Daily Thoughts | Page 5

has given us in them.
MS. Sermon.
JANUARY 6. The Epiphany, Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.
On this day the Lord Jesus was first shown to the Gentiles. The word Epiphany means "showing." The Wise Men were worshippers of the true God, though in a dim confused way; and they had learnt enough of what true faith, true greatness was, not to be staggered and fall into unbelief when they saw the King of the Jews laid, not in a palace, but in a manger, tended by a poor village maiden. And therefore God bestowed on them the great honour that they first of all--Gentiles--should see the glory and the love of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God grant that they may not rise up against us in the Day of Judgment and condemn us! They had but a small spark, a dim ray, of the Light which lighteth every man who cometh into the world; but they were more faithful to that little than many of us, who live in the full sunshine of the Gospel, with Christ's Spirit, Christ's Sacraments, Christ's Churches,--means of grace and hopes of glory of which they never dreamed.
Town and Country Sermons.
JANUARY 25. Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle and Martyr.
How did St. Paul look on his past life? There is no sentimental melancholy in him. He is saved, and he knows it. He is an Apostle, and he stands boldly on his dignity. He is cheerful, hopeful, joyful. And yet, when he speaks of the past, it is with noble shame and sorrow that he calls himself the chief of sinners, not worthy to be called an Apostle, because he persecuted the Church of Christ. What he is, he will not deny; what he was, he will not forget; lest he should forget that in him, that is, in his flesh--his natural character--dwelleth no good thing; lest he should forget that the good which he does, he does not, but Christ which dwelleth in him; lest he should grow careless, puffed up, self-indulgent; lest he should neglect to subdue his evil passions; and so, after preaching to others, himself become a castaway.
Town and Country Sermons.

February.
. . . Every winter, When the great sun has turned his face away, The earth goes down into the vale of grief, And fasts, and weeps, and shrouds herself in sables, Leaving her wedding garments to decay; Then leaps in spring to his returning kisses.
Saint's Tragedy, Act iii. Scene i.
Out of the morning land, Over the snow-drifts, Beautiful Freya came, Tripping to Scoring. White were the moorlands, And frozen before her; Green were the moorlands, And blooming behind her. Out of her gold locks Shaking the spring flowers, Out of her garments Shaking the south wind, Around in the birches Awaking the throstles, Love and love-giving, Came she to Scoring. . . . . .
The Longbeard's Saga. 1852.

Virtue. February 1.
The first and last business of every human being, whatever his station, party, creed, capacities, tastes, duties, is morality; virtue, virtue, always virtue. Nothing that man will ever invent will absolve him from the universal necessity of being good as God is good, righteous as God is righteous, holy as God is holy.
Sermons on David. 1866.

Happiness. February 2.
God has not only made things beautiful; He has made things happy; whatever misery there is in the world there is no denying that. Misery is the exception; happiness is the rule. No rational man ever heard a bird sing without feeling that the bird was happy, and that if God made that bird He made it to be happy, and He takes pleasure in its happiness, though no human ear should ever hear its song, no human heart should ever share in its joy.
All Saints' Day Sermons. 1871.

A Dream of the Future. February 3.
God grant that the day may come when in front of the dwellings of the poor we may see real fountains--not like the drinking-fountains, useful as they are, which you see here and there about the streets, with a tiny dribble of water to a great deal of expensive stone, but real fountains, which shall leap, and sparkle, and plash, and gurgle, and fill the place with life and light and coolness; and sing in the people's ears the sweetest of all earthly songs--save the song of a mother over her child--the song of "The Laughing Water."
The Air Mothers. 1872.

Bondage of Custom. February 4.
Strive all your life to free men from the bondage of custom and self, the two great elements of the world that lieth in wickedness.
MS. Letter. l842.
Henceforth let no man peering down Through the dim glittering mine of future years Say to himself, "Too much! this cannot be!" To-day and custom wall up our horizon: Before the hourly miracle of life Blindfold we stand, and sigh,