June 3

Giving thanks always for all things unto God.— EPH. v, 20.

Thro' all the changing scenes of life,

In trouble and in joy,

The praises of my God shall still

My heart and tongue employ.

Gratitude consists in a watchful, minute attention to the particulars of our state, and to the multitude of God's gifts, taken one by one. It fills us with a con- sciousness that God loves and cares for us, even to the least event and smallest need of life. It is a blessed thought, that from our childhood God has been laying His fatherly hands upon us, and always in benediction; that even the strokes of His hands are blessings, and among the chiefest we have ever received. When this feeling is awakened, the heart beats with a pulse of thankfulness. Every gift has its return of praise. It awakens an unceasing daily con- verse with our Father—He speaking to us by the de- scent of blessings, we to Him by the ascent of thanks- giving. And all our whole life is thereby drawn under the light of His countenance, and is filled with a gladness, serenity, and peace which only thankful hearts can know.

H. E. MANNING.