ion that we naturally choose what is good.

When matters difficult to handle and to manage come into our life, and
when we are tempted to long for some external sign which would show us
infallibly the right thing to do and the right way to follow, let this
be our consolation, that this very exercise of judgment and bearing of
responsibility in matters where right and wrong are not broadly
distinguished are among the chief instruments for the formation of
character; and that _even though we err_ in the choice we make, yet by
our error and by all honest effort to keep right with God in the matter,
we shall certainly have made growth in ability to understand and to do
what is right. No doubt it is easier to believe in a guide we can see
and that moves before us like a pillar of fire; but supposing for a
moment that this dispensation under which we are living is not a great
deception, supposing for a moment that God is doing that one thing which
He pledged Himself to do, namely, giving a Divine Spirit to men, Himself
dwelling with men and in them, then we cannot fail to see that this
guidance is of a much higher kind, and has much more lasting results
than any external guidance could have. If, by allowing us to determine
our own course and find our own way through all the hazards and
perplexities of life, God is teaching us to estimate actions and their
results more and more by their moral value, and if thereby He is
impregnating you with His own mind and character, surely that is a much
better thing than if He were keeping us in the right way merely by
outward signs and irrespective of our own growth in wisdom.

Persons whose opinion is not to be lightly esteemed say that if we
honestly seek God's guidance in any matter we cannot err, and have no
business to reflect afterwards on our conduct as if we had made a wrong
choice. I cannot think that is so. Sincere people who ask God's
guidance, it seems to me, frequently make mistakes. In fact, our past
mistakes are a great part of our education. Unless we are _habitually_
in sympathy with God we are not infallible even in matters where a moral
judgment is all that is required; and sometimes more is required of us
than to say what is right and what is wrong. Other points have to be
considered--points which call for a knowledge of life, of places, and
professions, of the trustworthiness of other men, and a thousand matters
in which we are liable to err. It is of course a great s