GRAINS OF GOLD

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8, 27 February 1908, Page 3

GRAINS OF GOLD

' SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN.' ' Suffer the little children To come unto Me ! ' He said To those who would fain have checked them, As He stroked each curly head, x\nd gathered them all about Him, And clasped them close to His breast. 0 God of the fair and spotless, How sweet a place to rest ! ' Suffer the little children,' I think I can hear I-liim say ; 1 For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven ! ' And 'tis just the same to-day. 0 Lord of the heavenly garden, Fragrant and undefiled, 1 bring Thee that fairest blossom, The soul of a sinless child ! i — ' Aye Maria.'

To look for praise or place is to work in the spirit of the hireling. That alone is good for me which gives me freedom and opportunity to lead my own life, to uphold the being which is myself. The truly charitable individual forgives all because he understands all ; he judges not, lest he condemn himself, and he gives not only of his material" stores, but of his very self in the service, of humanity. The good God has measured out our years ; and of these years .that He has resolved to leave ' us on this earth, He has marked out one Which shall be our last. What distance is there between that moment and this ? The space of an instant ! „- _ Self-contquest is a duty we owe ourselves as well as God. We owe it to "ourselves made, as v we a-re, to God's image and likeness, to have that resemblance'develop in us with our years. We owe it', to God in sign of our gratitude to live for Him through - the glory we may give Him, and not for ourselves through the gratification we may give our sin-corrupted natures. Im our self-conquest we shall find our peace .as • well as ouir perfection, and shall prepare ourselves by our victory for a crown in Heaven. Human nature is «,like in its essentials, and tihere is the divine element in each of us. No two people can see the same scene with the same eyes, no two people realise the wonder of a divine thought or a human problem with the same degree of intensity. No two people either, have the same gift of expression. Be satisfied that you can feel. Perhaps God has adjusted Jche balance in this wise — that while your lips are dumb your spirit "is eloquent, bringing you where words never could, • : • • . 1 ; ! . ; i ■'