Daily Thoughts Part 11

Feeling and Emotion. April 6.

Live a life of _feeling_, not of _excitement_. Let your religion, your duties, every thought and word, be ruled by the _affections_, not by the _emotions_, which are the expressions of them. Do not consider whether you are glad, sorry, dull, or spiritual at any moment, but be yourself--what G.o.d makes you.

_MS. Letter_. 1842.

The Beasts that perish. April 7.

St. Paul says that he himself saw through a gla.s.s darkly. But this he seems to have seen, that the Lord, when He rose from the dead, brought a blessing even for the dumb beasts and the earth on which we live. He says the whole creation is now groaning in the pangs of labour, about to bring forth something, and that the whole creation will rise again--how and when and into what new state we cannot tell; but that when the Lord shall destroy death the whole creation shall be renewed.

_National Sermons_. 1851.

Reverence for Age. April 8.

Reverence for age is a fair test of the vigour of youth; and, conversely, insolence towards the old and the past, whether in individuals or in nations, is a sign rather of weakness than of strength.

_Lecture on Westminster Abbey_.

1874.

Prayers for the Dead. April 9.

We do not in the Church of England now pray for the dead. We are not absolutely forbidden by Scripture to do so. But we believe they are where they ought to be--that they are gone to a perfectly just world, in which is none of the confusion, mistakes, wrong, and oppression of this world; in which they will therefore receive the due reward of their deeds done in the body; and that they are in the hands of a perfectly just G.o.d, who rewardeth every man according to his work. It seems therefore unnecessary, and, so to speak, an impertinence towards G.o.d, to pray for them who are in the unseen world of spirits exactly in the state which they have deserved.

_MS. Sermon_.

Diversities of Gifts. April 10.

Why expect Wisdom with love in all? Each has his gift-- Our souls are organ pipes of diverse stop And various pitch: each with its proper notes Thrilling beneath the self-same breath of G.o.d.

Though poor alone, yet joined, they're harmony.

_Saints' Tragedy_, Act ii. Scene v.

1847.

The Atonement. April 11.

_How_ Christ's death takes away thy sins thou wilt never know on earth--perhaps not in heaven. It is a mystery which thou must believe and adore. But _why_ He died thou canst see at the first glance, if thou hast a human heart and will look at what G.o.d means thee to look at--Christ upon His Cross. He died because He was _Love_--love itself, love boundless, unconquerable, unchangeable--love which inhabits eternity, and therefore could not be hardened or foiled by any sin or rebellion of man, but must love men still--must go out to seek and save them, must dare, suffer any misery, shame, death itself, for their sake--just because it is absolute and perfect Love which inhabits eternity.

_Good News of G.o.d Sermons_.

A Day's Work. April 12.

Make a rule, and pray to G.o.d to help you to keep it, never, if possible, to lie down at night without being able to say, I have made one human being at least a little wiser, a little happier, or a little better this day. You will find it easier than you think, and pleasanter.

_Sermons for the Times_. 1855.

Self-control. April 13.

A well-educated moral sense, a well-educated character, saves from idleness and ennui, alternating with sentimentality and excitement, those tenderer emotions, those deeper pa.s.sions, those n.o.bler aspirations of humanity, which are the heritage of the woman far more than of the man, and which are potent in her, for evil or for good, in proportion as they are left to run wild and undisciplined, or are trained and developed into graceful, harmonious, self-restraining strength, beautiful in themselves, and a blessing to all who come under their influence.

_Lecture on Thrift_. 1869.

Women and Novels. April 14.

Novels will be read; but that is all the more reason why women should be trained, by the perusal of a higher, broader, deeper literature, to distinguish the good novel from the bad, the moral from the immoral, the n.o.ble from the base, the true work of art from the sham which hides its shallowness and vulgarity under a tangled plot and a melodramatic situation. They should learn--and that they can only learn by cultivation--to discern with joy and drink in with reverence, the good, the beautiful, and the true, and to turn with the fine scorn of a pure and strong womanhood from the bad, the ugly, and the false.

_Lecture on Thrift_. 1869.

Expect Much. April 15.

Expect great things from G.o.d, and also expect the least things, for the great test of faith is shown about the least matters. People will believe their soul is sure to be saved who have not the heart to expect that G.o.d will take away some small burden.

_MS. Letter_. 1842.

What is Theology? April 16.

Theology signifies the knowledge of G.o.d as He is. And it is dying out among us in these days. Much of what is called theology now is nothing but experimental religion, which is most important and useful when it is founded on the right knowledge of G.o.d, but which is not itself theology.

For theology begins with G.o.d, but experimental religion, right or wrong, begins with a man's own soul.