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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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therefore , we are thrilled with horror , or shame , or grief , as we read how Jesus was insulted , and rejected by foes , and misunderstood and forsaken by followers , we should also remember that the mind is its own place , and that to him this place was a heaven . If we know any thing of the repose of filial dependence , of the delight of divine communion ; if we have felt the exquisite satisfaction of submissive endurance and the energy of beneficent exertion ; any degree of the celestial consciousness of intellectual power and spiritual purity , we must be aware that these delights , immeasurably magnified , were the daily solace of Jesus . Where there is purity , there must be peace ; where there is devotion , there must be joy ; and to one whose purity had reached its last refinement , whose devotion was exalted to the utmost intensity , there must have been an abundant recompence even for woes like
his . It is true , that we can enter little more into his griefs than his joys : for the objects of our hopes and fears are , for the most part , the transient events of life , and our sympathies are confined within a very narrow circle of interests and expectations . It was far otherwise with him who , knowing God as the world knew him not , was able to see the issue of many things from the beginning , and to sympathize in the varied interests of humanity to the end of time . What wonder that he found none to share his burden
of sympathies when , even now , the bare thought of it is overwhelming ! When from an eminence he saw in vision all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory , his affections were also abroad , rejoicing with all who met to rejoice , and weeping with all who wept in the solitude of their homes . Knowing what was in men , their present griefs were his , tbeir present joys were his ; he felt for them more than they knew how to feel forthemselves , because he knew also what was in store for them .
We could not endure such a depth of emotion , any more than we can appreciate the support which ' he had in a knowledge of the Divine purposes . He looked upon children as destined to run the race of life as their parents had done before them , ignorant of their true end , rebellious under the mildest discipline , unconscious of the most unwearied benignity . How deep , how tender must have been his compassion ! But more tender , more deep the joy of contemplating the issue of their wanderings , of anticipating the harvests which should spring from seed thus sown in tears . When he took
the little ones in his arms , he knew that in some hearts he was kindling a flame which should not be quenched till it had consumed all impurities , and consecrated the altar on which it burned to the service of God . When he set a sinless child in the midst , how clear , how affecting a view must he have entertained of the approaching deterioration of this child's mind , and of its gradual renovation , its far-distant confirmation in purity and peace ! No one else knew as he knew through what strifes , what salutary griefs , what hurtful enjoyments , what weariness , what transports , what tremblings of fear and hope the spirit must struggle in its passage to heaven : none could ,
therefore , feel such compassion . No one else knew the issue of this struggle , or could , therefore , adequately rejoice in the destination of human nature . To the elements alone could he confide the expression of his emotions . He came forth alone ; for there was no one to join in his petitions , or to comprehend his thanksgivings . Jerusalem was rejoicing in the mirth of her multitudes when he wept over her . The multitudes were astonished , as they would have been if they could have known the serenity with which he looked on many forms of evil which to them seemed monstrous . Beneath the stars he had learned to see
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Sabbath Musings . 75
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1831, page 75, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2594/page/3/
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