Mary Goss Diary

"It is no great matter to live lovingly with goodnatured, humble and meek persons; but he who can do so with the forward, willful, ignorant and peevish, hath true charity". Thomas A. Kempis

From Elijah the Fishbite.

"Lord it is enough! Ah, this little prayer is known also amongst us! How many a workshop, how many a chamber & bed of sorrow do I know, whence this aspiration is almost incessantly ascending to Heaven in the midst of many prayers & tears. Many of these suppliants are mistaken just as Elijah was. It is not enough yet. Many a faithful laborer has yet to learn, that his labor is by no means in vain in the Lord, altho' he thinks it is. Many a righteous one shall yet see the light arise here below, which, contrary to the express promises of God, he thought was forever extinguishes. Many a broken instrument will the Lord use again for his work, before he takes it away into the land of rest; & many a troubled sufferer before he departs shall again take his harp from the willows & sing thanksgivings unto Him, whose counsel is wonderful & his ways mysterious, but, who doeth all things well. And then, it will indeed be enough: Ah, who is warranted yet, in saying it is enough? It is only enough when the Lord saith it. And if you have still for years, to remain in the furnace of affliction, be asurred you will eventually acknowledge with joyful acclamations in Heaven, that then, only it was enough & not a moment earlier, when the Lord stripped you of the garments of your pilgrimage & took you to himself."

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H.F. Weston

"We sometimes wonder why our Lord doth place us Within a sphere so narrow, so obscure, That nothing we call work can find an entrance; There's only room to suffer - to endure.

Well God loves patience: souls that dwell in stillness, Doing the little things, or resting quite, May just as perfectly fulfill their mission, Be just as useful in the Father's sight.

As they who grapple with some giant evil, Clearing a path that every eye may see; Our Savior cares for cheerful acquiescence. Rather than for a busy ministry.

And yet He does love service whine 'tis given By grateful love that clothes itself in deed; But work that's done beneath the scourge of duty. Be sure to such, He gives but little had.

Then seek to please Him, whatsoe'r He bids thee: Whether to do - to suffer - or lie still: 'Twill matter little, by what path He leads us If in it all, we seek to do His will."

The Spiritual Railway.

"The line to Heaven by Christ was made, With heavenly truths the rails are laid, From earth to heaven the line extends, To life eternal where it ends.

Repentance is the station-house, Where passengers are taken in. No fee for them is ther eto pay, For Jesus is himself the way.

The Bible is the engineer: That points the way to heaven so clear. Through tunnels dark and dreary here, It does the way to glory steer.

God's love the fire, his truth the steam, Which drives the engine and the train: All you who would to glory ride, Must come to Christ, in him abide.

The first, the second, and third class, Repentance, faith, and holiness, How must the way to glory gain, Or you with Christ can never reign.

Come then poor sinner, now's the time, At any station on the line. If you repent and turn from sin, The train will stop and take you in."

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"When we can bear all troubles as a part of the burden of Christ, and can obtain his assistance to bear it with us, we shall find it daily growing lighter and lighter, and at length and at length become to us like the burden of wings to a bird, enabling us to fly the swifter and higher towards heaven".

"It is not the home that makes the heart happy; it is the happy heart that makes the home bright".

"As the husband is, the wife is; thou art mated with a clown, And the grossness of his nature will have weight to drag thee down - yes it will be; thou wilt lower to his level, day by day. What is fine within thee, growing coarse to sympathise with clay. He will hold thee, when his passion shall have spent its force. Something better than his dog, a little dearer than his horse -"

Herrick

Honor.

We ask for honor; and to us is given To be the sons of God, the heirs of heaven! The "King of Kings", prepares above the sky. At His right hand, a seat of royalty; But we accept it not; earthly renown. Is all we ask - we spurn a heavenly crown.

We seek for wealth. "The pearl of price unknown" At once a bounteous God would make our own Freely would his [minificence?] dispense An incorruptible inheritance. But no; when perishable things are o'er, We seek enduring treasures - not before.

We pant for fame. In character's of fame gold The "Book of Life", is to our view unrolled, And there Jehovah would record our name, Among the chosen friends of Christ the Lamb But our ambition soars not to the sky, Enough an earthly immortality.

We ask for bliss. God has for us in store Fullness of joy. - pleasures forever more But, here too, we refuse the proffered good Because 'tis given us in such plentitude We would for [Times?] few fleeting days be blest Heedless of an eternity of rest!

Oh how unworthy the immortal, mind Its every wish to fleeting time confined: If from this transitory scene we rise To a bright home of glory in the skies How like the vision of an infants dream Will such low thoughts, such, mean conceptions seem

Would we know the way of peace, we must fervently pray for the teaching of the holy Spirit and simply depend on it - thus the words which Jesus has spoken, will be brought to our remembrance, and we shall be enabled to understand believe & obey them, and our experience - of their truth, will solve those difficulties, which to others are insuperable - -

Scott

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Extract from F.D. Huntington's Sermons. Homeward bound.

"But now, being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end, everlasting life." The soul has reached its period of victory. From the far country, through these seven stages, it has travelled back, till it has come home, - home. - O word of unspeakable an unhausted meaning! The door of the Father's house was open, and it has entered in. To hear that sentence of forgiving welcome, - as if all the sighs of a parent's anxious and agonized affection were suddenly melted into one musical and joyous anthem of thanksgiving, - "This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." - to hear that from the Father's lips is heaven enough. After conflict, there is peace. Now is "the rest that remaineth for the people of God." This is life eternal. Henceforth, there Shall be labor, indeed, for labor is the best satisfaction of a spiritual being. There shall be trial, because only by trial come strength and

progress, which are the very honors of our immortal ity. But it shall be labor no longer out side the kingdom of Heaven. It is labor in the master's Society, labor under the encouragements of his friendship, labor with the crown on the head and the seal in the fore head. And the reconciliation in the heart. Faithful continuance in welldoing, not for the sake of the reward but for the brave relish of fidelity's own sake, has brought the disciple to his Lord; and when he looks up, behold! glory and honor and immortality are the spiritual trophies that adorn his dwelling.

In some one of these seven stages of spiritual pilgrimage every soul among us is found today; for beneath alienation from God there is no lower depravity, and above eternal life and love there is no more perfect holiness or joy. Which one of us shall be too cowardly or too careless to bring the wholesome questions personally home: At which point am I? Which way do my steps tend? Is my journey towards the far country or towards my Father's house? Or do I stand weak, irresolute, and despicable, looking now this way, & now that, halting between husks with the [illegible] & the honors of glory everlasting. Shall I go farther astray, or shall I return a grateful penitent, to the Shepherd & Bishop of Souls?

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