lxxxix. II.

ME worship the pure one, the Lord of Purity. We WE worship the Universe of the true spirit, visible and invisible, and all that sustains the welfare of the good creation. We praise all good thoughts, all good deeds which are and will be; all that keeps pure, all that is good. We worship the wise One who formed and furthered the life of the earth. We worship the wise One with our bodies and with our souls. We worship Him, as being united with the spirits of pure men and women.

The world were an empty tablet if Thou hadst not written thereon Thy eternal thought. PERSIAN.

O Thou merciful One, who art exalted above all imperfections, descend into our intellects and purge us from every ill. Turn our sorrows into joys. To Thee do we cling. From Thee all kings seek their light. Thou art the helper of mankind, one and all. Thou art the hope of the worlds. SABIAN LITURGY.

HESE are Thy glorious works, Parent of Good,
Almighty! This Thine universal fame,
Thus wondrous fair; Thyself how wondrous then,
Unspeakable, who sitt'st above these heavens,
To us invisible, or dimly seen

In these Thy lowest works! Yet, there declare
Thy goodness beyond thought and power divine!

XXV. The Holy and Merciful God.

Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good and to them that are upright in their hearts.—Psalm cxxu 4.

THINK of the Lord with a good heart and seek Him

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in simplicity. For He will be found of them that tempt Him not and showeth Himself unto such as do not distrust Him; froward thoughts separate from God; and His power, when it is tried, reproacheth the unwise. Into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter, nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin. God's power is the beginning of righteousness; and because He is the Lord of all, He is gracious unto all. Thou, O God, mastering Thy power, judgest with equity and orderest all with great favor; for Thou mayest use power when Thou wilt. But by such works hast Thou taught Thy people that the just man should be merciful, and hast made Thy children to be of good hope that Thou for repentance forgivest sins. To know Thee is perfect righteousness; yea, to know Thee is the root of immortality.

FROM THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON.

'HY righteousness we can discern,

Thy holy Law proclaim and learn;

Is not Thy presence near alway,

To them who penitently pray?

Thy holiness forever they proclaim.

The Lord of Hosts, thrice holy is His name.

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