Heaven. We may be girt with silence among our fellows, but in
looking up the heart finds freedom. In His Presence the voice of confession
can break through the gag of shame, and the pent-up tide of trouble can let
itself break upon the heart of Eternal Love.

_God is a refuge for us._ That is the great discovery of faith. That is the
merciful word that comes to be written so plainly in the life that has
formed the habit of faith. God our refuge. It may be that to some the word
'refuge' suggests the occasional rather than the constant need of life. But
the refuge some day and the faith every day are linked together. A thing is
no use to you if you cannot find it when you want it. And you cannot find
it easily if it be not at hand. The peasant built his cottage under the
shadow of his lord's castle walls. In the hour of peril it was but a step
to the strong fortress. 'Trust in Him at all times.' Build your house under
the walls of the Eternal Help. Live in the Presence. Find the attitude of
faith, and the act of faith will be simple. Trust in Him through every
hour, and when a tragic hour comes one step shall take you into the
innermost safety.

III.

THE ONE THING DESIRABLE

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will
I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of
the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the
beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.

Ps. xxvii. 4.

_I have desired ... I will seek._ Amid the things that are seen, desire and
quest are nearly always linked closely together. The man who desires money
seeks after money. The desire of the world is often disappointed, but it is
rarely supine. It is dynamic. It leads men. True, it leads them astray; but
that is a reflection on its wisdom and not on its effectiveness. Among what
we rightly call the lower things men do not play with their desires, they
obey them. But amid the unseen realities of life it is often quite
otherwise. In the religious life desire is sometimes strangely ineffective.
It is static, if that be not a contradiction in terms. In many a life-story
it stands written: One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I dream
of, that will I hope for, that will I wait for. Many things help to explain
this attitude, and, explaining it, they condemn it also. We allow our
surroundings to pass judgement on our longings. We bring the eternal to the
bar of the hour, and postpone the verdict. Or it may be in the worl