She little has of beauty's wealth,
Truth will allow;
Only her priceless youth and health,
Her broad, white brow;
Yet grows she on the heart by stealth,
I scarce know how.
She does a thousand kindly things
That no one knows.
A loving woman's heart she brings
To human woes,
And to her face the sunlight clings
Where'er she goes.
And so she walks her quiet ways
With that content
That only comes to sinless days
And innocent.
A life devoid of fame or praise,
Yet nobly spent. (Text.)
(3043)
SPIRITUAL PERTURBATION
After Bunyan's marriage the record of the
next few years is like a nightmare, so terrible
is his spiritual struggle. One day he feels
himself an outcast; the next the companion
of angels; the third he tries experiments with
the Almighty in order to put his salvation
to the proof. As he goes along the road to
Bedford he thinks he will work a miracle,
like Gideon with his fleece. He will say to
the little puddles of water in the horses'
tracks, "Be ye dry"; and to all the dry tracks
he will say, "Be ye puddles." As he is about
to perform the miracle a thought occurs to
him. "But go first under yonder hedge and
pray that the Lord will make you able to
perform a miracle." He goes promptly and
prays. Then he is afraid of the test, and
goes on his way more troubled than before.
After years of such struggle, chased about between heaven and hell, Bunyan at last emerges into a saner atmosphere, even as Pilgrim came out of the horrible Valley of the Shadow. Soon, led by his intense feelings, he becomes an open-air preacher, and crowds of laborers gather about him on the village green. They listen in silence to his words; they end in groans and tears; scores of them amend their sinful lives.—William J. Long, "English Literature."
(3044)
Spiritual Power the True Estimate—See Measurement, Spiritual.
SPIRITUAL VALUES
Jesus asked, "How much is a man better than a sheep?" Here are some estimates:
The deepest needs of the world are spiritual
needs. One man invested $100,000 in
India. It resulted in the conversion of 50,000
in that district—one soul saved for every
two dollars invested. Christ's standard of
greatness was service. On the Kongo a
man's value is estimated in cattle; on the
Hudson, in social standing; but by the river
of life, by what he is, and the standard is
helpfulness.
(3045)
SPIRITUALITY, RATIONAL
On some clear evening when the stars
shrink back before the pathway of the ascending
moon, and night is almost transformed
to day, we are moved to admiration
and pleasure; yet all this attractive light,
focused to the smallest compass, could not
dissolve the most delicate petal of frost or
melt the tiniest snowflake.
Such is science without sentiment,
the intellect without the heart, religion
without spirituality. But on the other
hand, the true church is one which combines
both; which is purely rational, yet
deeply religious; which is perfectly tolerant
and catholic; which yet extends
its fraternal hand to the needy, opprest,
and downtrodden of every class; which
is bound to no creed whatsoever, but is
genuinely, rationally, vitally spiritual.—George
C. Cressey.
(3046)
SPRING AS TYPE OF LIFE
When I am gone, somehow I hope that spring
Will typify my life, my optimism,
My hope of victory through the years,
My nerve of step, my clear and visioned eye.
The early flowers, the robins singing in
The rain (may they not sing since they have wings?),
The increasing light, the slowly opening buds,
The almond blooms, the trees in vernal dress
Are like the silver crown upon my head:
A prophecy of heaven's summer time.
Yes, when I die, it shall be springtime then
Of my great immortality.
When I am gone, let men say, He was always young;
Not even Sorrow, with his ruthless plow;
Nor base ingratitude, nor brothers false,
Nor slander's venomed tooth, nor poverty,
