Accepting Consolation

"None of them that trust in Him shall be desolate." Psalms 34:22

"That ye sorrow not, even as others who have no hope." I Thessalonians 4:13

"Are the consolations of God too small for thee?" Job 15:11 (R. V.)

WHAT shall make trouble? Not the holy thought
Of the departed; that will be a part
Of those undying things His peace hath wrought
Into a world of beauty in the heart.

SARAH J. WILLIAMS

SHE spoke of those who had walked with her long ago in her garden, and for whose sake, now that they had all gone into the world of light, every flower was doubly dear. Would it be a true proof of loyalty to them if she lived gloomily or despondently because they were away? She spoke of the duty of being ready to welcome happiness as well as to endure pain, and of the strength that endurance wins by being grateful for small daily joys, like the evening light, and the smell of roses, and the singing of birds. She spoke of the faith that rests on the Unseen Wisdom and Love like a child on its mother's breast, and the melting away of doubts in the warmth of an effort to do some good in the world.

HENRY VAN DYKE

By Mary Wilder Tileston, taken from "Joy and Strength"