Stray Thoughts [pp. 230-232]

STRA r THOUGHTS.
silent wvill such hasty impugners of revelation be
when brought into his presence! Surely, too, we
should learn from Jesus to be silent more frequently
than we are; yea, let us even aim to realize silence
in the very thoughts, when the wisdom of God
declares divine doctrines and human duties.
O for more of the silence of adoring love! and
then may come humble, asking faith. "The meek
will Ite guide in judgment; the meek will He teach
his way." Look, listen, learn, while the wisdom of
God acts and speaks. Jesus called a little child unto
him, and set him in the midst of them, and said:
"Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall
humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."-Cliristiau Treasury.
A VIEW OF ARARAT.-Toward the close of the
year, wearied with fertile solitudes and the barbarous
Cossack, we determined to leave Russia, and make
our way into the ancient kingdom of Persia. We
deviated from the usual route for the purpose of
visiting Ararat. We accordingly made our way to
Erivan, which is the capital of the district in which
it stands, and the residence of a Russian Governor.
Either from policy or courtesy we had been provided
with a Cossack escort, and so our arrival in a city
rarely visited by strangers produced some sensation
among its quiet inhabitants. Ere we entered, however, we paused upon the slopes above it to catch
the last glories of the sun falling upon Mount Ararat.
It seemed to stand on the far-stretching plain before
us, the world's great barrier-pyramid. Gracefully it
rises to 17,500 feet without any mountain form to
break the solitude of its reign. The lesser cone on
its side alone varies the graceful outline of the whole.
Its summit crowned with everlasting snows was now
sparkling in dazzling brilliancy, and flooded with the
golden light of heaven. Around its breast light vapory mists in softest hues hung floating; while below,
along the almost boundless plain, the baser mists of
earth were gathering fast, brooding over the storied
Araxes, whose silver line disported in bold sweeps
hither and thither over the level which forms the
mountain's base. It is one of the most sublime and
solemn spots I have visited in this fair creation of
God. This mountain, the river, the plain, all open
before you in a solitude so profound as to sober you
into sadness, and make you feel, especially toward
eventide, the spirit of the scene. Beyond the river's
sparkling curve, and the mountain piercing into
heaven, you see nothing in the far distance but the
last stronghold of the Muscovite-a fewv checkered
lines of cantonments, where he bides his time, ready
to spring upon the expiring lion of Persia. As we
stood gazing entranced, while lights and shades of
every hue flitted in ceaseless play over the lovely
mountain, suddenly all was changed. Of all that
was dazzling beauty before, nothing now remained
but the cold ashy outline of the mountain against the
sobered sky. The sun sunk to rest, and death flung
his twilight shadows, darkening all around. As these
deepened over the silent landscape, with a true feeling of Eastern insecurity we hastened down into the
city for shelter.-Sunday Magazine.
REVERENCE FOR GOD.-With what profound veneratitn does it become us to enter the presence, and
to receive the favors, of the awful Majesty of heaven
and earth; and how ought we to dread grieving or
offending goodness so great, so glorious, so venerable!
To illustrate this remark, suppose that the sun,
whose brightness, even at this distance, you can not
gaze upon without shrinking, were an animated, intelligent body, and that, with a design to do you good,
he should leave his place in the heavens and gradually approach you. As it drew more and more
near, its apparent magnitude and effulgence would
every moment increase; it would occupy a larger
and larger portion of the visible heavens, till at length
all other objects would be lost, and yourselves swallowed up in one insufferably dazzling, overpowering
flood of light. Would you not, in such circumstances,
feel the strongest emotions of awe, of something like
fear? Would a knowledge that the glorious luminary
was approaching with a benevolent design for your
good, banish these emotions? What, then, ought
to be the feelings of a sinful worm of the dust, when
the Father of lights, the eternal Son of the universe,
who dwells in the high and holy place, and in the
contrite heart, stoops from his awful throne to visit
him, to smile upon him, to pardon him, to purify
him from his moral defilement, to adopt him as a
child, to make him an heir of heaven, to take possession of his heart as his earthly habitation?-Paysozn.
THE RELIGION OF THE DAY.-The religion of the
day is an easy-minded religion, without conflict and
wrestling, without self-denial and sacrifice; a religion
which knows nothing of the pangs of the new birth
as its commencement, and nothing of the desperate
struggle with the flesh and with the devil, day by
day, making us long for resurrection deliverance, for
the binding of the adversary, and for the Lord's
return. It is a second-rate religion-a religion in
which there is no largeness, no grandeur, no potency,
no noble-mindedness, no elevation, no self-devotedness, no all-constraining love. It is a hollow religion,
with a fair exterior, but an aching heart-a heart
unsatisfied, a soul not at rest, a conscience not at
peace with God; a religion marked, it may be, by
activity and excitement, but betraying all the while
the consciousness of a wound hidden and unhealed
within, and hence unable to animate to lofty doing,
or supply the strength needed for such doings. It is
a feeble religion, lacking the sinews and bones of
hardier times-very different from the indomitable,
much-enduring, storm-braving religion, not merely
of apostolic days, but even of the Reformation. It
is an uncertain religion; that is to say, it is not
rooted on certainty; it is not the outflowing of a
soul assured of pardon, and rejoicing in the filial
relationship between itself and God. Hence, there
is no liberty of service, for the question of personal
acceptance is still an unsettled thing; there is a
working for pardon but not from pardon. All is
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