July 3

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.—HEB. xii, 1.

"I am working alone, and no one heeds!"

Who says so does not know;

There are clear eyes watching on every side,

And wherever our feet may go,

We are "compassed about with so great a cloud"

That, if we could only see,

We could never think that our life is small,

Or that we may unnoticed be.

We seem to suffer and bear alone

Life's burdens and all its care;

And the sighs and prayers of the heavy heart

Vanish into the air;

But we do not suffer or work alone;

And after a victory won,

Who knows how happy the hosts may be

Who whisper a soft "Well done"?

Oh, do not deem that it matters not

How you live your life below;

It matters much to the heedless crowd

That you see go to and fro;

For all that is noble and high and good

Has an influence on the rest,

And the world is better for every one

Who is living at his best!

The providence of God, that cares for the universe as a whole, that takes it at the beginning and holds it to the consummation, that we cannot see or know, that we can only dimly guess—this same mighty, all-grasping order of God's providence considers my affairs; not simply nations, not simply cities, not simply families, but you and me, the leaf on the tree, the bird that sings on the bough, the flower that springs out of the sod.

M. J. SAVAGE.