ul that may be the daily experience of every
human being. And to gain the deep inner conviction of this sublime truth
is worth whatever it may cost of tears or trial or desolation of spirit.
It is the threshold of joy. It is the initiation into a higher spiritual
state which one may gain during his progress on earth as well as in
heaven. In fact, no one is really fitted for the highest privileges and
sweetness he may crave, until he has learned to live well, to live
joyfully, without these. No one is fitted _for_ joy until he can live
well _without_ joy. It is the law and the prophets.

THE NECTAR OF THE HOUR.

I share the good with every flower,
I drink the nectar of the hour.

--EMERSON.

* * * * *

_If we knew how to greet each moment as the manifestation of the
divine will we could find in it all the heart could desire. Nor
what indeed is more reasonable, more perfect, more divine, than the
will of God? Can its infinite value be increased by the paltry
difference of time, place, or circumstance? The present moment is
always filled with infinite treasures; it contains more than one is
capable of receiving. Faith is the measure of these blessings; in
proportion to your faith will you receive. By love also are they
measured; the more your heart loves the more it desires, and the
more it desires the more it receives. The will of God is constantly
before you as an unfathomable sea, which the heart cannot exhaust;
only in proportion as the heart is expanded by faith, confidence,
and love can it receive of its fulness.... The divine will is an
abyss of which the present moment is the entrance; plunge
fearlessly therein and you will find it more boundless than your
desires._--THE REV. J. P. DE CAUSSADE, in "Holy Abandonment."

* * * * *

"The moment we desire God and His will, that moment we enjoy them,
and our enjoyment corresponds to the order of our desires."

What though the bough beneath thee break?
Remember, thou hast wings.

--VICTOR HUGO.

To enter into the will of God is an initiation of such power and beauty
that language falters in any effort to interpret this supreme
experience. It can be indicated only in the words of the poet:--

"I share the good with every flower,