July 5
Daily Gleanings of the Saintly LifeFriday before Whitt Sunday
And is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2.
CHRIST is already in the place of peace, which is all in all. He is on the right hand of God. He is hidden in the brightness of the radiance which issues from the everlasting throne. He is in the very abyss of peace, where there is no voice of tumult or distress, but a deep stillness—stillness, that greatest and most awful of all goods which we can fancy; that most perfect of joys, the utter, profound, ineffable tranquillity of the Divine Essence. He has entered into His rest. Oh how great a good will it be if, when this troublesome life is over, we in our turn also enter into that same rest; if the time shall one day come when we shall enter into His tabernacle above, and hide ourselves under the shadow of His wings; if we shall be in the number of those blessed dead who die in the Lord, and rest from their labour! Here we are tossing upon the sea, and the wind is contrary. All through the day we are tried and tempted in various ways. We cannot think, speak, or act, but infirmity and sin are at hand. But in the unseen world,
Above noise and danger, Sweet Peace sits crowned with smiles, And One born in a manger Commands the beauteous files.
He is thy gracious Friend, And (O my soul, awake!) Did in pure love descend To die here for thy sake.
If thou canst get but thither, There grows the flower of peace, The Rose that cannot wither, Thy fortress, and thy ease!