because you cannot have what you want or think you deserve, or what you envy in others! That is not religion; it is infidelity. That indicates a distrust of yourself, and, worse still, a distrust of God, since He has seen fit to surround you with hardships. You are able to do His will, and that will ought to be your will. No matter where you are or what you are, or by what circumstances you are environed, you are God's child, the angels are your friends, and, by and by, when you look back from the other shore you will see that the heavy hand was the wise and kindly hand.

Christ was like the lily. A manger for a cradle! Ostracized by those who should have loved Him, suspected by those who should have had confidence in Him, persecuted by those who should have kissed the hem of His raiment, and crucified by those who should have worshipped Him! Slime of human hatred! Filth of human passion! But the life so sweet, so calm, so filled with the perfume of Heaven, that we wear on our breast the symbol of His torture, the cross!

Behold the lily!

And

ye

REJOICE ALWAY

shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households.—Deuteronomy xii., 7.

ין

T is just as much our duty to enjoy life as it is to work or sleep. It is therefore very important that we should so arrange our lives that they will furnish the largest amount of enjoyment.

I do not say that any one can be perfectly happy all the time, for no part of our discipline is more needed by the soul than that which comes from the trials and disappointments and even the profound sorrows through which we are forced to pass.

One may even say that he who has never wept does not know the value of laughter, and that he who has not toiled along the hot and dusty road does not appreciate the bliss of sitting under the friendly branches of a tree, with a cool spring bubbling at his feet, for a short period of rest.

It is only when we are deprived of a blessing that we discover its worth, and he alone is grateful in its possession who knows what it is to get on without it.

I have heard an aged saint say that no man can rightly define the word heaven until he stands by a new-made grave. One may sometimes see more through his tears than when looking through the largest telescope that was ever made.

I do not ignore the serious or solemn side of life, but I assure you that if you add to the gloom by gloomy thoughts you not only make a mistake so far as your own comfort is concerned, but you are to that extent irreligious. On the other hand, when you preserve a cheerful attitude, when you brighten your life by dwelling on the good things you have, rather than on those you wish you had, and make yourself as happy as your circumstances allow, you are in the proper frame of mind to receive religious truth, you are in accord with the eternal plan and have taken the first step in the direction of true religion.

So long as you regard your environment as all wrong and unfitted to you, so long as you find fault because you think you are not where you ought to

be, just so long do you bar the way to a higher level and chain yourself to a dungeon floor. The angels, with their soothing and encouraging influence, can no more reach you than the sunshine can get through a window which you have deliberately bricked up. I had almost said that a human soul can so surround itself with an atmosphere of discontent and doubt that the Lord Himself cannot effect an entrance, while what is injurious because it is evil is as much at home as a poisonous plant that thrives on miasm. If you long for the light you will go to the spot where the light can reach you, but it is foolish to declare that there is no light when you sit in a dark corner where only ghostly shadows dwell.

There are very few lives in which a degree of happiness may not be found if it is sought for. But we must not forget that we must work to be happy, just as we work to be rich. If we want wealth we fix our minds upon it. We know that if we can discover its hiding-place our dreams will be realized. We plan to get it, and have sufficient confidence in ourselves to keep us on the alert. No opportunity escapes us, and we make the most of every one that presents itself.

I cannot see why this principle should not be applied to religion, neither can I see why it should not be equally successful. We go to get riches, but we expect happiness and contentment to come to us. We work for fame, for social influence, for all worldly good things, but it seldom occurs to us that we must also work for that mental and spiritual condition in which life is experienced at its best. And yet a man-that is the law as I understand it -should be as keen in his search for peace of mind, for resignation, for self-control, as he is for dollars, and should begin the task in the conviction that God wants him to be happy rather than miserable, and has so made the universe and arranged our environment that we may spend contented years in this lower sphere and be joyfully raised to a higher level after death.

If you look at life from your own standpoint, then you will say that I am a mere visionary; that I have dreamed dreams which can never come true. But if you look at it from God's standpoint you will admit that you are in the wrong and that I am stating startling facts.

I cannot conceive of a religion which does not