\ '2‘'yv\. ww. THE FULFILMENT OF LIFE dk -§fe> G CAMPBELL MORGAN 8 — INTERCHURCIi WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA Hi FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY The Fulfilment of Life By G. Campbell Morgan Interchurch World Movement of North America 111 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK CITY Copyright 1902 by I. H. Hull and reprinted with permission Price: 5 cents each, 50 cents per dozen, $2.75 per hundred The Fulfilment of Life r HE fact of life is far greater than the mysteries surrounding it. This is not to deny the greatness of the mysteries, or the fascination afforded by searching for their solution. The consciousness of per¬ sonality brings us all, sooner or later, face to face with the questions: “What am I ?” “Whence came I ?” “Whither go I ?” “Why am I ?” The personality giving rise to the question is greater than the problem suggested, and the difficulty experienced in solving these mysteries of being does but demon¬ strate the greatness of life. It is by no means wrong to give careful attention to these problems, but it is certainly a mistake when the attempt to solve the problems is¬ sues in neglect of the life which creates them. So also is life itself greater than any sur¬ rounding circumstances which affect it, or any current opinion held concerning it. These again are full of value, and must be considered, because of their influence upon life. This admission is but another proof of the preeminent importance of the life itself. 2 The Fulfilment of Life To every individual, the great consciousness is that of existence; the great knowledge is that of the nature of existence; the great victory is that of fulfilling the purpose of existence. The consciousness of existence comes to the vast majority of us without observation. Some there are who tell us that at some mo¬ ment in childhood there suddenly broke upon them the sense of being. A moment surcharged with light, dawned upon the soul, in which they understood their separ¬ ated life—that they were not altogether part of other things, but stood alone in person¬ ality. These cases are rare. The ordinary experience is that of a sub-consciousness of personality which asserts itself gradually, with no clearly defined crisis. In some way, it comes to all, and if the mightiest sentence in the language is “God is,” the next in im¬ portance for every individual is “I am” If this be granted, then it follows that the great knowledge is that of the nature of existence. Much of the sin and sorrow of the day is the direct outcome of ignorance concerning the true nature of one’s own life. Shakespeare has put into the mouth of Wol- sey, in the hour of his fall, words that are suggestive and full of value; “I know myself now; and I feel within me A peace above all earthly dignities, A still and quiet conscience.” The Fulfilment of Life 3 How much of sorrow this man of undoubt¬ ed greatness would have been spared, had he known himself earlier, who can tell? It was Juvenal who said: “This precept descended from heaven, ‘Know thyself/” The measure of self-knowledge is the meas¬ ure of full life, and is the measure also of true service. This knowledge may not be attained in a day, but toward it the training and discipline of the early years should all tend. The greatest victory attainable in this life is that of fulfilling the possibilities of per¬ sonality, and the greatest defeat is that of failure in this direction. Words of Jesus, having another first intention, nevertheless prove this position: “For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gos¬ pel’s shall save it.” While the emphasis of teaching here is on the method, the end in view is evident, that of finding and realizing at its highest and best the individual life. Recognizing that every individual life is a creation of God, having its own peculiar forces and values, we assert that the fulfill¬ ing of life consists in realizing to the full the life bestowed. Living includes the active realization of all capacity, and its full use 4 The Fulfilment of Life within the sphere of divine intention. Full- orbed life admits of no atrophied powers. No more searching words fell upon the lis¬ tening ear of the seer in Patmos, than those spoken by the glorious One amid the lampstands to the church in Sardis: “I have found no works of thine fulfilled before My God.” Success consists in living, not in gain; not in the reward of doing, but in the doing. “Not for the gain of the gold; for the getting, the hoarding, the having, But for the joy of the deed; but for the duty to do. Go with the spiritual life, the higher volition and action, With the great girdle of God, go and encompass the earth.” In order to emphasize this deepest of all lessons it is necessary first to clearly define the realm of consideration. From the pre¬ sent discussion we eliminate the thought of the after-fulfilments of life. These are un¬ doubtedly the greatest for the whole of man’s period upon earth is probationary and preparatory; but seeing that the perfect fruitage of the final life depends upon pre¬ sent living, we confine ourselves wholly to this. Through every stage of present pre¬ paration there is the possibility of fulfil¬ ment. The first recorded words of the per¬ fect One reveal this principle. The boy of twelve, who was after this to grow, yet The Fulfilment of Life 5 said: “Wist ye not that I must be in my Father’s house ?” and in that sense of a pre¬ sent vocation, He fulfilled life. This word vocation has, alas, been robbed of its true value, by the fact that it has re¬ ceived a false value. In the dark ages it came to be used only of those called into the sacred offices of the Church. Slowly and yet surely there is emerging in the con¬ sciousness of man the great truth that in every life there is a vocation created by God- bestowed powers and capacities. We must therefore resolutely cancel the words great and small, and remember that upon the smallest detail may rest the mightiest issues, and in the last revelation it will be found that those least honored shall have the more abundant honor. ‘“Preserve me from the commonplace!’ I cried, ‘Nor let me walk the vulgar people’s way: I long to tread a loftier path than they Who eat and drink, and think of naught beside.’ I climbed to heights which far ahead I spied, Nor would upon the sordid level stay: I scorned the valley where the shadows lay, And sought the peaks by sunlight glorified. But looking back upon the road I trod, I found it wound among the lives of men Who called to me for succor, but in vain. And now, before I see the face of God, I fain would help whom I neglected then: But I can never pass that way again.” Would we miss that sense of failure we 6 The Fulfilment of Life must glorify our own vocation, remember¬ ing that no gift of God is small or unim¬ portant. We must also recognize the whole plan of God if we are to understand our individual responsibility, for while it is true that each may say “I am,” that is but half the state¬ ment. All around are others uttering the words, and over all is brooding the Eternal Father. In His purpose, the “I am” of one cannot interfere with, but will minister to, the “I am” of each. In the perfect har¬ monies of perfect individualities God finally fulfils His own I AM. And yet once more, in this consideration, it must be remembered that help in the fulfill¬ ing of life can come from others within very narrow limitations. I can but speak to you of the essential lights that have gleamed upon my pathway, that you may be as¬ sisted to the discovery of the light that is essential for your life. It is impossible for me to declare the possibilities of your being, neither can you perfectly understand those of mine. There is nothing more important than that we should guard life from the intrusion and interference of others. It is a sorry thing when, as Browning puts it, the life is all “shop”: The Fulfilment of Life 7 I “So, friend, your shop was all your house! Its front, astonishing the street, Invited view from man and mouse To what diversity of treat Behind its glass—the single sheet! “But—shop each day and all day long! Friend, your good angel slept, your star Suffered eclipse, fate did you wrong! From where these sorts of treasures are, There should our hearts be—Christ, how far!” Far better that we should cultivate as in the Divine presence the hidden facts, refusing to lay bare to prying eyes that which, again to quote Browning, is “house”: “Shall I sonnet-sing you about myself? Do I live in a house you would like to see? Is it scant of gear, has it store of pelf? ‘Unlock my heart with a sonnet-key?’ "Invite the world, as my betters have done? ‘Take notice: this building remains on view, Its suites of reception every one, Its private apartment and bedroom, too; “ ‘For a ticket, apply to the Publisher.’ No: thanking the public, I must decline. A peep through my window, if folk prefer; But, please you, no foot over threshold of mine!” I would submit to you two propositions: First, every life is at once a capacity, a 8 The Fulfilment of Life potentiality, an opportunity; and seccrid, every such life is fulfilled by self-recogni¬ tion, self-abandonment, self-possession. With regard to the first of these propos¬ itions, that every life is at once capacity, potentiality, and opportunity, it is necessary that we should be at some trouble to con¬ sider these distinctions as they co-exist in every individuality; and here, because I am conscious that the words I use are not per¬ fect, I trouble you with definitions. By capacity, I intend an instrument created for the doing of certain work. By potentiality, I mean the force which, operating through the instrument, is equal to the accomplishment of the work. By opportunity, I refer to the demand for the work for which life is capable and pow¬ erful. There may be capacity without potentiality, for there may be a perfect piece of mech¬ anism with no motive power. Again, there may be capacity and potentiality with¬ out opportunity, for it is possible to have a fully equipped and highly developed in¬ strument, and no chance for its use. Cases have not been unknown in which the camera has been in readiness, and the light all that was desired, but the object to be photo- The Fulfilment of Life 9 graphed has not been present. Neither of these things is lacking in any human life. Each one is a divinely created instrument for specific work. Each one, in the fact of this life, possesses power sufficient for the accomplishment of the work. Each one, in that selfsame fact of life, has opportunity for the exercise of the capacity and the operation of the power. The capacity may need to be discovered, the potentiality to be developed, and the opportunity to be filled, and this statement reveals the responsibility resting upon each of us. Of that we shall speak in our second proposition. Let us now confine ourselves to a somewhat closer consideration of this threefold fact. And first as to capacity. If order be heaven’s first law, it is equally true that variety is its constant method. In the green field that sweeps up the hill-side, no two blades of grass are alike. In the myriad leaves that make music in the summer wind, every leaf has its own individuality. In the splendid and whirling whiteness of the snow storm, each flake is different from all the rest. And among men no two are exactly similar in form or in feature. This external symbolism suggests the fact that every life is alone in its capacity, and pos¬ sesses some peculiar trust for the common¬ wealth. When once there has dawned upon 10 The Fulfilment of Life us the vision of God’s whole family, we shall realize that every member of that family has received by creation some gift which ministers to the perfection of the whole. The great principle enunciated con¬ cerning the church, and illustrated by the figure of the body in the writings of Paul, Is true as to divine intention of the whole human race. Thus the being of each is a contribution to the well-being of all. Of necessity, therefore, these gifts must be varied, so that every side of the larger need may be supplied. Some are endowed with artistic faculties. Such detect the lines and colors of beauty, catch the rhythm of truth, and are the media of the harmonies. The genius of others is mechanical. They see the fitness of things, learn the laws of regularity, and with scientific accuracy con¬ sider, contrive, construct. Others, and the larger company, are created for the heroism of toil. They with steady patience and unending perseverance will walk the same path, stoke the same fire, call at the same house, sit at the same machine, serve at the same counter from day to day, until life has run its course. These varied capacities are not antagonistic but complementary. Were all our gifts ar- The Fulfilment of Life 11 tistic, we should sigh and dream ourselves away, leaving behind us nothing but the fading colors of the picture and the passing cadences of the song. Were all mechanical, we should dream no dream, soar on no wings of song, and the green and the blue would fade into the drab of a deadly dullness. Were all content with monotony, life would become a drudgery and a debasement. In the commonwealth of gifts the visions and the songs redeem the throb and precision of the machinery, and fling light and music upon the daily round and common task. The correctness and perfect poise of me¬ chanical invention save men from the wild¬ ness of unconstrained imagination, and ease men in the thousand walks of daily doing. The magnificent courage of the great army of those who repeat their tasks from day to day suggests new visions and creates new songs, while the needs of such provide new impulse for the genius of mechanical pre¬ cision. Every life has within itself a capacity with¬ in one of these realms. To discover it and fulfil it is to succeed. When the artist sneers at the laborer, or the scientist de¬ spises the artist, or the toiler envies either, by such action personal capacity is paralyzed and life is threatened with failure. 12 The Fulfilment of Life The recognition of this fact is of vital im¬ portance to the fulfilment of life, and the understanding, moreover, of what is per¬ haps the hardest lesson that we have to learn, that every gift of heaven is of equal intrinsic worth, and success is to be meas¬ ured, not by the character of the capacity, but by its realization and full use. To some are given gifts of origination, to others those of leadership, to the vast mul¬ titude those of execution. Either without all is useless. All acting in rhythmic cooperation accomplish a divine purpose. To paint the landscape, or to plough the field; to write the poem, or to set the type; to compose the symphony, or to build the instrument, what matters it? In every life there is some capacity, the place and value of which must be recognized by faith in the perfect wisdom of the Creator and the Father. To recognize my capacity and to use it as in His sight, is to fulfil my life and find even here the monarch’s crown, the throne of power. In the marvel and mystery of human life capacity is potentiality. Within the fitness for a work, lies force sufficient for its doing. If the dream suggests a duty, it is born of a dynamic. The very life force which is the inspiration of work, is also The Fulfilment of Life 13 its energy. It is always false to say, I have a gift if only I had power. The gift lies within the power. Out of the divinely created life arises the vision, and in its throb is heard the music. The very life which generates the vision, in turn con¬ trolled by the inspiration, will give deft¬ ness to the fingers, and for the long march of toil, will strengthen the fibre for the burden and the journey. If I see the colors on the hills, I can compel them from the pigments and fling them on * the canvas. If I hear the symphonies, I can express them on the parchment. If I know how to turn the soil, or drive the wheel, or hold the pen, the splendid mon¬ otony of heart and lung equip me for the doing of the deed. This is not to say that potentiality is by birth ready for the realization of capacity. It needs instruction, discipline, practice; and in the process, many a picture will be spoiled, many a page of music be flung aside, many a piece of wood in the car¬ penter’s shop rendered useless, many a blunder have to be corrected in the cast¬ ing up of figures. The fact that man is born with capacity, wedded to potentiality, does not mean that there will be no necess¬ ity for patient, plodding perseverance. It is true that the poet is born, not made; but 14 The Fulfilment of Life the born poet yet has to be made into the perfect and accomplished singer. It is equally true that the preacher is born, but his first efforts at speech are not usually to the edification of the saints, save perhaps those of his own family circle. We see in the boy the promise of the engineer, but the first mud machine will contribute little to the lightening of human toil. The girl will presently sway vast multitudes, and melt hard hearts by the tender and pas¬ sionate song, but there is a process of pre¬ paration through which she should pass, if possible, far from the haunts of men. The first attempts of the gardener are amusing to his teacher, and the mother smiles through eyes all lovelit over the first stitches of the girl who, presently, with deft fingers, will robe in garments made beautiful by the love impulse of her sewing, the children in her home. And yet in each of these suggested cases, and in all cases, the capacity for the work has side by side with it power for its doing. Let it therefore be clearly recognized that for the fulfilment of life, that is, for the success which is deep, and high, and true, not only has God bestowed upon each one a capacity which is a gift held in trust, but also, in the fact of life, sufficient power for the use of that capacity and the employ¬ ment of that gift. The Fulfilment of Life 15 The third phase of this threefold fact, namely, that each life is also an opportunity, is perhaps the hardest of which to convince. It is at this point that so many works have failed to be fulfilled. Those fully con¬ scious of gift and power are in danger of allowing years to drift as they wait for some epoch, or crisis, or door of opportun¬ ity. Such waiting often eventuates in another attitude, that of bemoaning the fact that the opportunities have been missed. Such persons will often quote the words of Brutus in “Julius Caesar”: “There is a tide in the affairs of men Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries.” And they wait for that high “tide,” which never seems to rise quite high enough, or bemoan the “shallows” and the “miseries,” into which they have drifted. Would that we could persuade them to continue the quotation: “On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our venture.” Life in itself, without reference to place, or time, or circumstance, is an opportunity. The crowd or the solitude is accidental and Unimportant. The capacity and the poten¬ tiality create the opportunity. In the 16 The Fulfilment of Life power of a God-given life I must exercise the divinely bestowed gift here and now. Let that here be wheresoever I may be, and that now mean whensoever. To live in active realization of gift and power is to fill the opportunity. As Tennyson ex¬ presses it in the “Golden Year”: “What stuff is this ! Old writers push’d the happy season back,— The more fools they,—we forward: dreamers both: You most, that in an age, when every hour Must sweat her sixty minutes to the death, Live on, God love us, as if the seedsman, rapt Upon the teeming harvest, should not plunge His hand into the bag: but well I know That unto him who works, and feels he works, This same grand, year is ever at the doors.” This waiting for opportunity is born of the false idea that success depends upon the element of conspicuousness, and never un¬ til we are rid of this shall we realize how great the opportunities which are ever pre¬ sent, and which we in our folly have so often missed. There are opportunities, to fill which we must be seen of others, and from these we have no right to retire from a mock modesty, which is of the very es¬ sence of self-consciousness. If the painted picture, or the published poem, or the announced discovery shou» The Fulfilment of Life 17 call us from the quietness and peace of ob¬ scurity into the turmoil and unrest of pub¬ licity, we have no right to hide the picture, to suppress the poetry or to secrete the dis¬ covery. On the other hand, if the exercise of the gift hold us in some place unvisited by the busy crowd, and our constancy and fidelity are therefore known only to Him from whom the gift has been received, and for whose glory it is to used, is not the op¬ portunity even yet greater? There is some¬ thing of magnificence in the thought of working only for the pleasure of the di¬ vine eye and the satisfaction of the divine heart, which is missing from any other kind of service. Gray was perfectly right when he wrote: “Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,” but did he quite express the truth when he added: “And waste its sweetness on the desert air?” If no human eye rests on the desert flower, it delights the God who created it for beauty. If its fragrance gladdens no human sense, it satisfies Him from whom its sweet¬ ness comes. Tour opportunity is where you are. Live there, fully, fearlessly, forcefully, and 18 The Fulfilment of Life though it seem as though you make no con¬ tribution to the general good, it is but false seeming, for life is filled to the full when it satisfies the heart of God. Let me now pass to my second proposition. Every life is fulfilled by self-recognition, self-abandonment and self-possession. It may be well that through the early years of childhood there should be little care in this first particular. The freer from all self-consciousness even in the highest sense of that word the child may be, the better for the true recognition of ! self that will eventuate. In the divine economy a young life is thought of and planned for by par¬ ents and instructors, and this creates the freedom in which there may be a natural unfolding of the divine creation. Through this process, however, there must be the emergence of a true recognition of per¬ sonality, and that in three particulars, in re¬ lation to God, in relation to the race, and as to actual capacity and responsibility. There will be no fulfilment of life until there is a clear understanding concerning it, that it is a creation of God. So deep a mystery is human nature and so unre¬ coverable are the possibilities of every In¬ dividual life by all save Him who is Cre¬ ator, that to attempt to fulfil it is utter The Fulfilment of Life 19 folly, save as there is a profound recog¬ nition of its divine origin. I must re¬ member that this strange trinity in unity, of spirit, mind, and body, which I express in the formula “I am,” is the offspring and is in the image of God. Neither is this recognition complete, if I think of Him as being far back, behind the original human being and with no closer connection to me than that of One by whose first propulsion the race commenced its march. God is as truly my Creator as He was that of the first human being. Into the complex mystery of my life He has projected a .thought and 'force nowhere else expressed, and I shall never recognize my capacity or realize my potentiality apart from a clear understanding of this essent¬ ial fact. To this there must be added as a necessary corollary the fact of His kingship and authority. To attempt to live save under His immediate control is to make certain the most disastrous failure. He is the God in whose hand my breath is and whose are all my ways. I must therefore glorify Him or degrade myself. Herein lies the wisdom of the old injunction: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, And lean not unto thine own understanding: In all thy ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct thy paths/' 20 The Fulfilment of Lif* To these facts concerning Him there must be added that which was the essential reve¬ lation of Jesus, the Christ. He is, in all the tender and unfailing value of the words, “our Father.” In the wisdom and light of His creation, and in the exercise of His kingly authority, there is always present, as reason and method, the unfailing con¬ stancy of His infinite love. This recognition of self in relation to God will issue in the recognition of self in re¬ lation to man. The whole creation is also of God, and is one. I therefore am a unit in a unity, related to all, am responsible for the fulfilment of the function of my life, in order that other lives may find in mine their complement and completion. This recognition of self forbids selfishness, and makes urgent demand that the third phase in self-recognition shall be also ful¬ filled, that namely, of capactiy. It is a solemn duty laid upon every life, that there should be a definite discovery of the vo¬ cation of God. This is to be sought for, not by the sounding of a voice from with¬ out, but by the discovery of the possibility that lies within. Let each ask the ques¬ tion, What can I do? and in the light of the earlier consideration, let there be no The Fulfilment of Life 21 hesitation and no shrinking 1 from the re¬ velation. If my ability demands that I pass through training into some hidden place, there to serve without sound of trumpet or human encouragement, then let me be glad that I have a gift, the value of which lies in the fact that the sole reward of its right use will be the approbation of heaven. If my capacity is of such a nature that for its fulfilment I must become the centre of human criticism and commendation, let me move to the front without boasting and without cowardice. There can be no fulfilment of life apart from this recognition of self as to capacity in re¬ lation to God and man. To self-recognition there must be added self-abandonment, and this also in the three particulars considered under the previous heading. The consciousness of individu¬ ality will create a great sense of depend¬ ence and of need. This sense must issue in the abandonment of the whole being to God —abandonment to Him as Creator in plastic response to His hand. It is the old lesson, but it must be learned. 22 The Fulfilment of Life “Thou, Thou art the Potter, and we are the Clay, And morning and even, and day after day, Thou turnest Thy wheel, and our substance is wrought Into form of Thy will, into shape of Thy thought. “Thou, Thou art the Potter, the wheel turns around. Thine eyes do not leave it. Our atoms are ground Fine, fine in Thy mills. O the pain and the cost 1 Thou knowest their number: not one shall be lost. “Should Clay to the Potter make answer and say, ‘Now what dost Thou fashion?’ Thy hand would not stay: Untiring, resistless, without any sound, True, true to its Master, the wheel would go ’round. “How plastic are we as we live in Thy hands! Who, Who as the Potter the Clay understands? Thy ways are a wonder, but oft, as a spark, Some hint of !Thy meaning shines out in the dark. “What portion is this for the sensitive Clayl To be beaten and moulded from day unto day; To answer not, question not, just to be still, And know Thou art shaping us unto Thy will. “This, this may we plead with Thee, Workman Divine— Press deep in our substance some symbol of Thine, Thy name or Thy image, and let it be shown That Thou wilt acknowledge the work as Thine own.” And yet there is more in this abandon- The Fulfilment of Life 23 ment to God, for we are more than clay. It is the abandonment of will which is to be expressed in loyal service, undertaken and carried through under His direction and in the power of the life He has bestowed. “The hands that do God’s work are patient hands, And quick for toil, though folded oft in prayer; They do the unseen work they understand And find—no matter where. “The feet that follow His must be swift feet, For time is all too short, the way too long; Perchance they will be bruised, but falter not, For love shall make them strong.” And yet once again, abandonment to God finds its fairest expression in the restful¬ ness of loving Him, and the love that rests /.n Him. “I lay me down to sleep, With little care Whether my waking find Me here or there. “A bowing, burdened head That only asks to rest, Unquestioning, upon A loving breast. “My good right hand forgets Its cunning now; To march the weary march I know not how. 24 The Fulfilment of Life “I am not eager, bold, Nor strong—all that is past; I am ready not to do, At last, at last. “My half-day’s work is done, And this is all my part— I give a patient God My patient heart, “And grasp His banner still, Though all the blue be dim These stripes as well as stars Lead after Him.” This abandonment of self to God will find its outward and visible expression in the abandonment of self to man. This aban¬ donment to man in turn will be expressed, not in great deeds, or great gifts alone, but in the exercise of the capacity God-bestow¬ ed for the profit and benefit of those who are around me. “If any little word of mine May make a life the brighter, If any little song of mine May make a heart the lighter, God help me speak the little word, And take my bit of singing And drop it in some lonely vale, To set the echoes ringing. “If any little love of mine May make a life the sweeter, If any little care of mine The Fulfilment of Life 25 May make a friend’s the fleeter, If any little lift may ease The burden of another, God give me love and care and strength To help my toiling brother.” Philanthropy is as perfectly expressed in a cup of cold water as in the founding of a university. The sister, who by music and painting makes the home brighter for the brother, is as surely exercising self-aban¬ donment to highest purpose, as is the con¬ secrated women who, on the foreign field, makes up that which is behindhand in the sufferings of Christ. The mother, who pours out her life in a silent stream of unceasing service within the walls of home, is filling life to the full, nay, the rivers of her life are overflowing in streams of bless¬ ing which will at last be confluent with the river which makes glad the city of God. This self-abandonment must be in all full¬ ness. That part of my life’s capacity and po¬ tentiality reserved for myself will wither and die. That which I without reserve yield passively and actively to God, by unceas¬ ing service of the needy ones that lie near¬ est to my pathway, will multiply into golden sheaves. This great truth has been beautifully expressed by Lowell in the words oft quoted, and yet never spoiled by the quoting; 26 The Fulfilment of Life “He gives only the worthless gold Who gives from a sense of duty;' But he who gives but a slender mite, And gives to that which is out of sight, That thread of the all-sustaining Beauty Which runs through all and doth all unite,— The hand cannot clasp the whole of his alms, The heart outstretches its eager palms, For a god goes with it and makes it store To the soul that was starving in darkness before. “ ’T was a mouldy crust of coarse brown bread, ’T was water out of a wooden bowl,— Yet with fine wheaten bread was the leper fed, And ’t was red wine he drank with his thirsty soul. • •••••« “Not what we give, but what we share, For the gift without the giver is bare; Who gives himself with his alms feeds three, Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me.” In self-recognition and self-abandonment there is the limit of responsibility. Where this responsibility is fulfilled, there issues the third fact that makes for the fulfilment of life, that, namely, of self-possession. For this we are not to strive. It is a sequence and a fruitage, and consists, first, in the new consciousness of self as related to God. If self-abandonment means at its outset crucifixion, in the resurrection that always follows the cross is a new possession The Fulfilment of Life 27 of self. So that if I am able to say “I have been crucified with Christ,” I shall be able also to say “I live.” The capacity is from God and for God. The potentiality is of God and to God. The opportunity is in God and with God. This is the region of conscious strength. Here life may be lived free from friction which genders false heat and retards speed. To find life in Christ, in God, is indeed to live and to be able to live. Not only is there this new self-possession in God, there is a new and very precious self-possession in the love of those served. When the late loved Queen Victoria’s con¬ sort passed from her side, Tennyson, the laureate, wrote words full of exquisite beauty: “May all love, His love, unseen but felt, o’ershadow Thee, The love of all Thy sons encompass Thee, The love of all Thy daughters cherish Thee, The love of all Thy people comfort Thee, Till God’s love set Thee at his side again!” I venture to affirm that that prayer was answered in her experience, and if I should be asked the reason of this affirmation, I should say that as a queen she perfectly 28 The Fulfilment of Life abandoned herself in service to her God, her children, her people, and found herself possessed in the love of all, and having passed out of sight, lives even yet in the hearts of all over whom she reigned, the mother queen; and will live through com¬ ing generations in the love of those who shall hear her story repeated from parent to child. So also all who abandon themselves for love of God, in loving service, will find themselves in the wealth of love returned. Thus in self-possession there shall be the peace of a great fulfilment of life, no self¬ degradation, and no disorderly ambition, marring the perfect peace of full-orbed life. Thus then I would say to you, Live, recog¬ nizing that your opportunity is always at hand, and that you will fill that opportunity by the exercise of your own capacity, in the power of the potentiality that resides within it. This you will only do by the recogni¬ tion of your own capacity in relatioriTo God and man and by the abandonment of your whole life, for constant and consecrated service. Where you will live and serve matters little. Some of you will pass to places of public service, where many will see, some greeting with commendation, some with criticism. The Fulfilment of Life 29 Have no ear for these voices, but remember ever that your final account will be given to the Master who has gifted you for this service, and your final reward will be re¬ ceived from Him. Some of you will pass to quiet places of hidden service. Yours is an especial honor, for there is no place so lonely as to be far from God. And whether you work, or wait, or watch, He will observe, and remember, and at last, if your works are fulfilled be¬ fore Him, your joy will be fulfilled with Him. Not in a great act, but in a great attitude of life, will you prove that you have bene¬ fited by your years of preparation. The circumstances of the passing hours will be very different. In all probability every one of you will have to pass through the furnace of affliction. Do not be afraid. “Let thy gold be cast in the furnace, Thy red gold, precious and bright, Do not fear the hungry fire. With its caverns of burning light: And thy gold shall return more precious Free from every spot and stain; For gold must be tried by fire, As a heart must be tried by pain! so The Fulfilment of Life “In the cruel fire of sorrow Cast thy heart, do not faint or wail; Let thy hand be firm and steady, Do not let thy spirit quail: But wait till the trial is over, And take thy heart again; For as gold is tried by fire, So a heart must be tried by pain! “I shall know by the gleam and glitter Of the golden chain you wear, By your heart’s calm strength in loving, Of the fire they have had to bear. Beat on, true heart, for ever; Shine bright, strong golden chain; And bless the cleansing fire, And the furnace of living pain 1” You will also come to days throbbing with great joy. Here also I would say, do not be afraid. The enemy sometimes suggests that overmuch joy may be displeasing to God. It is a lie, worthy of the one who suggests it. His will for you is fulness of joy; only remember that when your cup runs over, you will lose nothing by inviting some joyless ones to share your blessings. Above all else, I call you to remember that life can only be finally fulfilled as you recognize today, tomorrow, always, that it is His gift as to capacity, potentiality and opportunity; and you can only recognize the capacity, exercise the potentiality, realize the opportunity as He is King and Master as well as Saviour and Friend. The Fulfilment of Life 31 “Children of yesterday, Heirs of tomorrow, What are you weaving— Labor or sorrow? Look to your looms again, Faster and faster Fly the great shuttles Prepared by the Master; Life’s in the loom, Room for it—room ! “Children of yesterday, Heirs of tomorrow, Lighten the labor And sweeten the sorrow. Now—while the shuttles fly Faster and faster, Up and be at it— At work with the Master; He stands at your loom, Room for Him—room ! “Children of yesterday, Heirs of tomorrow, Look at your fabric Of labor and sorrow. Seamy and dark With despair and disaster, Turn it—and lo, The design of the Master 1 The Lord’s at the loom, Room for Him—room !”