RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 263, 10 November 1906, Page 10

RE LIGIOUS WORLD.

t~5? _SATIENCE :5P CHRIST. £

' 3K - GEOR( f® MBIHESOK-)

at *T two thm S s ™9* S His li? k £ g ? Om wonld «*«■ = gAI- ----- S £ S,/ +>, ?atlenC ' e? Yes = and it lay just «Sr We' df G are « aU ■■ TOOT e in **' a patience arduous in Proportion as we are doubtful of the re, 2 n Jt . « exactly, the reverse-it is i f t 6Sent that in the S°* ten ? ears y™ ™»*1 be translated mto. a position of great wealth and power. Suppose, in addition to this that your present state was one of extrema lowliness—that you were tlespisedT l! JeCted Of men - that everybody thought you a poor creature destitute of mental resources and unable to make yOI T Win the world. I' ask. What under these circumstances would- be thequality you most needed because the quality most difficult to acquire? And I answer, it would be patience. Here are you m the meantime an object of contempt ana pity to the bystander—the specimen of a. man -that cannot get on. Here, on the other hand, floating before your inner eye is a vision of your coming glory—a vision which, the moment, men see it, will raise you at once in their right to a pinnacle of admiration and make you the idol of the hour. Would i not the temptation be almost irresistible | to tell the vision, to reveal the coming j glory? Would not the very certainty of ; the vision add to the strain? If there ■were any doubt about it there would be ! an incentive to silence; -but to be reti- i cent in sight of the rainbow, to be silent 4 in the viewing of the star/to be humble j in the testifying of your heart that the day is sure to dawn—that is the perfec-, tion of restraint, that is the climax of. patience. . .. ' ...„._,. And that patience, O Son of Man, is Thine. Why do I marvel so at the re- j straining of Thy power? It is because | the thing restrained is power. It is not passion, it is not vexation, it is not impotent rags^ —it is power. There is a patience that waits by night—and it is worthy of .all admiration. But Thine is a patience more glorious still; it is a patience that waits by day. It is a great thjng to bear the stroke ot injustice when I am under the shadow; but to bear it when I am in the sunshine is greater still. It is not the cloudedness of Thy vision that • makes Thy patience with mc so wonderful; it is its clearness. There are masters who are gentle with their pupils because they themselves are in the mist. Bui Thou are merciful on the mount, O Christ; Thou art pa- j tient amid the kingdom., Thou seest j the flower; yet Thou bearest my frost. I Thou beholdest the best robe;, yet Thou j pardonest my preference for rags. Thou ] gazest on purity; yet.Thou hast com- i passion on my stagnant pooL Thou hear- j est the song of jubilee: yet Thou euf- \ ferest my strains of jarring. Thine is J the joy of sympathy; yet Thou hast not i consumed the selfish. Thine is the hea- I yen of rest; yet Thou hast not destroyed ; the rebellious. Thine is the beauty of} holiness; yet Thou hast spared the cor- j rapt heart. Thine is the luxury of lav- | ishing; yet Thou hast forborne to anni- j Mlate the loveless. Thine is the pearl of j great price; yet Thou restrainest Thy j hand from the worshipper of a play- ! thing. O Lord, our Lord, it is Thy king- [ dom that makes Thy patience grand, j ' '—— ■ , j