her with His strong and tender hand from the bed of suffering and of death. And now, surely it cannot be that this light of holy gladness casts no reflection on the divine countenance of Him who is the source and spring of all true joy. Do we not seem to see the radiance of His smile as it illumines with a more than earthly light the humble home where He makes His transient sojourn? Surely the joy is brighter because He is there to share it, surely the love is dearer because He is there to hallow and to bless! And as we gaze on this picture of a holy home, we are reminded also that sorrow and suffering, however blessed in their results, ay, thrice blessed in calling forth the grandest deeds and the noblest feelings of humanity, still, in themselves, are but signs of an imperfect state, and have no place in the being of the Godhead; that joy (if only it be pure and sanctified) is, after all, 'the passage to the highest perfection;' and so we may reverently imagine that its holy flame was ever burning in the heart of our blessed Lord through all the long night of His earthly sojourn ; dimmed, it may be, by the mists and darkness of this lower sphere, but brightening as He met the smile of unconscious infancy, or the sweet innocent confidings of childhood, or the tenderness of the beloved and guileless John; but more than all, perchance, when His power had restored again the hope and stay of a widowed life, or when, as in this instance, the parent had been given back to a daughter's arms, or when the sorrowing heart of the lonely mother of Nain, of the despised and desolate Canaanite, of the nobleman of Cana, or of the governor Jairus had been made with one gracious word to 'sing for joy.' But while we may gather from this incident our Lord's sympathy with holy joy, let us not pass by the teaching which lies in those few short and touching words, 'And she arose and ministered unto them.' Here let us learn the lesson of a devout thankfulness as it is expressed, not in words, but in deeds. Let us trace in the conduct of this lowly woman that absolute forgetfulness of self which is so great a grace in the Christian saint. In times of sickness and suffering there is too often a temptation to exalt ourselves in our own and others' eyes; to place ourselves on a different level from those around us; to expect a consideration exclusively devoted to ourselves: and when the time of recovery arrives, or when just rescued from the jaws of death, another temptation arises, namely, to rest from all responsibilities, and only with reluctance to take up again that burden of life from which we had been so nearly released for ever. There is with some also a morbid, but with others a true and earnest 'desire to depart and be with Christ' in the heavenly land, and consequently a feeling of depression when, after the conflict seems well nigh over, and the fear of death (which perhaps had haunted a lifetime) has merged at length into union with the divine will, the spirit is called 'to wander back to life once more,' from the border lands of eternity. At such times let us recall the sweet earnest devotion of this woman of Galilee, as, 1 without one dream of rest or thought of self, she arose and ministered to her Deliverer. For such ministry may indeed be ours also; though not yet may we see with our bodily eyes that dear and wounded Form, though not yet may we kneel at the feet which were pierced for us, though not yet may we join with the angelic host in their personal ministries of loving adoration; yet behold, in His members He is here :-in dying forms on many a lowly pillow, where the words of comfort may be breathed wherewith we ourselves have been comforted of God:in that neglected little one, whose dull eyes brighten not yet at the name of Jesus :-in those weary sorrowing forms, wandering up and down in life's sad paths, seeking rest and finding none, because not seeking it in Him : -ay, in all these, we may see Him and minister unto Him as truly as did that woman of old. Arise, therefore, thou who hast been restored to life by the touch of Jesus, forget thyself and thy sufferings, whatever they may have been, or remember them only that through their experience thou mayest comfort others; only that their memory may keep thee close to Him who through them all was thy strength and stay; only that thou mayest never lose in the brightness of health what thou didst learn in the dark days of weariness and pain. Then go forth on thy ministry according as God may call thee; in the home of gladness or in the world of suffering and sin. He will give thee thy work, if 1 St. Luke iv. 39. only thou wilt arise; and in that day when sorrow and sighing shall flee away, the voice of Jesus shall fall upon thy wondering ear, and He who once tarried in that humble cottage by the rippling waters of the Galilean Lake shall call to thee in gracious accents from the heavenly shore, saying, 'Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Inasmuch as thou hast done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, thou hast done it unto ME.' LORD GOD, to whom alone belong the issues of life and death; accept, I beseech Thee, my offering of praise and thanksgiving for Thy great mercies towards me, Thy servant, whom Thou hast raised from the bed of sickness. Grant to me, O Lord, such a deep sense of Thy goodness as may lead me to give up myself wholly to Thy service all the rest of my life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. LESS the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within BLESS me bless His holy name, who forgiveth all thy sin and healeth all thine infirmities, who saveth thy life from destruction, and crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kindness. I render grateful thanksgiving unto Thee, O Lord my God, for my recovery from grievous sickness. It is of Thy mercy alone that this sickness has not been unto death. Grant, I beseech Thee, that by this and every trial my faith may be strengthened, my hope confirmed, and my love increased, so that I may henceforth live more and more unto Thy praise and to Thy glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. TEACH EACH me to live! 'Tis easier far to die— On earth's long night to close the heavy eye Teach me that harder lesson-how to live, To serve Thee in the darkest paths of life; Teach me to live Thy purpose to fulfil : Bright for Thy glory let my taper shine : Teach me to live for self and sin no more; L |