e Truth, rejoice not in what
he has been taught to believe; not in this Church's doctrine or in that;
not in this issue, or in that issue; but "in the Truth." He will accept
only what is real; he will strive to get at facts; he will search for
Truth with a humble and unbiassed mind, and cherish whatever he finds at
any sacrifice. The Greatest Thing in the World.
March 1st. "Consider the lilies of the field how they grow." Christ made
the lilies and He made me--both on the same broad principle. Both
together, man and flower . . .; but as men are dull at studying
themselves. He points to this companion-phenomenon to teach us how to
live a free and natural life, a life which God will unfold for us,
without our anxiety, as He unfolds the flower. Natural Law, Growth, p.
123.
March 2d. Our efforts after Christian growth seem only a succession of
failures, and, instead of rising into the beauty of holiness, our life is
a daily heart-break and humiliation. Natural Law, Growth, p. 125.
March 3d. The lilies grow, Christ says, of themselves; they toil not,
neither do they spin. They grow, that is, automatically, spontaneously,
without trying, without fretting, without thinking. Natural Law, Growth,
p. 126.
March 4th. Violent efforts to grow are right in earnestness, but wholly
wrong in principle. There is but one principle of growth both for the
natural and spiritual, for animal and plant, for body and soul. For all
growth is an organic thing. And the principle of growing in grace is once
more this, "Consider the lilies how they grow." Natural Law, Growth, p.
125.
March 5th. Earnest souls who are attempting sanctification by struggle,
instead of sanctification by faith, might be spared much humiliation by
learning the botany of the Sermon on the Mount. Natural Law, Growth, p.
127.
March 6th. There is only one thing greater than happiness in the world,
and that is holiness; and it is not in our keeping; but what God HAS put
in our power is the happiness of those about us, and that is largely to
be secured by our being kind to them. The Greatest Thing in the World.
March 7th. We have all felt the brazenness of words without emotion, the
hollowness, the unaccountable unpersuasiveness of eloquence behind which
lies no love. The Greatest Thing in the World.
March 8th. Patience; kindness; generosity; humility; courtesy;
unselfishness; good-temper; guilelessness; sincerity--these make up the
supreme gift, the stature of
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