GRAINS OF GOLD

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 13, 28 March 1907, Page 3

GRAINS OF GOLD

THE SOUL'S EASTER. My soul was dead in sin, and knew The horror .of the grave ; My friends with eyes unseeing passed, Nor stretched a hand to save. But through the universal chill There fell one sunlit ray : 'Twas hope, and 'neath its kindling warmth I dared once more to pray. I felt the Blood of Christ pour forth As on dark Calvary's day ; The darkness denser grew, and, lo ! The stone was rolled away. 'Twas Easter Day o'er all the world, F.or Christ the Lord was risen, 'Twas Easter, for my shriven soul Through Christ had fled its prison. — ' Aye Maria.'

Good manners are -the images of virtues. " To know one thing well, you require to know a little about a thousand other things. Learn to keep your troubles to yourself. The world is too busy to care for your ills and sorrows. Learn to greet your friends with a smile. They carry too many, frowns in their own hearts to be bothered with any of yours. A new light in our heart makes an occasion ; but an occasion is an opportunity, not for building a tabernacle, and feeling thankful, "and looking back to a blessed memory, but for shedding the new light on the old path, - and doing old duties with new inspiration. " The uncommon- life is the child of the common day, lived in an uncommon way. To wear a cheerful face when the heart is aching is not deceit. When a 'good housekeeper - detains the front steps and porch before she sets the bouse to rights, she does not mean to deceive passers->by. She merely Shows some pride in her house arid some consideration for her neighbors. We conquer our heart-aches _ more quickly when' we begin by considering the friends who are near us When Death snatches one of the unappreciated from cair midst, we are filled with lamentations that we did not better -understand the poor # crushed heart*that lies pulseless. The lips that Longed for the caress cannot feel it now, nor can the friendly pressure be felt by the cold waxen -hand that lies so still t dn the coverlet. Above the ' 4 unappreciated caie ' is content. The angels have struck the chord that no earthly hand could strike and an 'enthusiasm 1 is awakened in the "soul that was unknown to it on earth.