God gives us ministers of love, Which we regard not, being near: Death takes them from us; then we feel That angels have been with us here. As mother, sister, friend, or wife, They guide us, cheer us, soothe our pain, And when the grave has closed between Our hearts and theirs, we love-in vain. Would, MOTHER, thou couldst hear me tell The harvest of my youth is done, And manhood, come with all its cares, Finds, garnered up within my heart, For every flower a thousand tares. DEAR MOTHER, couldst thou know my thoughts, Whilst bending o'er this holy shrine, The depth of feeling in my breast, Thou wouldst not blush to call me thine. 84 FRIEND AFTER FRIEND DEPARTS. FRIEND AFTER FRIEND DEPARTS. MONTGOMERY. FRIEND after friend departs; Who hath not lost a friend? Beyond the flight of time, Beyond this vale of death, There is a world above, Where parting is unknown- Formed for the good alone; Thus star by star declines, As morning high and higher shines To pure and perfect day: Nor sink those stars in empty night; They hide themselves in heaven's own light. BENEFIT OF AFFLICTION. BAXTER. AFFLICTIONS are God's most effectual means to keep us from losing our way to our heavenly rest. Without this hedge of thorns on the right hand and left, we should hardly keep the way to heaven. If there be but one gap open, how ready are we to find it, and turn out at it! When we grow wanton, or worldly, or proud, how much doth sickness, or other affliction, reduce us! Every Christian, as well as Luther, may call affliction one of the best schoolmasters, and, with David, may say, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now have I kept thy word." Many thousand recovered sinners may cry, "O healthful sickness! O comfortable sorrows! O gainful losses! O enriching poverty! O blessed day that ever I was afflicted! Not only the "green pastures and still waters, but the rod and staff, they comfort us." Though the Word and Spirit do the main work, yet suffering so unbolts the door of the heart, that the word hath easier entrance. It were well if mere love would prevail with us, and that we were rather drawn 86 CONSOLATION SOUGHT AND FOUND. to heaven than driven. But, seeing our hearts are so bad that mercy will not do it, it is better to be put on with the sharpest scourge than loiter like the foolish virgins till the door is shut. O, what a difference is there betwixt our prayers in health and in sickness! betwixt our repentings in prosperity and adversity! Alas! if we did not sometimes feel the spur, what a slow pace would most of us hold toward heaven! Since our vile natures require it, why should we be unwilling that God should do us good by sharp means? Judge, Christian, whether thou dost not go more watchfully and speedily in the way to heaven in thy sufferings than in thy more pleasant and prosperous state. CONSOLATION SOUGHT AND FOUND. J. BOWRING. WHEN the clouds of desolation Gather o'er my naked head, And my spirit's agitation Knows not where to turn or tread; To the stars I fain would reach me ; Sacred teachers, will ye teach me, Blessed instructors, will ye tell, May be heard 'midst angel songs? God and Father, thou didst give me Helpless, struggling with despair; Look for comfort when I mourn ;· Nor in vain for light is breaking 'Midst the sorrows, 'midst the storms; And methinks I see awaking Heavenly hopes and angel forms And my spirit waxes stronger, "It is a great truth, wonderful as it is undeniable, that all our happiness-temporal, spiritual, and eternal consists in one thing, namely, in resigning ourselves to God, and in leaving ourselves with him, to do with us and in us just as he pleases. When we arrive at this state of entire and unrestricted dependence on God's spirit and providences, we shall then fully realize that what we experience is just what we need, and that, if God is truly good, he could not do otherwise than he does. All that is wanting is, to leave ourselves faithfully in God's hands, submitting always and fully to all his operations, whether painful or otherwise."- MADAME GUYON. |