Some of My Favorite Lines About Life, Love and Devotions
..
.
.
Consider that all which appears beautiful outwardly,
is solely derived from the invisible Spirit
which is the source of that external beauty,
and say joyfully, "Behold, these are streamlets
from the uncreated Fountain;
behold, these are drops
from the infinite Ocean of all good!
.
Oh! how does my inmost heart rejoice at the thought
of that eternal, infinite Beauty, which is
the source and origin of all created beauty!"
L. SCUPOLI.
June 2.
Then does a good man become the tabernacle of God,
wherein the divine Shechinah does rest, and which
the divine glory fills, when the frame of his mind
and life is wholly according to that idea and pattern
which he receives from the mount. We best
glorify Him when we grow most like to Him:
.
and we then act most for His glory, when a true spirit
of sanctity, justice, and meekness, runs through
all our actions; when we so live in the world
as becomes those that converse with the great Mind
and Wisdom of the whole world, with that
Almighty Spirit that made, supports, and governs
all things, with that Being from whence
all good flows, and in which there is no spot, stain,
or shadow of evil;
.
and so being captivated and
overcome by the sense of the Divine loveliness
and goodness, endeavor to be like Him,and
conform ourselves, as much as may be,
to Him.
DR. JOHN SMITH.
June 3.
He who believes in God is not careful for the morrow,
but labors joyfullyand with a great heart.
"For He giveth His beloved, as in sleep."
They must work and watch, yet never be careful
or anxious, but commit all to Him, and live
in serene tranquillity; with a quiet heart,
as one who sleeps safelyand quietly.
MARTIN LUTHER.
June 4.
Do right, and God's recompense to you will be
the power of doing more right. Give,
and God's reward to you will be the spirit of giving more:
a blessed spirit, for it is the Spirit of God
and God will pay you with the capacity of more love;
for love is Heaven--love is God within you.
F. W. ROBERTSON.
June 5.
This is one result of the attitude into which we are put
by humility, by disinterestedness, by purity,
by calmness, that we have the opportunity,
the disengagement, the silence, in which we may watch
what is the will of God concerning us.
.
If we think no more of ourselves than we ought to think,
if we seek not our own but others' welfare,
if we are prepared to take all things as God's dealings
with us, then we may have a chance of catching
from time to time what God has to tell us.
.
In the Mussulman devotions, one constant gesture
is to put the hands to the ears, as if to listen for
the messages from the other world. This is the attitude,
the posture which our minds assume, if we have a
standing-place above and beyond the stir and
confusion and dissipation of this mortal world.
A. P. STANLEY
