doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul? " For what are material and temporal goods in comparison with the spiritual and eternal? "I have seen all things that are under the sun," says the Wise Man, " but vanity of vanities, all is vanity and vexation of spirit." Hence he immediately adds: "One thing, therefore, and one thing only have I asked of the Lord that I [i.e., his soul] may dwell in the house of the Lord [i.e., heaven] all the days of my life." What then is the one great work I have to do here on earth? To bring God to my soul by sanctifying it, and to bring my soul to God by saving it. If I am born into this World, and live and die and save not my soul, all is lost. It matters not if I have been the greatest man that ever lived; if worldly fame has written success in letters of gold on my tombstone; oh, it availeth nothing if I have not saved my soul, for the recording angel will erase my name from the Book of Life with her tears and will write " failure " in its stead. But, on the other hand, if I save my soul all is gained. What matters it if I am poor and miserable here if I am to be happy forever hereafter? Time is but a moment compared to eternity. And, oh, remember and remember, and again I say, remember, that I have only one soul which can be lost only once, but, once lost, it is lost forever. I will, therefore, first seek the kingdom of God and His justice, and all other things I will take as they come, saying, with the indifference of holy Job: "The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away. Blest be the
