The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1891-04-24
Not to enjoy life but to employ life ought

Not to enjoy life but to employ life ougt
to be our AIM Macduff.
So long as we are full of self. we ar
shocked at the faults of others.
1t Is hard to say whether God discover
more love In preparing heavenly mansion
for the soul than In preparlng the soul TO
heavenly mansions.-l Seeker.
When men live as If there were no God,
becomes expedient for them that there should
be none; and then they endeavor to persuad
themselves so.
Talking is like playing on the harp; Their
Is as much In laying the hand on the string
10 stop the vibrations as in twanging them Il
bring out the music.
Duty Is never uncertain at first. It Is onl,
after we have got involved In the mazes anc
sophistries OF wishing that things were other
wise than they are that 1t seems indistinct.
The crown Of all faculties Is common sense
1t is not enough to do the right thing. |,
must be done at the right time and place
Talent knows what to do; tact knows when
ana how 1t is 70 lie done.
! Do not seek happiness In what Is misnamed
pleasure: seek 1t rather In what is termed
study. Keep your conscience clear. your
| curiosity fresh. an0 embrace every opportu.
nifty of cutlvating your minds.
Christ, by his gospel and the spirits work,
Is now separating men in two classes. The
| process Is going on every day I'm our homes
~ our places of business in the house of God.
We drift apart: we withdraw to our own
place and our own kind. By.and. by the DIFF
ference will be clear as MONDAY.
Sing In fine weather! Any bird can do
that. Praise God when all goes well is com.
monplace work. Every body marks the night.
ingale above all other birds because she sing
eth when the other mInstrels of the earth are
CII 0ulfn and notn 81 -l-AI ia
GOD under The cloud. Songs In the day are
from man. but God himself gveth songs 10
the night.-fSpurgeon.
Every day we consciously violate some law
Of the Almighty; but He does not lose pa
thence with us. We stumble, and be lifts us
up. We despair of living well, and He ten.
DERBY reveals the way OF holiness. We rebel
against our duties; we cry out In passionate
resentment for our troubles; we fear 10 obey
the headings OF our conscience. But the
Eternal makes response In blessings without
number. He sends us gifts In regal profusion.
tie gives US beautiful world to live IN dc cks
1t with inspiring and besIth.giying things,
days radiant with light, and treasures of the
snow aud the flowers. He showers upon Us
truth faster than we can learn 1t. human love
more than we appreciate. hope that outlasts
our poo despairings. He gives us music and
art and poetry and knowledge and faith and
home until we are fairly bewildered amid orr
crowdiDg mercies. In infinite wisdom and
unwavering tenderness our God spends His
love upon us.-lRev. z. Z. st. John.
We are too much in the habit of looking
forward to heaven as to something that sciH
6e-an easier, pleasanter story for Us to read
when we have finished this tiresome EARTH
narrative; luxurious palace chanber to rest
In after this life's drudgery is ended; a re.
mote. celestial mountain retreat, where the
SOUND OF ne restless waves OF humanity for. |
ever fretting their shores win vex our ears |
no longer. And so we stumble on. pity ing !
ourselves for the hard times we have to
endure on earth. and singing our songs OF /
: The sweet by-and-by.' as IL there were some
saving merit in having patience with tim. /.
and In dreaming of a broader and happier
realm that we call eternity. But the eternal |
ssues are now and here, In our thou hts and
leeds; In our simple, common. everyday
relations to God and to our fellow. beings.
To-day or never, here or nowhere. Is eternity.
-lLucy Larcom. In AS Ii Is In Heaven