of a seaman when explaining to me the working of the torpedo it was not a mere mechanical act, his charge of the dread missile; it was a chemical study. Well, is it not possible to make any kind of toil an investment, so to say, for thought; a way of reaping the interest of a capital of wisdom and knowledge in the soul itself; and thus of entering into the mind of God, the Master Workman, having sympathy and fellowship with Him? Is not that our best and loftiest? On all sides we are encompassed by mystery; we know not anything in full ; all that we do know is but in fragments: but thus to labour in the sense of His blessed presence, seeing into the inner truths of things, and connecting what we are with what we do, this at least is plain, and this is blessedness. Produce! produce!" exclaims the most profound of thinkers; "were it but the pitifullest infinitesimal fraction of a product, produce it in God's name. out with it then. "Tis the utmost thou hast in thee; Up, up! Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.' 'Work while it is called to-day; for the night cometh wherein no man can work.'" Only the fuller voice of our Preacher's conclusion, "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." When the whole duty is mingled with the whole labour, man finds his good. And the fulness of that good is the end. There stood one night beneath the blue sky, with its everlasting luminaries shining forth, watchers of an unspeakable sorrow, there stood, with eye uplifted gazing into a Light beyond the brightness of moon and stars, a weary, lonely man. The shadows of a night whose darkness none can measure were lying across His soul. Already He felt the cup from whose drinking the sensitive flesh recoiled with dismay and horror. But He is there calm, serene; for the two poles of His human consciousness are a work that is done and a glory that is waiting. "I have finished." "Now," as the bird escapes to its mountain, so, with irrepressible yearning, speaks forth the soul—“Now, Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self." In that voice of the Man of sorrows behold the workman's heaven: “I will that my workmen be with me where I am." Are we Christ's workmen ? Have we heard His call the same that reached the brothers when they were mending their nets, Peter when he was fishing, Matthew when he was sitting at the receipt of custom the one sweet, solemn, all-commanding, "Follow Me"? Have we seen God in Christ? Have we felt God in Christ? That vision is the beginning of the true life, and therefore the true work. The world in thee, brother, is a chaos, until thou hearest the creating, "Let there be light." Is there light-light in thy bosom; light about thy path; the light of life; of a peace that passeth all understanding? Art thou rejoicing before God, the sinner forgiven, the son accepted in the Beloved ? Follow Christ; shaping the image of Him out of the things that press on thee; His thy heart; Himself thy love, thy good, thy beautiful, thy true. Do thy man's part with brave and faithful purpose, leal to Him, thoughtful of thy fellow, careful so that, to the minutest of details, thy work, thy whole work, be finished. And, lo! for thee the gates of heaven are open day and night continually; here and now thou hast access through them to that upper kingdom, that Father's house, where "beyond these voices there is peace;" and the well-come is preparing that greets the well-done: "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." The joy in which is perfected the good of labour. III. Burdens and Burden-Bearing. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”—GAL. vi. 2. "" Every man shall bear his own burden."-GAL. vi. 5. HE burdens are various. St. Paul has reference especially to the faults, the errors and sins, the sense of which lies heavily on a man's soul, and whose consequences, of one sort or another, not only crush his own spirit, but injuriously affect those who are near to him. As to such, the counsel is: "You who are spiritual, who are living in the light of God's great love, are not to separate yourselves from your brother, as if you stood on a secure vantage-ground. You are to recollect that you are possessors of the same nature as he, that, in other forms if not the same, you may be tempted and fall likewise; and thus recollecting, you are to charge yourselves with his pain and sorrow, and, at the fitting time and in the fitting manner, restore him in the spirit of meekness." St. Peter has elsewhere taught the same lesson," Have fervent charity among yourselves; for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." But the word includes all kinds of burdens. It is practically a precept enjoining mutual helpfulness, support, and strengthening. You may observe that, shortly after penning our sentence, the apostle writes, "Every man shall bear his own burden," and the question may occur to some, "Are not the two sayings different, even contradictory?" I answer, By no means. The latter of the two is the assertion of a fact,—the fact that however helpful others may be, we are responsible for our own work, that none can take that responsibility from us. The only genuine satisfaction for any one is, his having really striven to be and to do the right, rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. Realize this, my readers, and you will become proficients in the grand secret of self-respect; and you will be kept, at the same time, from all undue boasting and self-conceit, as if you were better and wiser than your fellows. Because, when you try your own work, when you prove your own faithfulness to the call of opportunity or the right use of influence, you will find how far short you have come, how beholden you must be to the pity of God and the kind consideration of others; and thus you will be made |