THE DISCIPLINE OF SORROW.




"' Toil, trial, and suffering, still await us, and the
experience of every day teaches that we are not sufficient to ourselves.'
" Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy
laden, and I will give you rest."




THE
DISCIPLINE OF SORROW.
BY
WILLIAM G. ELIOT,
Pastor of the Church of the Messiah, St. Louis.
They who sow in tears shall reap in joy.
FIFTH EDITION.
B OST ON:
WALKER, WISE, AND COMPANY,
PUBLISHERS FOR THE
AMERICAN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION,
245 WASHINGTON STREET.
1863.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, i,.
HENIRY A. MILES,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Dist. of Massachusetts.




THE FAMILIES
AMONG WHOM I HAVE LIVED FOR MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS,
WHOSE SORROWS ARE MINE, AND WHOSE HEARTS
ANSWER TO MY OWN IN THE AFFECTIONATE
REMEMBRANCE OF OUR DEAD,
Mbfs little 3Boomt
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THEIR FRIEND
W. G. E.
1 *








ADVERTISEMENT.
I AM almost tempted to hope that these
pages will be read by none except those who
have already learned, under the Discipline of
Sorrow, that familiar truths bring the most
effectual consolation. I have aimed at no originality of thought or novelty of expression, but,
on the contrary, have sought to express the feelings which are common to all who mourn, in
words which have become, through frequent use,
the peculiar language of sorrow. To those who
have felt only the lighter afflictions of life, the
consolations here offered will seem  trite and
insufficient. But I humbly hope that those
upon whom the heavier burden has been laid,




VIII      ADVERTISEMENT.
and who do not seek diversion from grief, but
the power of Christian endurance, will recognize in these common words their own individual experience, and perhaps be assisted in finding the strength which they individually need.
ST. Louis, Mo., May 11, 1855.




CONTENTS.
PAGE
I. PREPARATION,.......... 11
II. TRIAL,.......                      83
III. WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH,................ 57
IV. COMPENSATIONS.................        77








A spirit still prepared,
And armed with jealous care,
Forever standing on its guard,
And watching unto prayer.
Let him remember the days of darkness; for they
shall be many.




O Lord, our Heavenly Father, who hast safely
brought us to the beginning of this day, defend us in
the same with thy great power, and grant that this
day we may not fall into any sin, neither run into any
danger; but that all our doings, being ordered by thy
governance, may be righteous in thy sight, through
Jesus Christ our Lord.




PREPARATION.
WE are not unmindful of the blessings
which God bestows; nor do we complain
of the trials of life, as if they were too
severe. Yet we cannot help feeling that
life is oftentimes a discipline of sorrow.
The Scripture gives only the needful
warning when it teaches us to remember
the days of darkness, for they shall be
many. We need to remember them, and
to be daily prepared for them; for they
will surely come, the sad days of adversity, suffering, and bereavement.  The
common lot belongs to our common
humanity; and when we feel most se2




14         PREPARATION.
cure misfortune may be nearest - when
we account ourselves strongest we may
be leaning upon a broken reed. At the
point where we think nd defence required
sorrow may gain entrance, and find us
unprepared.
If it were a question only of prudence
and wisdom, it would be different. Then,
by directing our attention more closely to
the defences and safeguards of life, we
might hope to escape. But, although we
may thus avoid many troubles, and greatly
lessen the amount of trial, there are still
exposures against which human wisdom
cannot guard; there are misfortunes which
baffle all human foresight; there are
griefs directly of God's sending, and no
man has yet lived who has not had reason
to say that the days of darkness are
many.




PREPARATION.            15
We should therefore be prepared for
them; and, as we retreat to the cheerful
fireside when the storms of winter are
around us, so should we, with equal foresight, and in preparation for a greater
need, provide inward stores of light and
heat, of pleasant thoughts and memories,
of pure affections, of childlike faith, of
undying hope, of resignation and fortitude, of energy to do, and resolution to
endure, whatever may be appointed as our
part in life.
With this view, we would look to some
of the sources of comfort from which the
soul derives light in the days of darkness.
We shall best know the preparation to be
made when we have learned, from our
own experience, or that of others, what
are the consolations which give permanent
and effectual strength. In the times of




16         PREPARATION.
trouble a great deal of miserable comfort
is-given, and they who do not understand
the depths of sorrow to which the heart
may go down increase its suffering by
their efforts to console.
There are chiefly three sources from,which effectual and increasing comfort is
derived, and which become more abundant, and impart more perfect peace, in
proportion to the greatness of calamity
under which we suffer. First, a clear conscience; secondly, the Christian faith;
thirdly, the accustomed performance of
duty.
First, a clear conscience - a conscience
void of offence towards God and towards
man. We speak, of course, in a human
sense, and not of that absolute perfection
which none of us attain, and for which it
is almost arrogant to hope. We mean a




PREPARATION.            17
life well spent, and the feeling of selfrespect before men, and of humble, confiding hope before God, to which, by such
a life, we are entitled. It gives the consciousness of inward strength, and a
steadfastness of heart which nothing else
can bestow. It enables us to feel that the
calamity has come as discipline, and not
as punishment. It arms us against the
sting of misfortune, and assures us that,
though cast down, we cannot be destroyed.
But, in proportion as we remember wrong
in our lives, we are weakened under the
burden of sorrow. In proportion as we
feel that we have not deserved God's
blessings, their withdrawal causes additional pain. We may not accuse ourselves of fault in the particular case, yet,
if we are conscious of general unfaithfulness, that our talents have been wasted
2*




18         PREPARATI6N.
that our time has been misspent, that
worldly cares have been our principal
care, that God has beQn absent from our
thoughts, and his blessings enjoyed without thanksgiving or prayer, then the
weight of adversity becomes heavier, and
the soul sinks under it almost with the
feeling of despair.  Still more, if the
memory of specific guilt is awakened,
with feelings of shame or of self-contempt, the afflictions under which we
labor will seem doubly great; and although there may be no connection between the wrong done and the suffering
endured, we can scarcely help interpreting the one as the deserved punishment
of the other. The heart is thus deprived
of its natural strength, and troubled
thoughts come to interfere with its consolations.




PREPARATION.            19
The commission of sin is a wrong done
to the soul, far beyond our conception at
the time when committed. It puts us on
a lower grade of existence; it subjects
us to lower influences; it spoils the serenity of our temper; it makes us dependent upon outward circumstances for
inward peace; it separates us from God,
and the dear communion of his Spirit; it
estranges us from Jesus Christ, and from
all sympathy with the pure and good;
and altogether it makes us incompetent to
understafid the dealings of God toward us,
either in his mercies or his chastisements.
Every sin committed makes it more difficult to trust in God, or resign ourselves to
his will. It changes the expression of
his face from love to anger, because it
disturbs the atmosphere of our thoughts
and feelings through which he is seen.




20         PRtEPARATION.
But the pure in heart see God as he is
In the enjoyment of his blessings they rejoice in his love; and when the days of
darkness come, the light which shines
from heaven is only the more beautiful
because of the gloom which rests upon
the earth.
This is therefore the first counsel to
those who would be prepared for the
severe trials of life. Avoid sin; shun
every wrong action; stoop to no meanness; yield to no bad passion; indulge
no sinful appetite; for every such deviation from right, though long forgotten, is
recorded in the secret chambers of the
memory, to be read, whether we will or
no, when the days of darkness come.
But let the -life be given to works of
usefulness, and let the laws of Christian
morality be carefully observed; let con



PREPARATION.           21
tinual effort be made to live as Jesus
lived, who went about doing good, who
did no sin, neither was guile found in his
mouth; and, although we cannot thereby
avoid grief, and may need to pray, in
agony of spirit, as Jesus prayed, that the
cup of sorrow may pass from us, yet,
having the consciousness that we have
labored to do God's will, we shall still be
able to say, as Jesus said, " Thy will, not
ours, be done." Sorrow, when unmingled with remorse, may bruise, but it
cannot break the heart; and the smoking
flax will not be quenched.
The second preparation for the days of
darkness is Christian faith. We speak of
it as a preparation, because, if we wait to
seek for it until the darkness has already
come, we are like those who were com
pelled to go and buy oil for their lamps,




22         PREPARATION.
when their lamps were already needed tc
be bright and burning. Religion must be
familiar to our minds, the channel into
which our thoughts naturally turn, or it
will be an imperfect source of comfort to
the stricken soul. If we have, then, to
argue against objections, and persuade
ourselves of the truth, when the mind
needs repose, and the heart is waiting for
the word of divine compassion, " peace,
be still," our condition, though not hopeless, must be very sad. Adversity often
has the effect of awakening men to the
necessity of religious faith; but the case
of those is far better who have understood
the necessity before the trial comes. They
are like men who sleep in their armor,
and who, at the first moment of alarm,
are ready for the conflict. They may be
suddenly surprised in the midst of perfect




PREPARATION.            23
security, and aroused from the pleasant
dreams of home and kindred to a contest
of life and death. But their first conscious thought is that God is with them,
and that he has already given the earnest
of victory. " When we lie down to sleep
thou art our defence, and when we awake
we are still with thee."  Such is the
blessed influence of Christian faith upon
all who heartily receive it, in preparing
them for the severer conflicts of life.
We are not speaking of disputed questions in theology, but of the faith which
is in common to all those who sincerely
believe in Christ. It is to believe in the
parental love and kind providence of God..
It is to believe that while we were yet
sinners Christ died for us. It is to believe that earth is a place of discipline,
where not only joy, but sorrow, is a proof




24         PREPARATION.
of the divine goodness, and that whom
God loveth he chasteneth.  It is to hear
the heavenly voice of Jesus, " Come unto
me, all ye that are weary and heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." It is
faith in immortality, in redemption, and
in the soul's communion with God. And,
whatever else there may be which forms
within us the life of Christ, and brings us
near to the infinite God, his Father and
our Father, and teaches us to count all
things but loss for Christ's sake, while we
press forward towards the mark for the
prize of our high calling, this is what we
mean by the Christian faith.  It is the
education of the soul in spiritual life; the
rising above the world while we live in it,
so that the clouds which cast a shadow
upon our path can no longer obscure the
upward vision. Life may be a baptism




PREPARATION.             25
of sorrow, but by Christian faith we are
baptized into the Holy Spirit.  It confirms us amidst all doubts; it allays our
fears; it speaks of pardon to the sinner,
and of a blessing upon those who mourn.
It tells us of the departed, that they are not
dead, but sleeping. It reveals to the bereaved heart the mansions of the blessed,
which Jesus has gone to prepare; and,
although it leaves us in a world of mystery, teaches us even here to trust. Ah!
how little do we know of the religion of
Christ, until the days of darkness come!
Therefore, let those who would be
prepared for all the vicissitudes of life,
its disappointments, its bereavements, become earnest seekers of religion, until the
Christian faith is the breath of their nostrils, the common air in which they live.
Let them fill their hearts with it. Let it
8




26         PREPARATION.
pervade their homes, and govern their
families. Among all the realities of life
let it be regarded, as it is, in fact, the
chief reality.  Thus having their daily
walk with God, when they come to the
dark valley of sorrow and of the shadow
of death, his rod and his staff will comfort them. Earth has no sorrow which
Heaven cannot heal.
Another source of returning strength
in the time of adversity, and of consolation in bereavement, is found in the accustomed performance of duty. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with
thy might," is sometimes the first word
of practical comfort, and brings the
earliest relief. The words of sympathy
may be heard with patience, and will by
and by be remembered with gratitude.
The hearty encouragement of friends may




PREPARATION.            27
arouse us from despondency, and prepare
us for new  exertion; but the heart's
pulse cannot become healthy when the
hands are idle. We must return to our
working, and to the daily routine of life's
duties, however cheerless the task may
be, and however difficult. We may have
no heart for it, and rather a feeling of
weariness and disgust; but the exertion
for duty's sake will be like medicine to
the soul. The sooner we are compelled
to receive it, tlie better for us; and the
necessity of working, which seems at first
a hardship, is found to be a blessing. It
is therefore to be accounted one of the
aggravations of severe affliction that it
throws the mind off from its balance, and
for the moment paralyzes its energies, so
that the capacity of working is lost. Sometimes, too, a change is produced in our




28          PREPARATION.
position, so that the ordinary routine of
duty is stopped, and an interval of comparative idleness must be endured until
the fierceness of the calamity be overpast. But the sooner we can return to
accustomed duties, and the more exactly
we perform them, the better. We may
not do them  heartily, but yet faithfully.
If they are such duties as can be performed mechanically, while our thoughts
are elsewhere, they will be the easier, and
the less wearing to the mind. If they
are such as to require hearty interest in
them for their proper performance, it is
probable that they will, at first, be imperfectly done, -and the voluntary effort to do
them may come very hard. B3ut, whatever the case may be, no one ever gains
by shrinking from his duty, and the continual effort should be made. Hour after




PREPARATION.           29
hour will bring its own strength. One
duty helps us on to another. The endeavor to serve God brings us nearer to
him, and we submit to his divine will, not
only with patience, but in that active
cooperation by which we become instruments in his hands, and cheerfully go forward in the path which he has ordained,
although it may lead through sorrow unto
death. To sit down and weep, although
we may say God's will be done, is not the
Christian resignation. It is to arise from
that prayer, with Jesus Christ, and go
forward to the completion of our work.
It may be a hard lesson to learn, but it
does not the less-need to be taught. Until we have learned it, we are not strong
to endure the heavy trials of life, and fail
to derive from them their best instruction.
He who is withdrawn from his duty by
8'




30        PREPARATION.
grief, and spends his time in the idleness
of regret, is adding to the providential
infliction the feeling of personal unfaithfulness, still harder to endure. If the
calamity under which he suffers be worldly
mortification and loss, let him grapple with
the difficulty without complaint, and, by
manly enterprise, correcting the faults of
the past, command success for the future.
If it be a heavier loss, for which earth
has no healing, and time no cure, let us
remember that the only road which leads
to the heavenly physician is the path of
duty, and, if we would be followers of
Jesus Christ, we must also be the bearers
of his cross.
We may perceive, therefore, the force
of the words used, that the accustomed
performance of duty is a source of consolation, and of renewed strength.  We




PREPARATION.             31
must have previous habits of industry,
and the regular employment of time, or
adversity will find -us without nerve for
exertion, and without energy of will. It
is then no time to learn how to work, and
how to forget one's self in the work done.
Strictly voluntary exertion is almost impossible, and we need all the strength of former habit to enable us to act like men.
But, if trouble finds us in the midst of
our duties, the hands may continue to
work; the mind, for a moment distracted,
soon recovers its tone, and the heart,
arousing from the first consternation of
grief, is prepared, by obedience to the
will of God, for the consolations of his
Spirit. For we are then doing our part
with faithfulness, and God will sustain
and strengthen us.  He shall come down
like rain upon the mown grass, like dew




32        rREPARATIO N.
upon the plant which perisheth; for as a
father pitieth his children, so doth the
Lord pity those who fear him.
However severe the trials of life may
be, we can therefore always hold ourselves
in readiness for them. One word of counsel includes all.  " Fear God and keep
his commandments; for this is the whole
of manhood, the whole duty of man."
Having a good conscience, putting our
trust in God through Jesus Christ, living
in the daily performance of our duty, and
doing it as unto the Lord, we are prepared for every emergency of life, and
under its severest trials the Comforter will
be with us.  "Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give unto you," said the Saviour.  " Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let -it be afraid."




There is a battle to be fought,
An upward race to run,
A crown of glory to be sought,
A victory to be won.
With the baptism that [ am baptized with, ye shall
be baptized.
No chastening for the present seems joyous, but
grievous; but afterward it yields the peaceable fruits
of righteousness.




O God, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so
many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty
of our nature we cannot always stand upright; grant
to us such strength and protection as may support us
in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.




TRIAL.
WE do not seek, however, to conceal
from ourselves the severity of discipline
to which, under the providence of God,
we are here subjected. It would not be
difficult to give such representations of
human life as would make it appear anything but a blessing. From some points
of view it seems to be nothing but trouble
and care, a weary progress of pain and
disappointment, of vexation and loss. To
say nothing of its sins and the retribution
of sin, which are in themselves the worst
evils, there is enough suffering from providential causes, over which we have little




36            TRIAL.
or no control, to fill our hearts with sad
ness, and to make us feel as if we were
walking in a gloomy path, which must
become more and more gloomy to the end.
An infancy of tears, a childhood of dis
appointments, a youth of mistakes, a manhood of care, an old age of weariness and
despondency, with its gray hair and tottering steps brought down in sorrow to
the tomb.  "Vanity of vanities," saith
the preacher, " all is vanity."
First, there are the pains and bodily
diseases, the thousand natural shocks that
flesh is heir to. We may lessen them by
temperance and careful obedience to the
laws of health; but none of us can altogether escape. There will be many days
and weeks in which we shall say we have no
pleasure in them. In the morning we cry
out, would God that it were evening, and




TRIAL.              37
when the night comes, would God that it
were morning. Or, if the pain is not suffered in.our own persons, we may have a
harder trial in witnessing the pain of those
whom we love, and who look to us for the
relief which we are not able to give. Perhaps it is at the bedside of one too young
or too helpless to express his wants and
sufferings, and over whom we watch in the
helpless agony of despair. Perhaps it is a
long-continued contest with some incurable disease, which baffles all skill, and
goes on with uninterrupted course to the
end. But, in some form or other, the
trial comes to every family and household.
How many are there at this moment to
whom, upon their beds of suffering, day
brings no relief, and night brings no
repose!
Then there are the disappointments
4




38             TRIAL.
and losses to which all are subject. Poverty is not the worst evil; for a man may
be very poor, and very contented. But
when his daily exertions fail to bring him
daily bread, when his best industry cannot provide clothing and education for his
children, when the anxiety for the morrow
is forced upon him in spite of all his faith,
and to the destruction almost of hope
itself, the physical evil of poverty becomes a greater spiritual evil, weighing
down the mind, and sometimes debasing
the character. The poverty of which the
world is so full, and which we are daily
called upon to relieve, is an evil of increasing magnitude; and, although we
may not suffer from it ourselves, its presence among us is a cause of grief, and
our inability to remove it becomes a personal hardship. It spoils our comfort to




TRIAL.              39
know that there are so many within our
daily reach who are yet removed beyond
our effectual sympathy. To live in the
midst of suffering which we have no
power to relieve, is to share in the suffering ourselves.
Sometimes it comes still nearer to us,
if not by absolute want, yet by the losses
and reverses of fortune to which the most
prosperous are exposed. The best secured fortune may be lost, and they who
are now living in affluence may find themselves next week looking for the means
of support. All their plans of life are
frustrated, the luxuries upon which they
had learned to depend as needful comforts
must be given up, their position in society
is changed, and they must begin life over
again, once more to go through its struggles and endure its buffets, at a time




40            TRIAL.
when they had thought themselves almost
secure in the haven of retired competency
and wealth. Riches take to themselves
wings and fly away. There is no investment absolutely secure from loss, except
of that which we have honorably used to
good and honorable purpose. Nor is it
only the loss of what we may have
earned, but still more it is the mortification incident to the loss, and the long
series of vexations and troubles which
must follow. The misunderstandings, the
unjust reproaches, the unavailing regrets
that those whom we sought to serve have
been made to suffer, the oppressive feeling of debt which we would gladly coin
our blood to pay, and we know not how
many other feelings most distressing to
tElose who have the nicest sense of honor,
are implied in those words which we




TRIAL-.             41
speak so carelessly, and which describe a
thing of daily occurrence, the reverses of
fortune. The life which is marked by
such vicissitudes, and in which such
changes are continually to be feared, is
too full of care to be a life of enjoyment.
But what are these losses of outward
temporal blessings, which future industry
may restore, and which will be remembered by and by with pleasantness, compared with the loss of our household treasures, our friends and kindred, to whom
our hearts were given, and with whom
our hearts are buried? How lonely and
desolate is the house where bereavement
has come! How heavy are the hearts of
those who continue to do their appointed
duties, which have now become a taskwork, from which the relish has gone!
How dreary is the path of life, with its
4*




42            TRIAL.
miserable routine of cares, its childish
toys and playthings, its amusements and
its follies, to those who have looked upon
the angel of death, and who have stood
by the open grave! It is not that they
would complain, but that they are bereaved. Rachel weeping for her children,
and refusing to be comforted because they
are not. Every family has its vacant
seats at the fireside; every heart at times
seeks for those who are living, in the
places of the dead. We cannot escape
the pains of' bereavement; our dearest
love cannot hold back those whom God
calleth; and while we mourn for the departed, trembling mixes -with our love for
those who remain.
It is thus that the dread element of
uncertainty is everywhere present, to lessen and often to spoil our best enjoy



TRIAL.              43
ments.  The danger of losing whatever
we possess, and whatever we enjoy, is
always impending; and the feeling of security is one which we can never wisely
entertain. For, if it were possible to protect ourselves from pain and disease, if we
could insure our possessions against the
possibility of loss, if we could close our
doors against that visitor who comes
with equal tread to the threshold of rich
and poor, and who chooses first those who
are loveliest -if we could thus secure the
permanence of all the conditions which
belong to a prosperous life, yet does our
own life itself continue only from day to
day. We are but tenants at ivill, to be
removed with or without warning. This
night shall thy soul be required of thee;
and then whose shall all those things be?
The windows of the house are darkened,




44            TRIAL.
the wheel is broken at the cistern, the
pitcher is broken at the fountain, the
mourners go about the streets for a few
days remembering us, and then the place
which knew us shall know us no more
forever.
The indisputable fact that we may die
at any moment is of itself enough, humanly speaking, and with only a human
view, to make the thought of happiness
absurd. We must put it out of view, or
human enjoyment is impossible.  And
therefore God has graciously ordained
that, while we know and admit the fact
whenever it is distinctly stated, it comes
to us rather as an abstract proposition, a
general law of humanity, than aq a truth
of personal application.  Only by a
strong mental effort does it come to the
individual so as to be a personal concern.




TRIAL.              45
It scarcely ever comes at all in the hours
of happiness, and we live on from day to
day with a feeling of security, although
well knowing that we are not secure; and
reach forward with our plans and schemings with a self-assured certainty of
many years, when we know well enough
that we ought not to count upon as many
days. This is not mere thoughtlessness on
our part, nor is it generally a wilful confidence in the duration of life. It is the
wise and merciful ordering of Providence,
without which the best provided life
would be unhappy. If the uncertainty
of life were ever present with us, dwelling in our thoughts, seen by the mind's
eye, as the fact really is, not one of us
could enjoy, and few could endure, to live.
If we could see the arrows which fly by
night, passing so near to us on every side




46            TRIAL.
a thousand thousand times before they
touch us with their fatal point; if we
could hear the silent tread of the pestilence which walketh in darkness, and the
moving of its wings, which disturb the air
we breathe, as it goes onward wasting at
noonday; if we discerned the peril in
which we thus continually stand, the dangers and the snares among which we so
confidently move, our only prayer would
be that death might come quickly, to
release us from the pain, the trembling,
and the fear. The terror would continually be increased in proportion to the
greatness of our seeming bliss; and God,
in his mercy, has therefore made it possible for us to be happy by the gift of unconsciousness, so that, without reasoning
upon the subject and against reason, we
enjoy the present, and look forward to




TRIAL.              47
the future with instinctive confidence.
But, for a truly happy life, for the happiness which reasonable beings crave, something more than this instinctive evasion
of the truth must be given. By shutting
our eyes to the danger, the childish pleasure-seeking of life may continue; but
when we put away childish things, and
become mature in understanding, we
need some higher law by which to live,
and under which to enjoy.
The proposition with which we began
will therefore remain undisputed, that
human life may be represented so as to
appear anything but a desirable gift.
When we think of the cares and anxieties, the burdens and vexations, the
weariness and the pains, the conflicts and
defeats, the disappointments and losses,
the estrangements of friendship and the




48             TRIAL.
desertions of love, the betrayals of confidence and the returns of evil for good,
when we think how often the abundance
of joy is thus suddenly changed to bitter
ness of grief, we must either, if we are ra
tional beings, lie down in despair under a
burden too heavy to be borne, or we must
rise up with a new and better strength, to
breathe an atmosphere more serene, and
to live above the world while we live in
it. As rational beings, we cannot close
our eyes to that which reason and experience declare; but, as spiritual beings, we
may enter into the counsel of God, and
learn from him what is the reality of life
amidst all of its seemings, what is its real
meaning amidst all its illusions, what are
its substantial joys amidst all its disappointments, what is the fixed and glorious
result of all its changes.  It is for this




TRIAL.              49
purpose that we have turned our thoughts
to that which may at first seem a sad and
gloomy view of life; it is that we may
pass, by the necessity of the case, by the
demand of our nature, by the upward
yearning of the soul, to that which is a
thousand times more true, and ten thousand times more glorious.
The key of interpretation, by which
that is made plain which would otherwise
be mysterious, and that made bright
which would otherwise be gloomy, is supplied by the knowledge of God's purpose
concerning us, and our consequent faith
in his providential care. Only when our
will is in opposition to his do the uncertainties and calamities of life over-burden
us. While we think of present enjoyment as the chief end, no explanation
of life's manifold sorrows can be given.
6




50            TRIAL.
Adversity is then an unmixed evil, and
every day of grief an irretrievable loss
But when we know that the enjoyments
of life, however rich and abundant, are
not the purpose of life, but are only incidental to its real uses, we begin to understand that the same love which gives
may, by its continued and higher action,
take away.
The child, looking at the fruit-tree
when covered with beautiful and fragrant blossoms, supposes that beauty and
fragrance are its ultimate end. He is
disappointed when the blossoms fall, and
the tree appears to him unsightly and
useless. But when he learns that the
fruit now begins to be formed, he changes
his thought, and understands that the
blossoms were but the superfluous adornings, which must pass away before the




TRIAL.              51
real uses of the tree can appear. And so
it is with our life. Its childhood and
youth are filled with delights, its advancing years are crowned with blessings, we
are led by a gentle hand over green pastures and by the still waters, and our
cup of gladness runneth over.  Then,
with childlike thought, we rejoice in the
abundance of God's gifts, and if we
thank him at all, it is for the enjoyment
conferred, and not for the love from which
it proceeds, and by which it may pres
ently be withdrawn. We need to learr
that the purpose of the tree is to bear
fruit, not flowers; and that the wisdom
and goodness of God may abound only
the more at the time when the blossoms
fall.
But our lives are not like the trees of
this colder clime, which are. quite shorn




52             TRIAL.
of their beauty before the fruit begins to
appear, but rather like the orange and
citron tree, on which new blossoms continually come, and successively give place
to the forming fruit.  So, in our mortal
life, one delight after another disappears,
giving place to that higher instruction
which is the intended fruit. But new
delights continue to bloom around us, so
that, together with the sadness of increasing wisdom, the spring and the summer
of the heart are continually renewed.
But still the truth remains, that the fruit,
and not the flower, is the ultimate end.
What is the will of God concerning us?
It is that we should become holy; that
we should grow to the stature of Christian manhood; that, by the discipline of
life, its mingled joys and sorrows, we may
be educated for heaven. All present en



TRIAL.              53
joyment and suffering are to be regarded
chiefly in that view. They are good or
evil, not according to their seeming, but
as they minister to that end. The beauties and the glories of life, its purest
enjoyments, its  sweetest charms, are
often only the flowers that must fall
before the fruit appears. If their continuance hindered the fruit, would their
continuance be a proof of God's love?
We may weep while we answer, and feel
that the glory has departed from our
house; but still, if we are not wayward
children, we shall consent to that which
the Lord doeth that it is right.
Believe, therefore, in the wisdom of
God.  Consider his great purpose concerning us, and although our path may be
sometimes rugged and steep, we shall
perceive that it is the right path, and
6*




54            TRIAL.
leading us in the right way. The uncertainties of life are a needful part of its
discipline. The stolen treasure of earth
turns our thoughts to the treasure in
heaven, which neither moth nor rust
doth corrupt, and which thieves do fot
break through to steal. The -pains of the
body remind us of its mortality, and
awaken us to the higher life of the soul.
Adversity, however stern in its coming,
looks back upon us with a smiling face
when its lessons have been learned; and
bereavement, with the hand which smites,
points upward to the heaven where our
angels dwell. " Ye shall drink," said the
Saviour, "of my cup; and with the baptism wherewith I am baptized, ye shall be
baptized withal." And do we not, like
those brave-hearted disciples of olden
time, do we not consent to the baptism,




TRIAL.              55
although in the bitterness of tears? Do
we love the body so much that we would
not rather save the soul? Do we shrink
from the cross, when our eyes are already
fixed upon the crown?
Understand, therefore, the purpose of
God concerning us, and we shall understand all the mysteries of life. If we
can make his purpose our own, we shall
be saved from a great part of its temptations. We shall smile at its outward
losses, we shall endure with patience its
heavier griefs, we shall learn by waiting
to serve God, and by suffering to become
strong.  We do not say that we can
thereby secure uninterrupted enjoyment;
but we shall secure, amidst the severest
storms of life, uninterrupted peace. We
shall secure uninterrupted progress.  We
shall make our earthly life, with all its




56             TRIAL.
adversities, an uninterrupted blessing.
Consent to this eternal truth, that the
soul's salvation is the great end to be
accomplished, and we shall perceive that
God doeth all things well.




~Uteakn5ss anO Strength
Forgive the weakness I deplore,
And let thy peace abound in me,
That I maty trust myself no more,
But wholly cast myself on thee.
0! let my Father's strength be mine,
And my devoted life be thine!
But when he saw the winds and the sea boist &,as,
he was afraid.
Lord, increase our faith.




Hear my prayer, 0 God, and hide not thyself from
my petition. Take heed unto me and hear me, how 1
mourn in my prayer and am troubled. My heart is
disquieted within me, and the fear of death is fallen
upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon
me, and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me. And
I said, 0 that I had wings like a dove, for then would
I fly away and be at rest. I would make haste to
escape from the stormy wind and tempest. But yet I
will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. O,
cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain
thee, and shall not suffer the righteous to fall.




WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
WHEN a difficult duty was made known
to the disciples, they came to Jesus and
said, Lord, increase our faith. It is the
same prayer which we need continually
to offer.  We sometimes desire more
knowledge, and complain that revelation
has not instructed us more fully, and
sometimes we ask for more evidence of
its truth. We suffer our minds to become
perplexed with difficult doctrines, or with
what are called philosophical explanations, which darken what knowledge we
possess, and then, if religion fails to ex



60   WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
ercise upon us the needful control, and to
give the desired.comfort, we impute the
blame to the religion, insteaid of imputing
it to'ourselves.  We need not more instruction nor clearer evidence of the truth,
but more faith. We need greater capacity of believing, and a more childlike
spirit in its exercise.
Certainly our religion contains all the
instruction that we need. It is adapted
to all the exigences of life, and can supply all its wants. As a system of theology, it reveals God in his infinite perfections, so that we can understand his dealings with us; and as a system of moral
instruction, it develops all that is true in
our nature. The heavenly Father, whom
Christ makes known, is a being of infinite
wisdom and of perfect goodness. His
power is directed by love, and under his




WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.  61
protection we are shielded from all harm.
Among all the changes of life we may
feel secure, because without him not even
a sparrow  falleth to the ground.  By
knowing his purposes concerning us, our
redemption from sin, and the education
of our souls for immortal life, the mysteries of his providence, otherwise inscrutable, receive explanation, and we can
rest assured that while infinite wisdom
directs, infinite power can execute the
plans of infinite love, so that all things
will ultimately work together for our
good. Even the great mystery of sin is
partly explained by the efficacy of repenttnce, and the promised reconciliation
with God through Jesus Christ. Temptation is disarmed of its power to those who
believe that God answers their prayers,
and will find a way for their escape. The
6




62  WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
burdens of life become light to those who
are supported by a divine arm. Adversity loses its threatening aspect, and
becomes a proof of parental love. Bereavement, however sad, no longer leaves
us to sorrow as those who have no hope;
for the dead may yet belong to us not less,
yea, even more than the living. Death
itself is changed from an enemy to a
friend, from a destroyer to a deliverer, by
him who hath given us the victory. We
are travellers through the wilderness to
the promised land; we are children, receiving our education for the maturity of
a nobler life; we are soldiers in the army
of God, who must endure the conflict before the victory is gained; and, however
dark the road may sometimes be, and
however hard the lessons to be learned
and however fierce the battle in which we




WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.  63
must engage, the pillar of cloud and fire
still goes before us to guide, the voice of
our heavenly teacher still encourages us
to learn, and the armor of our God still
defends us from harm. " Nothing," said
the Saviour, "can, by any means, hurt
you." Such are the words that he continually speaks.  Seeming evil is real
good. They who sow in tears shall reap
in joy. Death opens the way to life, and
the afflictions of the present time, which
are but for a moment, are working out for
us a far more exceeding, even an eternal
weight of glory.
The instruction, therefore, is sufficient
to those who receive it.  We may multiply all the calamities of life beyond what
any one has ever endured, and beyond
what human strength can endure, until
all human hope is gone, and all earthly




64  WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
joy departed; and still the support given
by our religion is sufficient for our need,
the way of deliverance is still open, and
the light from heaven shines continually
brighter.
So at least it may be, and was intended
to be. But how is it with us in fact?
With the knowledge of God's love and
paternal care, with the knowledge that
Christ died for us and ever liveth to
make intercession for us, with the knowledge that death is but the passing from
an earthly to a heavenly home, with the
knowledge that all our trials here are sent
for our good, and that God is never manifesting his love more perfectly than when
his hand of chastening is laid upon us, -
with such instruction given to us by
Christ, and received by us as true, what
are our real feelings when calamity im



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.  65
pends?  How do we endure the chastisement? How do we actually receive the
sterner discipline of life? The instruction is immediately forgotten, the explanations of God's providence no longer satisfy us, the purposes of God concerning
us are disregarded, the promises of Christ
seem to be afar off, the waves of sorrow
go over us, and the light of God's presence is shut out from our souls.  The disappointments and losses which come in
the ordinary course of life are beyond
our patient endurance, and the bereavements which make our homes desolate
prostrate us almost in hopeless *despair.
Because one blessing has been taken
away, there seems to be none left. Because there is one calamity, there seems
to be no joy. Everything seems wrong,
and, like the unfaithful prophet, when the




66  WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
vine withers and the sun beats down upon
our heads, we say, and, what is still more,
we feel, that it is better to die than to
live.  Trouble comes upon us, and we
faint; it touches us, and we know not
what to do. Where, then, is our fear, our
confidence, the uprightness of our ways,
and our hope?
It is not because we deliberately rebel
against God, nor would we dare to take
the ordering of our days out of his
hands; but we are astounded, and know
not which way to turn. It is not that we
openly complain; but we shrink from the
chastisement, and are unable to look up.
Our minds tell us a thousand reasons why
we should be comforted, but no word of
comfort reaches the heart. What, then,
is the difficulty? There must be some
defect, some short-coming, some defi



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.  67
ciency, or we could not be thus unfaithful
and inconsistent. We may say that the
spirit is willing and the flesh is weak,
and that this is an explanation of the perpetual conflict and the occasional defeat.
It is so. But why should that weakness
continue?  Why  does not the  spirit
conquer? Why is the weakness of the
body transferred to the soul, instead of
the soul's strength transferred to the
body? It is because our souls themselves
are weak through the want of faith.
Religion becomes an insufficient support,
because. it is not thoroughly believed.
There may be no deliberate or intentional
doubting, but there are involuntary misgivings and fears. The heart wavers, and
the mind wavers with it. We had thought
ourselves thoroughly convinced, but now
we ask, almost with trembling, can it be




68  WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
true that God lives, does his providence
never fail, in judgment does he remember
mercy, is that which the Lord doeth
always right?
We wonder at ourselves when such
thoughts come. We are ashamed of the
state of mind into which trouble has
thrown us, and cannot understand it; yet
it continues, and our souls are cast down
within us. They are also sorely vexed,
and even our prayer is that of despondency - O Lord, how long!
Shall we say that this is the condition
of none but a worldly and irreligious
man? That the Christian believer can
never suffer from such misgivings, and
weakness, and fears?  But it is in the
language of David that we have been
speaking, and Paul himself, although
ready to be offered up, exclaimed, " In




WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.  69
this tabernacle of the flesh we do groan,
being burdened." It is an experience
through which every one, sooner or later,
must pass; and spiritual strength  is
gained only by the knowledge and confession of weakness.
But what, then, shall we do? When
these times of despondency overtake us,
and we learn that we are still weak, even
wherein we had thought ourselves strongest, how shall we find strength and comfort?  Shall we argue over again each
point of doctrine, and reestablish every
truth?  No; for at such times the intellect does not lead the heart, but the heart
leads the intellect. Shall we accuse ourselves of -sin, as if all our former religion
had been hypocrisy, and all our faith a
delusion and lie? No; for our former
religion was sincere, and our faith had




70  WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
proved equal to the former exigences of
life. But under the heavier burden more
strength is needed, and the severer trial
has come that a higher lesson may be
learned.  From God alone can the needful strength be given; and we who are
anxious, but scarcely able to believe, turn
to him, as the apostles came to Jesus,
with the prayer, " Increase our faith."
Here is the difficulty, and here is the
means of help. Increase our faith. Give
to the spirit victory over the flesh. Enable us firmly to believe that which we
now imperfectly discern to be true. Make
the spiritual life real to us, so that ve
may walk by faith, and not by sight.
Strengthen the belief of the intellect, and
exalt it until it becomes the conviction of
the whole soul. Bring heaven nearer to
us, and make the presence of God so real




WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.  71
that in him we may live, and move, and
have our being. Bring eternity near,
until death shall seem to us, as it is, the
birth and starting-place of the soul. Lord,
increase our faith!
But do we understand the full meaning
of that prayer? It is not to increase our
willingness to believe, for we are never
more willing than when the greatness of
calamity oppresses the soul. We are willing, nay, anxious to believe; but the
confusion of our thoughts for the time
prevails, and our hearts are disquieted
within us. Nor is it chiefly to pray that
the truth, partially revealed, should be
more fully manifested. It is rather to pray
that our whole capacity, as intellectual and
moral beings, may be enlarged; that we
may be lifted up from one grade of spiritual existence to another; that our nature




72  WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
itself may be exalted and purified. The
things to be seen remain unchanged, but
our eyes need to be opened. Open thou
the eyes of my mind, that I may clearly
discern the things which are in thy law!
The truths of religion are- of such a
kind that they become plainer to us as
we advance in purity and goodness. Our
real faith in God can be increased only
by our becoming more like God. Unless
we have the spirit of Christ, we are none
of his.  But, as the mists of sin are dispelled, which are the clouds obscuring
God's countenance, we rise to a clearer
light, we breathe with a larger inspiration,
we live in a more glorious companionship.
Our faith cannot be increased while we
remain upon the same level. In proportion as we do his will, we know of his
doctrine. We must come nearer to Christ




WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH. 73
to know him better, and only by becoming more pure in heart can we more
clearly see our God. To pray for an increase of faith must therefore be accompanied by the prayer and by the exertion
to become better men. But what do we
say? It is but one and the same prayer,
differently expressed; it is the same
yearning of the soul towards the infinite
and all-merciful God.
These are the words of truth and soberness. They are the fact of Christian
experience in every human soul. As we
become better, the mysteries of God's
providence are explained. As our nature
is exalted, the difficulties of Christian
faith disappear. Do your duty twice as
well, and your faith will be twice as
strong. Conform your lives more perfectly to the will of God, and his dealings
7




74   WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
with you will becom'e continually more
plain. By thus having faith, although as
a grain of mustard-seed, we shall be able
to remove the most threatening obstacles
from our path, the heaviest mountains of
sorrow from our souls.
This is, therefore, the great lesson
which we' have to learn, and we should
diligently seek to understand it.  We
acknowledge that our faith needs to be
increased.  It must be increased for our
endurance of the discipline of life, which
is sometimes so stern; for our resignation
to its griefs and disappointments, which
are sometimes so hard to bear. But the
increase of faith is the enlargement of
capacity. It is the manly growth of the
soul. It is advancement in goodness. It
is the renewal of the image of God.
Therefore, in seeking for faith and pray



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.  75
ing for it, seek for this spiritual growth
and pray for it. Once more we say that
it is one and the same seeking, it is one
and the same prayer.
How differently would the present life
appear to us, if we were what we ought
to be! If the conflict with sin had
ceased, and  the lesson of self-control
were well learned. If our passions were
all calmed, and our desires all pure. If
no duty were deferred or neglected, and
no purpose of wrong indulged.  Where
would then be the conflict of mind,
the misgiving, and the doubt?  Where
would then be the mystery of God's
providence, and the despairing loneliness
of our hearts? * Sorrow might still be the
portion of our cup, and before its coming
we might, for the moment, still pray that
it should pass from us; but God's own




76  WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH.
angels would be near to comfort, and the
peace which passeth all understanding
would be ours.
May God therefore increase our faith!
By becoming like Jesus Christ, may we
learn to pray in his name.  By being
reconciled with God in the daily conduct
of our lives, may we learn to be reconciled to his will. May our souls be so
enlarged, and our hearts so purified from
sin, that we may discern things as they
are, and daily become more strong.  May
we thus rise above the seemings and illusions of the world, to dwell in the perfect
truth of righteousness.  Who shall grieve
at that which is bringing him nearer to
God? Lord, increase our faith!




ome e it  at O its
Deem not that they are blessed alone
Whose days a peaceful tenor keep;
The God who loves our race has shown
A blessing for the eyes that weep.
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to
the house of feasting; for the living shall lay it to
heart.
Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.




Most gracious and merciful Father, we resign ourselves and all our interests to thy disposal, in the hum
ble hope that thy mercy will never forsake us, and that
thou wilt cause all things to work together for our
good. We would submit patiently to thy will under
every affliction; and we humbly pray that we may so
pass through the changes of this world, as finally to be
prepared for the enjoyment of perfect and eternal happiness in the world to come, through Jesus Christ our
Lord.




COMPENSATIONS.
WE may thus learn to reconcile our
selves to the will of God, under all afflictions, and to resign ourselves, without
complaining, to  the  divine  disposal.
Every step of advancement in the Christian character adds to our Christian faith,
until we learn to lay aside all doubt and
fear, and to receive both joy and sorrow
as equally proofs of parental love. When
roused from the sweetest dreams of
earthly bliss by that which seems to be
the voice of warning and rebuke, we shall
answer, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant
heareth; "and although with tears in our




80      COMPENSATIONS.
eyes, and natural sadness in our hearts,
renewedly commend ourselves to God, as
unto a faithful Creator. We return again
to the ordinary duties of life, believing
that, although our human hopes are disappointed, we do not labor in vain in the
Lord.
There is, however, a still higher and
progressive experience, by which we may
understand more perfectly the blessing
pronounced upon those who mourn. It is
the experience by which we are taught
the compensations given, even here, to
those upon whom the burden of grief is
laid. The Scripture teaches that they
who sow in tears shall reap in joy. And
again, it is better to go to the house of
mourning than to the house of feasting,
for that is the end of all, and the living
shall lay it to their hearts.  They are




C COMPENSATIONS.           81
words which we may have read and heard
a thousand times, without thinking of
them as being literally true. We have
thought of them, perhaps, as belonging
to the church and the pulpit, and as
being true in some technical, religious
sense, rather than as expressing the actual facts in the real experience of life.
Or, if we have allowed to them an exact
meaning, it has been only with reference
to preparation for the future life. We have
learned, perhaps, by observing the effect
of adversity upon others and upon ourselves, that the trials of life are well calculated to purify and elevate the soul.
But the present compensations of sorrow
are not so easily discerned. We do not
so willingly learn that even here, in the
human relationships of life, of friends and'
kindred and home, it is possible for us to




82      COMPENSATIONS.
become the gainers by that which seems
to be the greatest loss. That our real
happiness in loving each other may be
increased, and our whole life become
more blessed in company with those
whom we love, because of the shadows
and the darkness in which we may have
been appointed, for a time, to dwell.
Nay, our hearts almost shrink from the
suggestion of such a possible result, as if
it implied forgetfulness of the dead.
Bereavement is indeed the deepest sorrow, in comparison with which all other
providential griefs are easily endured. It
is an absolute loss, for the place of those
taken from us can never be supplied. It
is a wound which cannot be perfectly
healed, and the memory of the dead must
always remain as an experience of continued sorrow. Yet as time, the consoler,




COMPENSATIONS.           83
bears us onward, and brings us continually nearer to those whose memory is so
precious, their cherished forms become
more and more beautiful, they seem to
hover around us clothed in garments of
angelic light, their faces beam with heavenly expression, and their dear remembered voices fill our ears with heavenly
music.  Our present communion with
them has indeed ceased; for it could not
continue consistently with the health of
our minds, or without impairing the
practical usefulness of this earthly life.
It is not appointed to us to live in the
body and out of the body at the same
time. Even the communion of God's
Spirit is granted to us only under such
conditions that we cannot distinctly separate it from what we call the natural
working of our own minds; nor can we




84       COMPENSATIONS.
say of it, "Lo! here, or lo! there," unless we claim to be expressly the inspired
prophets of God. And so of the departed
ones, who live in all our thoughts, and
whose love consecrates all our affections.
To our mortal sight and hearing they cannot return, and neither for their sake or
our own should we desire it. Yet we may
feel that they are still ours, not only to be
remembered, but to be loved and cherished. For, although dead, they are yet
living, and they still belong to us, our
heavenly kindred, although  the  quiet
earth has received their forms, and the
place which once knew them can know
them no more.
The memory of the dead!  What is
this life in comparison? What is there so
real to us, so unchangeably real, as the
memory of those true and faithful hearts




COMPENSATIONS.           85
which once beat with ours here, pulse for
pulse, with whom we sorrowed and rejoiced, and who have gone before us, only
a few steps in advance, cheering us, by
the remembrance of their virtues, on the
way to heaven!  Tears may suffuse our
eyes when we think of them, yet our
thoughts of them are the indispensable
treasure of the soul. To our mind's
eye they continually return, taking their
wonted places, greeting us with the
kindly smile, and our ears are again filled
with the sweet tones of their gentle
voices. Time passes; the months and
years roll on; the burdens of life are
taken up and laid down; the cares of
life vex us, and are forgotten; new joys
and new sorrows intervene; new hopes
and new disappointments exercise our
affections; gray hairs begin to cover our
8




86      COMPENSATIONS.
heads; the lines of thought deepen, until
they become the wrinkles of old age; but
does the memory of the dead fade away?
Is our perception of the loss sustained
less keen, or do they become to us as
though they had never been?
When we review the experience of our
own trials, or enter into the experience
of others by sympathy with their grief,
we know that there is but one answer.
The pain of bereavement is an abiding
grief, and a portion of our own hearts
and of our own lives belongs to the dead.
It is indeed an irreparable loss that we
have sustained, and we cannot hope again
to be the same persons that we once were.
The world is changed to us; our position
in it is changed; its uses and purposes are
no longer the same, an1 can never again
appear in their former light. The house



COMPENSATIONS.            87
hold to which the angel of death has come
can never forget his coming. The shadow
which his wings have cast over the soul
must remain, however clearly the light
from God's own love may shine. Yes,
when we are most perfectly resigned to
his will, and most perfectly consoled
under the loss by the dear promises of
Christ, and most happy in the sweet hope
of reuinion with the dead, and most faithful in using the discipline which we know
to be for our own good, the loss, in itself
considered, may then seem, as it perhaps
then becomes, greater than it ever was
before. By the completeness of spiritual
experience is the depth of our sorrow
revealed. By the spiritual development
of our affections the sacredness of earthly
affection and of earthly relations is first
discerned. A part of the blessing upon




88       COMPENSATIONS.
those who mourn comes by learning the
greatness of their loss.
It is not, therefore, that time dulls
our perceptions, or that the bereavement
seems to be less. Religion does, indeed,
console; but no part of the consolation is
found in forgetfulness. Perhaps we may
say with truth that the bereaved heart
would not consent to the direct lessening
of its grief, for it would imply a feebler
consciousness of the treasure once possessed.  We would not cease to mourn
even when we most desire to be comforted.
But still may we not ask ourselves,
with sadness of heart, indeed, but yet in
the soberness of deliberate thought, —
measuring the value of things according
to their real worth, - would it have been
better for us to keep all here? If all
who began life with us had continued




COMPENSATIONS.        89
with us, if we had not known in our
families what death means, would our
sum of happiness have been increased?
Would our present perception of God's
goodness have been clearer   Would
the real uses of life have been more
fully accomplished?
They have gone from us, I know, and
their loss can never be made good; but
their having been here; the privilege
that we enjoyed in knowing and loving
them; the belief that those whom we
love, and who love us in return, are in
heaven; the sense of security in which
we dwell for the departed, knowing as
we do that their earthly trial is ended,
and that the problem of mortal life has
to them found a true solution; the feeling
of personal connection with heaven and
heavenly things by reason of the family




90       COMPENSATIONS.
ties which are extended there, -- all this,
although expressed imperfectly, and perhaps not distinctly perceived, yet, as a
real experience,' daily becoming more
familiar to the bereaved heart, becomes a
compensation infinitely precious, and may
teach us, if we are willing to learn, that
it is sometimes better to dwell in the
house of mourning than in the house of
feasting.
We do not say that it seems better, for
the seeming is not always the truth. At
the time when affliction is laid upon us,
we are sometimes too deeply troubled to
think soberly as we ought to think. We
can see a thousand reasons why the cherished one should live: not one reason
why he should die. It may be impossible
at the time to discern wherein we are to
be the gainers, under the sense of such




COMPENSATIONS.            91
real and oppressive loss. We are not
speaking now of what may seem to us,
but of what really is. The Scripture
itself does not say that it seems better to go to the house of mourning, but
that it is better. As a matter of fact,
as our own real inward experience, if we
have had any experience that can be called
inward, we also may learn to say that it
is better.
The best part of our experience is not
enjoyment, but suffering. Our highest
happiness comes not with laughter, but
through tears. There are those who live
only on the surface of life, whose hearts
strike no roots deeper than the thin surface-soil which every passing storm washes
or drives away, and leaves an unfruitful
earthy clay beneath; and such persons,
who live to eat and drink and be merry,




92      COMPENSATIONS.
may have no knowledge, and may desire
no knowledge, of what we are now saying.  To them the house of mourning is
the house of mourning and nothing else.
They shun it as a pestilence, and have
nothing to learn there which their selfish
and worldly nature is capable of learning.
Pleasure and happiness are to them words
of the same meaning; suffering and evil
are but the same idea. It is not for
them, nor to them, that we speak. We
speak to those who have gone down into
the depth of sorrow, but even there have
been able to cry out unto the living God.
We speak to those who are at least prepared to understand that the baptism of
tears may be that which fits us for the
baptism of the Holy Spirit.
We ask, therefore, appealing to our own
experience and to theirs, whether we can



COMPENSATIONS.            93
not distinctly trace a great part of what is
noblest and best to what we have suffered. Has it been the-prosperity or the
adversity of life which has ministered
most truly to our manliness of thought, to
our love of virtue, to our capacity of real
enjoyment?  Let us take this question
with us in the retrospect of the last ten
years, for example, and try the good and
evil of life by this practical test. Out of
that experience could we now best afford
to lose the working of our joys or of our
sorrows? Has pleasure or pain done the
most for us? Has the house of: mourning
or the house of feasting taught us the
most? From what source have our noblest
thoughts come? How have the purest
affections been cultivated? If we are
conscious that our love of virtue is
stronger than it was, and that we are




94      COMPENSATIONS.
learning to live more habitually in the
divine presence, have we learned it in the
time of vigorous health, or upon the bed
of sickness?  Has God ever seemed so
near to us as in the chamber of death?
Has eternity ever been so real as when
we have returned from standing at the
open grave? Could we have known how
much we loved those whom God had
given, unless He had taken them away?
Could we love those who are left with
the same disinterested, prayerful, religious
affection that we now feel, if we had not
been taught to love them for eternity as
well as for the present world?
We think that these questions lead us
to a true answer. Our hearts may struggle against it, because of their weakness;
but our profoundest experience teaches
its truth. There is almost no really valu



C OMPENSATIONS.           95
able experience, almost no enduring and
real good, which does not come through
the ministry ef pain and suffering. The
cross which we bear is that which raises
us to heaven.
We have seen a family dwelling under
the light of unclouded prosperity, where
the radiance of Christian love has also
been found. They have rejoiced together
in the enjoyment of God's gifts, without
forgetting to thank him as the giver.
They have  understood, so far as possible,
the greatness of their blessings in remaining together a whole family, and a part
of their daily prayer has been that they
might always be spared the pain of bereavement. It would seem that they did
not need the hand of chastisement, or the
discipline of suffering, either to confirm
their mutual love, or to bring them nearer to




96      COMPENSATIONS.
God. And yet, even in a Christian fanmily
like this, when death has entered there, and
some one of the dear household has been
taken, it has proved to be a new revelation
of God, and of their Saviour, and of their
own hearts, to themselves. In all their
religion they had not known before how
completely man depends upon God. They
had not known how absolutely essential to
the human soul is the thought of the
divine presence. They had not understood either the words or the character of
Jesus. They had not known the depth
of their own souls, nor the strength of
their own affections.   That one new
experience has made all things new.The spiritual nature, although before
recognized, now first appears in its true
dignity, and for the first time they
thoroughly understand that the real use




COMPENSATIONS.            97
of the present world is to educate the
soul for heaven. They loved each other
before, but new tenderness is now added
to their love. Their kindness becomes more
thoughtful, their affection more. disinter
ested. They feel their dependence upon
each other more deeply, and watch over
each other with silent, inexpressible love.
The fond union of youthful hearts
seems very close, and causes them  to
dwell in an elysium of joy; but the
husband and wife seldom know how much
they love each other until they mourn
together, weeping for their children because they are not.
How quickly are the little dissensions
and variances of life stilled by the presence of death! How sternly is selfishness rebuked, and with what yearning of
the heart towards Heaven is the resolution
9




98       COMPENSATIONS.
made to become more tender, more affectionate, more gentle, and more faithful in
the whole conduct of life!
Such is the natural influence of sorrow
shared in common. Hearts which rejoice
cannot come so near to each other as
hearts which grieve. Tears mingle more
perfectly than smiles, and the chain of
family love on  earth  becomes much
stronger when some of its links are in
heaven.
If this be true, the house of mourning
may be better than the house of feasting,
and they who sow in tears may reap in
joy. Not only as a preparation for the
future, but even in this world, our sum
of happiness may be increased by sorrow.
We do not speak ignorantly nor coldly,
nor as those who never felt the agony of
bereavement. We know what it is to look




C OMPENSATIONS.         99
upon the dying child, and to watch over
the parent's failing strength. We know
how deep the grave seems when open to
receive those whom we love. But we
also know that in the severest grief we
bear, if we hold to our Christian faith
and continue in the performance of our
duty, we are coming nearer to God,
nearer to him who suffered on the cross,
nearer to those who live, nearer to those
who die. Except the grain of corn fall
into the ground and die, it cannot spring
forth into life. And until these poor human
hearts have been buried under grief, their
best affections cannot be developed in
their divinest strength.
It is true, therefore, that our real happiness may become greater by its seeming
diminution. We say it with hesitation,
and almost with trembling; yet it is true.




100     COMPENSATIONS.
It is true, not only as an abstract proposi
tion, but as a practical experience. Not
by the number of our blessings, nor by
their greatness, but by our capacity of
enjoying them, is our daily happiness to
be measured. If you would make men
contented with their lot, the better plan
sometimes is not to increase, but to
diminish their store. They are discontented  because they have too much.
Take away one half, and they will learn
to enjoy the rest better than they had
ever enjoyed the whole. Cheerfulness of
heart is often promoted by lessening the
outward sources of delight, and compelling the heart to be the source of cheerfulmess to itself. If we were required to
name, among all whom we have known,
those who have retained the most perfect
cheerfulness and sweetness of temper, we




COMPENSATIONS.          101
should probably name some whose lives
have been the continued experience of
pain and suffering. Let there be Christian faith as the foundation, and in almost
any given case, if our object were to
train a human soul to habitual contentment and cheerfulness, and therefore to
the enjoyment of life, the better course
would be to place it under the discipline,
not of unvaried prosperity, but of frequent pain and loss, and sometimes of
severe suffering and bereavement. It is
one of the sublime mysteries of the soul,
that out of weakness we are thus made
strong, th,"- out of darkness springs forth
the light.
Why, then, should we shrink from sorrow as if it were calamity?  Why should
the house of mourning be to us the house
of misery and despair? We know that
9*




102      COMPENSATIONS.
there is an instinctive love of enjoyment
and ease. Laughter seems pleasantest,
and joy is most attractive. It would be
unnatural and hypocritical to say that we
desire affliction; and it is right to avoid
sorrow and loss whenever we can do so in
the strict performance of our duty.  To
court misfortune, or foolishly to incur
loss, would prevent the instruction which
should come from the discipline of life.
The feeling that we have done our best to
avert calamity is needful to the efficacy
of the trial. And so it is written of the
Saviour himself, that he prayed, "If it
be possible, let this cup pass from me;"
and then added, "If it may not pass
from me unless I drink it, thy will, not
mine, be dole." But, to avoid sorrow by
the use of proper and just means, and to
pray for our deliverance from it, is a very




COMPENSATIONS.           103
different thing from that dread of sorrow,
that shrinking from it as if it were an
absolute evil, which is unchristian distrust
in God. IHowever stern affliction may
seem in its first coming, it soon wears a
reconciling face, and whispers a benediction to the believing heart. We may feel
the burden that we bear, and for a time
bend under its oppressive weight, but still
be daily learning the infinite truth, which
changes earth to heaven, that all things
work together for the good of those who
love God.
Of those who love God. Let these
words be observed, for they contain, not
only encouragement, but also warning.
The discipline of life is not compulsion,
but discipline. Only to him who asks
shall it be given. Prosperity does not
always harden, affliction does not always




104      COMPENSATIONS.
soften, the heart. The sorrow which God
sends is intended to make us pure, to
exalt, to strengthen, to ennoble us. But
we may turn it to the gall of bitterness,
and, instead of purifying, it may burn the
heart, and harden it in selfish grief.
There is no possible discipline under
which we can be compelled into goodness.
Our work cannot be done for us, and the
outward circumstances of life, whether
of joy or sorrow, can minister to the soul
only according to our willingness, under
the grace.of God, to be instructed. We
need, therefore, in the time of prosperity,
and before grief has entered in, to recognize the love of God in the blessings he
bestows, in order to understand it in their
removal. Thus would our enjoyment be
doubly blest, and the severest grief would
find its consolation.




COMPENSATIONS.           105
The discipline is therefore of God's
appointing, but its use, for good or evil, is
our own. To-day we dwell in the house
of feasting; to-morrow, in the house of
mourning. That is not for us, but for
God, to determine. But, under God, it is
for us to say whether it shall be better for
us, according to the Scripture, or not.
Sorrow is almost sure to come. We cannot, and hereafter we shall thank God
that we cannot, avoid it. Receive it as
the discipline of parental love, and it
will, at the same time, enlarge- the happiness of earth, and smooth the way to
heaven.  The blessing upon those who
mourn is a real benediction, and the alleviations of sorrow  become a heavenly
compensation.
Why, then, art thou cast down, 0 my
soul, and why art thou disquieted within




106     COMPENSATIONS.
me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet
praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God.
For thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according to thy promise.
Before I was afflicted I went astray; but
now have I kept thy word. Thou art
good, and doest good; 0, teach me thy
statutes! It is good for me that I have
been afflicted, that I might learn thy law.
I have seen an end of all perfection, but
thy commandment is exceeding broad.