confidence of Job,
"Although he slay me, I will trust in him." Although stripped of all
consolation, and left in the desolation of nothingness, you may yet
rejoice in God--out of, and separate from, self. Let the earth be
stripped of her foliage; let neither flowers nor fruit appear; yet _God
is_, therefore you may be happy. The mother loves to sacrifice herself
for her child, and finds her life in what affords it happiness; thus
die to self, in relation to God.

When your weaknesses rise up before you, when you would weep over some
error in judgment, or some unguarded expression, do as the little
child, who having fallen into the mud, carries its hands to its mother,
who cheerfully wipes them, and consoles him after the fall. Can you
not believe God loves you, as much as you love the little one enfolded
in your arms? Does he not say, "A mother may forget, yet I will never
forget thee!"

The discovery of your weakness and emptiness, is an evidence of God's
love; and while it is ground for humiliation, it is also of
thanksgiving. When it pleases God to fill this void with his grace, it
is cause of thankfulness; but if we realized at all times this
fullness, we should be in danger of appropriating the grace of God to
ourselves. Thus, our times of desolation are necessary, and we should
accept them joyfully, as a portion of the bread our father gives us.

Yours in tender sympathy.

SELF-ABANDONMENT.

The death of self is not accomplished at once. It is for some time a
living death. Its opposite, spiritual life, is represented by
Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones. First, the bones were rejoined;
afterwards covered with sinews; then the flesh appeared; and finally,
the spirit of the Lord animated them. When the soul begins to incline
towards God, it finds many obstructions; but in proportion as we yield
to the will of God, these obstructions are removed. The following
simile will help to illustrate my idea. The rivers empty themselves
into the sea; before they lose themselves there. Wave by wave
following its course, seems to urge onward the river, to lose itself in
the sea. God imparts to the soul some waves of pure love, to urge on
the soul to himself; but as the river does not lose itself in the sea,
until its own waters are exhausted, so the soul reaches God, and loses
itself in God, only when the means of supply from self are at an end.
As the waves, which are precipitated into the sea, roll