Stray Thoughts [pp. 469-470]

STRA r THOUGHTS.469
STRAY tHOUGHTS.
A MOTIVE TO PIETY.-HOW can we, who have
sainted friends, continue to live in an unregenerate
and sinful state? We have heard of one who declared that nothing troubled him more, in his sinful
state, than the thought of his mother in heaven. He
feared that she knew of it; and he also dreaded an
eternal separation from her. Do we believe that our
separation from our friends will be an eternal one,
unless we repent and -become pious? Can we be
content one moment longer in sin, when we firmly
believe that, should we die in our present condition,
the look which we cast upon the face of our dear
friend before the coffin-lid was closed, was the last
look forever? that those eyes, that countenance, shall
beam on us no more? that where he is we can never
come? Who can endure this searching thought, and
continue to sin on earth, while his bosom friend is
singing in heaven? Alas! that such infatuation should
be found on earth. Yet there are many who have
parents, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, and children in heaven whom they will never see! But is it
not strange that this should be so, in spite of this
touching motive to piety? Is it not strange madness?
"Who would not strive to win a heaven
Where all we love shall live again?"
God graciously designs that the death of our firiends,
and our desire to meet them again, should lead us
to piety. "No one dieth to himself" Their death,
as well as their life, is in this way to be of real service
to us.
There are none on earth so near to us as our
children. Yet there are no bereavements that occur
more frequently than these. Half the human race
die in infancy-all graveyards have more small graves
than large ones. There are few parents, therefore,
that have not wept at little graves-few that have not
infants in heaven. IHow tenderly they plead, that
since they can not return, we should prepare to come
to them! Reader, have you a little white-robed
warbler in the celestial choir? Are you content to
see his face no more forever? If you die in your
present state, where your child is you can never comne.
"These holy gates forever bar
Pollution, sin, and shame;
And none will ever enter there
But followers of the Lamb."
The stroke of death which has separated you, has
separated you forever, except you become a Christian.
Decide at once for Christ and heaven, and for anl
eternal reunion with your sainted child. What you
do, do quickly. Eternity is drawing nigh.'
TROUBLE.-" Trouble" becomes a marvelous mortifier of pride, and an effectual restrainer of self-will.
The temper is mellowed and the feelings refined. It
needs repeated strokes of the hammer to break the
rock in pieces; and so it sometimes requires repeated
strokes of anguish to break our hearts in pieces, and
make us humbler and wiser men. And as the longer
you keep the canary bird in a darkened cage the
sweeter it will sing, so the more severe the discipline
of the good man's experience, the sweeter the songs
of his spiritual life. The gold that is refined in the
hottest furnace comes out the brightest, and the
character molded by intense heat will exhibit the
most wondrous excellencies.
God's children are like stars, that shine brightest
in the darkest night; like torches, that are the better
for beating; like grapes, that come not to the proof
till they come to the press; like trees, that drive
down their roots farther, and grasp the earth tighter,
by reason of the storm; like vines, that grow the
better for bleeding; like gold, that looks the brighter
for scouring; like glow-worms, that shine best in the
dark; like juniper, that smells sweetest in the fire;
like the pomander, which becomes more fragrant for
chafing; like the palm-tree, which proves the better
for preserving; like the camomile, which spreads the
more as you tread upon it.
"There is a flower, when trampled on,
Doth still more richly bloom,
And even to its bitterest foe
Gives forth its sweet perfume.
The rose that's crushed and shattered,
Doth on the breeze bestow
A fairer scent, that further goes,
Even for the cruel blow."
CHRISTIAN CIIEERFULNESS.-Alluding to the impression that many get that religion is nothing if not
long faces, the United Presbyterian remarks:
Let men be taught to know that there is as much
religion in the good, robust, rejoicing, enthusiastic
singing of God's praise, as ill the sedate and doleful
style that is usu.ally styled the most devotional. Let
them know that the earnest prayer need not be a
drawling jeremiad. Let them feel that good Gospel
preaching may be in a sprightly delivery of pleasant
truths, more than in a whining recitation of iinanities.
Let them believe that Christianity is a live thingthat it is in sympathy with the active, rejoicing spirit
of our humanity-and it will be better commended to
their acceptance.
Seriousness ought always to characterize the Christian. But seriousness does not consist in sullenness,
moroseness, or even in the sobriety that drives away
smiles, and the taste for rational pleasures. H-le is
most serious who best brings an earnest, healthy,
rejoicing nature to the performance of his duty.
Men are most beautifully serious when truthful smiles
are playing on their lips, and when their whole
countenances are lighted up with a benignant joy.
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