GRAINS OF GOLD

New Zealand Tablet, 17 December 1908, Page 3

GRAINS OF GOLD

GOD DOES NOT FORGET. The world will strip your failings, And hide the good you do, And with its sharpest thorns The ways you walk bestrew; You'll toil for men — they'll curse you; 'Twas thus, and thus 'tis yet, And thus 'twill be for ever — But God does not forget. The hours of silent grieving For some one loved and lost, The hours of self-denial, 'Twere hard to count their cost; The falling soul uplifted, The sorrows bravely met — All are on earth forgotten, But God does not forget. His eye is ever seeking The wee things done for Him ; And they shall light the shadows Where Death waits, stern and grim. So lift your burden gladly, Nor falter, fear nor fret ; For heaven is in the distance, And God does not forget. — Avc Maria.

The more unhappy I am (said St. Francis) the more 1 will trust in the mercy of the Lord, my God. Do not burden yourself with too many devotions ; rather undertake few, and persevere with those. — St. Philip Neri. As a means of accomplishing tilings, one should class next to initiative willingness to do the right thing- at once. Seek not proud riches, but such as thou mayest get., justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly. I have come to see that cleverness, success, attainment, count for little; that goodness, or character, is the important factor in life. Oh, that we could take that simple view of things— to feel that the one thing which lies before us is to please God. — Cardinal Newman. Practically all of us can become leaders if we put forth the best there is in us. There is great satisfaction in knowing that one is a leader. Our customs and habits are like the ruts in the roads : the wheels of life settle into them, and we jog along through the mire because it is too much trouble to get; out of them.