November 18

Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done.— LUKE xxii, 42.

Let nothing make thee sad or fretful, Or too regretful.

Be still;

What God hath ordered must be right,

Then find in it thine own delight.

My will.

Why shouldst thou fill to-day with sorrow

About to-morrow,

My heart?

One watches all with care most true,

Doubt not that He will give thee, too,

Thy part.

Only be steadfast, never waver,

Nor seek earth's favor,

But rest;

Thou knowest what God's Will must be

For all His creatures—so, for thee

The best.

PAUL FLEMMING.

Resignation to the will of God is the whole of piety; it includes in it all that is good, and is a source of the most settled quiet and composure of mind. Our resignation to the will of God may be said to be perfect when our will is lost and resolved up into His; when we rest in His will as our end, as being itself most just and right and good. And where is the impossibility of such an affection to what is just and right and good, such a loyalty of heart to the Governor of the universe as shall prevail over all sinister indirect desires of our own?

JOSEPH BUTLER.