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Untitled Article
the light of day oppressive , and the motion of the life-hlood a perpetual curse . Such surely imagine that the Divine presence is alike to all , uncongenial to all . They know not that it is tender to the weak as the downy pillow to the wearied head ; animating to the strong , bright to the eagleeyed , and most awful to the high-minded , to whom the awe of purity is bliss . They know not that when a burst of song comes from young lips , as the sun breaks through the clouds , it is an acknowledgment of the presence of
God . They know not that when the hands of the sleeper are folded on his breast , it is a sign that he closed his eyes amidst a blissful sense of security . They mark not on the brow of the thoughtful , in the eye of the pure , in the erect port of the free of soul , the testimony that because God is within them these are what they are . Those who fear and dislike this perpetual presence , ever conceive of God as apart though present . They compare his stability , his ultimate purity , with man ' s change and progressiveness . But , one and
immutable as God surely is in himself , to the experience of man Deity is progressive ; and hence it is that the home of the human spirit is in God . The spirits of men are progressive at different rates , so as to preclude permanent companionship or lasting dependence : but the revelation of Deity is so unintermitting , so exactly apportioned to the discernment of the worshiper , so perfectly congenial to his wants , desires , and hopes , that the
repose of dependence may be as entire as the freedom of action which such congeniality inspires . Therefore is it that communion with God becomes more precious as life advances , that devotion changes its character perpetually , while the attributes of its Object are unchangeable . Therefore is it that the aspirations of piety arise in individual minds through every region , from the low desires and fears of the infant , to praise akin to that which ascended from the hills of Galilee ,
The devotion which the spirit prompts in Sabbath hours , in the sanctuary of nature , may surely be taken as the highest of which that spirit is capable ; and what now seems to me that highest ? It is not petition , I know not what to ask , because I know not the designs of my Father towards myself or others . I have prayed for blessings of every kind for myself and my brethren in the course of my life , and on looking back it seems to me now that there was presumption in
such petitions . It will not always appear so ; and when the impulse comes again I will again yield to it , because the desires of my spirit , from the highest to the lowest , shall ever be poured out to him ; but now , I have all things ; I feel that I shall have all things , and that all men are and shall be blessed to the utmost of their present capacities for blessedness . How full of bliss is life and the world ! That child searching for violets on the
teeming bank too busily to observe me—her brother astride on the bough of that breezy tree looking down into the nest he longs to take—the throng parting from yon distant church-door over the dewy meadows—I myself , half dazzled by these twinkling leaves , my spirit flowing like the brimmings of a mossy well—how happy are we all ! I cannot form a wish for myself or them . Gratitude , deep , boundless gratitude , swallows up all desires ; and the only
due expression of this gratitude , the only means of tempering its fervid glow , is a joyful and entire surrender of them and myself to Him who smiles upon our joy . Truly we know not what to pray for as we ought . How low are all temporal desires to us , standing at this moment manifestly in the midst of eternity , when time is a mere abstraction of the reason , and actual existence is all with which the heart has to do ! Of spiritual conditions , the apparent evil of some , and the ultimate design of all , we know yet less than of tem-
Untitled Article
Sabbath Musings . 237
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1831, page 237, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2596/page/21/
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