GRAINS OF GOLD

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 2, 28 February 1907, Page 3

GRAINS OF GOLD

THE CROWN OF THORNS. A crown was on Thy brow divine, - ~ Alas ! of sharp thorns wrought ; Each point pricked deep,~ to expiate My foolish pride of thought. O teach me, Lord, the little worth ' " Of others' smile or frown ! Why should- 1 wear the flowers of praise And Thou the thorny crown ? ' — ' Aye Maria.' If thy faith does not make- thee pure, strong and loving, how canst thou desire to implant it in another ? If thy" religion does not. give thee peace and joy, how canst thou wish to spread it through the world ?— Spalding. Energy of will is the soul of every great character. Where it is "there is resolute character; where it is not there is faintness . with effeminacy, despohdenc7, neglect of; duty, and failure. * The" strong, man«and the waterfall,' says a proverb, ' channel - thoir own path.' ' .The closest possible study of the life of Christ will not reveal one - single instance of -His having measured any work in pounds and pence, but the New Testament is replete with instances of His having lauded g|ifts and -deeds - . wh,ich were backed by " love or- the fulness of capability. And the fact that men and times have changed- does not warrant us in .expecting any change in the standard set ,bv^ the"Master. There are silences of all sorts, as there is speech of all- sorts. There are silences that set one's teeth . bn edge— it is not always a relief to break them;, and, there are silences that - are gen-Uer, kinder, sweeter, ' more loving, more eloquent than any words, and which it is always a wrench to interrupt.— Marion Crawford.