THE GARLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3513, 12 July 1921, Page 50

THE GARLAND.

FOR THE QUIET HOUR. No. 4Q9.

By

DUNCAN WRIGHT, Dunedin.

REST. By Minnie Ames. Love came floating o’er the waters, of life’s calm untroubled sea, Flashing in the morning sunlight; “Rise,” He said, “and follow me.” “Lord,” I cried, “the flowers thou gavest, they are claiming all my care. Love, I cannot rise and leave them, never flowers were half so fair.” Then the decoy freshness vanished, and the fierce unpitying heat Smote upon my tender blossoms; laid them dying at my feet. Love'came near me, in the shadows of the evening, cold and grey, “Let the lie ad their own dead bury. Rise," He said, “and come away.” “Lord,” I cried, “yet still there lingers the rich perfume of their breath. Though my flowers were fair in living, they are sweeter still in death.” And the evening shadows deepened to the blackness of the night, And, the darkness gently piercing, came a ray of Love’s own light. “Lord,” I cried, “oh, take my blossoms, take my weariness and pain; Take my loneliness and longing, only give me peace again.” Then He drew me—oh, how gently—to the shelter of His breast.

“Child,” He said, “I take thy sorrow; thou shalt have thy perfect rest.” Still, I have it, passing onward through a scene, each step more fair; All my joy m Him is springing, all my gladness He doth share. And though gently, days unfolding sometimes pain and sorrow bring, Yet the Hand, that gives them to me, first doth rob them of their sting. * * * * “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters.”—Psalm xxiii, 2. “It is,” writes Rev. Dr Alexander Maclaren, “the hot noontide, and the de.ert baking in the awful glare, and every stone on the hills of Judea burns the foot to the touch. But in that panting, breathless hour, here is a little green glen, with, a quiet brooklet, and a moist bush herbage all along its course, and great stones that fling back a black shadow over the dewy grass at their base ; and there would the shepherd lead his flock, while the ‘sunbeams like swords’ are piercing everything beyond that hidden covert. Sweet silence broods there. The sheep feed an i drink, and couch in cool lairs till he calls them forth again. So God leads His children. Rest and refreshment are put first, as being the most marked characteristic of God’s dealings. After all it ‘s so. The years are years of unbroken continuity of outward blessings. The reign of afflictions is ordinarily measured by days. Weeping endures for a night. It is a rainy climate where half the days have rain in them; and that is an unusually troubled life of which it can with any truth be said that there has been as much darkness as sunshine in it.” * * * * Then let His true love fold the-e, Keep silence at Hi 3 Word, Bo still, ancl He will mould tliee; O rest thee iu the Lord. Then trust him to uphold thee, ’Mid the shadows and the gloom; Be still, and He shall mould thee For His presence and for home. For resurrection stillness • There is resurrection power. The prayer and praise of trusting May glorify each hour; And common days are holy, And years an Eastertide, For those who with the risen One In risen life abide. * * * Where do we read the words? “My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray* thee from thy servant. “Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourself under the tree.” To whom was this message given ? “As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest.” Or this message? “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” * -JT -H STILLNESS. The favourite hymn of an aged suffering saint, who has gone to be “with Christ.” Thy lesson art thou learning, O tried and weary soul, His ivay art thou discerning Who works to make thee whole? In the haven of submission, Art thou satisfied and still; Art thou clinging to the Father, 'Ne-ath the shadow of His wili t Now, while His arms enfold thee, Think well. He loveth near, Be still, and He will mould the© For His heritage of rest. The vessel must be shapen For the joys of paradise; The soul must have her training For the service of the skies. * * „ Dr Maclaren’s message continued :—- ‘The Divine rent is not only a- pattern of what our earthly life may become, but is a prophecy of what our heavenly life shall surely be. There is a basis of likeness between the Christian life on earth and the Christian life in heaven, so great as that the blessings that are predicted of the one belong to the other. Only here they' are in blossom, sickly often, putting out very feeble shoots and tendrils; and yonder, transported into their right soil, and their native air, with heaven’s sun upon them, they burst into richer beauty, and bring forth fruits of immortal life. Heaven is the earthly life of a believer glorified and perfected. If here by faith we enter into the beginning of rest, yonder, through death with faith, we shall enter into the nerfection of it. Heaven will be for us rest in work, and work that is full of rest. Our Lord’s heaven is not an idle heaven, and the heaven of all spiritual natures is not idle ness. Man’s delight is activity. The loving heart’s delight is obedience. •» The saved heart’s delight is grateful service. The joy's of heaven are not the joys of passive contemplation, of dreamy remembrance,, of perfect repose; but they are described thus : ‘The rest not day nor night.’ ‘His servants serve Him and see His face.’ ‘Heaven its perfect rest.’ ” Horatiug Bonar, D.D., sang for us:—When the weary, seeking rest, To Thy goodness flee; When the heavy-laden cast All their load on Thee; When the troubled, seeking peace, On Thy name shall call; When the sinner, seeking life, At Thy feet shall fall; Hear then in love, O Lord, the cry In heaven, Thy dwelling place on high. Through all the ages the great and gracious words of our Saviour in Matthew xi, 28, 29 , 30 will never be old, or out-of-date—never. “Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest-. “Take rny yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Nor do we sing often enough the paraphrase of the beautiful words by William Chatterton Dix (born 1837) : Come unto Me, ye weary, And I will give you rest,” O blessed voice of Jesus,

Which comes to hearts oppressed. It tells of benediction, Of pardon, grace, and peace, Of joy that hath no ending, Of love which cannot cease. Lord Selbotne cited this writer as an example of the power of hymn writing in his day. Mr Dix was a - highly gifted hymn writer. Some of his less known compositions are touched by the High Church spirit, it is said, to which lie belonged, but the best are too deeply Christian t-o show any special theological or ecclesiastical bias. His hymn “Come Lnto Me” finds a place in Hymns Ancient and Modern. Absence of occupation is not rest; A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed. —Cowper. Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees. The last words 'by Stonewall Jackson. So may he rest; his faults lie gently on him. —Shakespeare. I am sick of Time And I desire rest. —Tennyson.