Gems Written at the Age of 14

The Hidden Life

Gleanings from the journal of Whitmore Winslow

written at the age of 14.

His journal, which was previously unknown to his family,

was found among his papers after his unexpected death,

at the age of 21. He died in 1856, and was the son of

Octavius Winslow.

How frail the thread!

How short is time, and what a small portion

is allotted to man to prepare for another world!

And yet how careless is he of that time!

How frail the thread upon which life hangs!

A few hours' illness may carry him away into

a world of endless happiness or of endless woe!

What a vain world it is!

What a fallen creature is man!

Day by day calls forth more hidden depravity

of his heart; and yet his whole affections are

set upon the very object which is fostering

and encouraging that depravity.

His great ambition is to win the approbation

of the world; a world that slew the King of kings;

a world full of sin and sorrow, the medium by

which Satan endeavors to blind the eyes of the

children of men.

And yet, after all, what a vain world it is!

It promises much, but realizes nothing.

The more we expect pleasure, the more are we

disappointed in it.

Oh, what would man be, if instead of seeking

the friendship and the love of a dying world, he

would seek that of Jehovah!

And yet how prone are we to lament when we

are frowned upon by the world. If we did not

seek its smiles, we would not mind its frowns.

But the more we are delighted at the world's

praise, the more are we discomforted and made

unhappy by its disapprobation.

But take the world as a whole; what is it?

A speck in the universe; a ball floating in

the air, surrounded by other worlds greater

and more magnificent than itself.

Shall we love the world which hated and scorned,

and ultimately slew our loved Redeemer?

That ever promising, yet ever deceiving world?

How little have appearances to do with realities!

The outward show has often the effect of deceiving.

Deceit is, indeed, one of the prominent features

in man; he deceives others, he deceives himself.

The world is truly a false world. And does it not

show the depravity of man's heart when after tasting

its bitters, feeling its pains, and experiencing its

disappointments and sorrows, he should still cling

to that ever promising, yet ever deceiving world?

Changeable!

What a changeable world is this, and what

changeable creatures are we! But what a

glorious thought that there is a Being who

changes not!

We chase it like a bubble in the air!

What could the Christian do in a poor world

like this if he had not Christ for his Friend?

Truly is he often seeking other friends, but

God will make him know, by sad yet blessed

experience, that there is no friend like Jesus;

and that while other friends are fickle and

changeable, He changes not.

Oh that we followed not this poor world as we do!

We chase it like a bubble in the air, and with

all its apparent beauty, it fades into nothing!

But oh, when we taste the preciousness of Jesus,

what a heavenly morsel it is! It raises our drooping

spirits to contemplate the joy that awaits us in

another world, the happiness that is laid up for

us above, the glory that will crown the final end

of our weary pilgrimage through a dying and

unsatisfying world.

Pride eats at the root of all happiness!

Ah! blessed is he to whom God shows his own weakness

and insufficiency to do anything of himself. Deem it not

a curse, but a blessing, when God humbles your pride,

however severe the discipline may be by which He does it.

When He teaches you to lean upon Him alone for support,

thank Him for it.

Pride eats at the root of all happiness; and a proud

spirit God will abase, but the humble spirit He will exalt.

Toilsome journey through this weary world

I had some sweet sights of Jesus by faith, some

feeble glimmerings of the happiness and glory

which we shall realize above. It is only these

glorious feelings that will solace the Christian in

his toilsome journey through this weary world.

Come what may, pleasure or pain, happiness or

woe, life or death, I am in the hands of the Lord

of Creation, the King of kings, and in His keeping

no evil will befall me.

Surrounded with trouble at almost every step?

Today I have been surrounded with trouble at

almost every step. But with all this, I can fly to

Jesus as my never failing Friend, and He can give

me all I need.

A bountiful Savior and a needy sinner just suit

each other!

This precious jewel, where can it be located?

Happiness! Where is it to be found?

This precious jewel, where can it be located?

Is it to be obtained in the world, its pleasures and

delights? No! the Christian will answer it cannot!

Happiness, if there be such a thing in this world,

can only be obtained from Jesus. In His bosom

alone can we find repose.

I am persuaded that the more the believer has

of sanctified sorrow, tribulation, and affliction in

this dying world, the more he will have of happiness

and glory in the blessed realms above.

I feel now as if death would be a welcome messenger

to my soul, to waft me from this sinful world to

Canaan's joyful shore. Ah! it is a blessed thing to

be able to meet death with a beaming countenance

and a gladsome heart.

There have been times when amid pleasure and

enjoyment I have loathed the very thought of death.

But when God afflicts a man, then he feels the vanity

and deceitfulness of the world; and if he is a believer

in the Lord Jesus Christ, he will long to see his Redeemer,

and be with Him in the abodes of happiness and light

throughout an endless eternity!

I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all,

But Jesus Christ is my all in all.

All the troubles and afflictions of His people

How gracious has the Lord been to me today! His

promises, they never fail. They have been indeed

my chief support.

Oh, to have a simple trust in the Savior! He will not

betray your confidence. He is a faithful and just God,

merciful and gracious, and ever ready to lend an ear

to all the troubles and afflictions of His people.

Open all your heart to Jesus, and He will open the

fountain of His mercy to you.

Afflictions come from God!

How soon can God change a man's circumstances!

He is elevated today, and is cast down tomorrow.

So it is, and so it will be in this changeful world,

until we arrive at a better and brighter one, where

there will be no sin, and consequently no sorrow.

But oh, we should remember, that afflictions come

from God! When a Christian neglects prayer, for

instance, God places him, perhaps, in a situation

of great trial, and he is driven to pray.

Or, when a man's affections are set upon the world,

God makes that world his greatest enemy (and I feel

it to be mine), and he is compelled to make Christ

his Friend.

Oh, may every afflicted saint of God profit by the

trials which God shall see fit to lay upon him! But

even in judgment, our heavenly Father will remember

mercy.

If the world satisfies you?

No being knows the trials I have undergone the past

week, but Jesus. And as He only knows, so He only

can help me through.

I have felt such a willingness to die! a feeling that

death would be no dreadful thing to me, having a

wish to leave this more dreadful world. But painful,

yet no less blessed trial has done it all.

And oh, may I be able from my heart to thank God

for having made the world my enemy, and Christ

my Friend!

But mark this: if the world does not suit you, you

will be sure to have a welcome in heaven. But if the

world satisfies you, hell will be the most adapted

to receive you.

While we sojourn in this world

Oh, to realize the happiness in store for us in the

next world! If we more anticipated the blissful future,

we should not so much mind the miserable present.

A few short years will bring the Christian to the end of

his pilgrimage, and to the beginning of his eternal rest!

But, oh, let us never forget that while we sojourn in

this world we have a never failing Friend to whom we

can take all our trials and sorrows!

God is our guide

Oh, that we did but realize that we are the Lord's

and the Lord is ours! No harm can befall us which

is not for our benefit.

And were it not for the corruption within, and

our guilty consciences, no evil from without

could materially affect us.

But may we remember that God is our guide

through life, and will be unto death.

Decay is inscribed on earth's fairest flower!

January, 1851. We have entered upon another year,

which, like the preceding ones, will flit quickly by.

Solemn thought!

We also shall soon pass away, and the place

where we dwelt and lived will know us no more.

The ravages of time, written in letters too

deeply engraved to be erased, are stamped

upon everything mortal.

Decay is inscribed on earth's fairest flower!

Oh, how solemn is the reflection! Our short period

of existence here on earth should be taken up with

preparation for another and a better world.

And yet poor, blind, fallen man seldom gives the

question a moment's consideration, while his whole

thoughts are absorbed in obtaining that which,

even while he seizes it, crumbles in his grasp.

I feel this with regard to myself; and oh, that I

always may have a keen perception of it! The

least prosperity or participation in happiness, as

the world terms it, sets me mad after chasing

the poor baubles, as if I had never known their

deceitfulness and insufficiency. Does not this

show the fallen nature of man in a glaring light?

'I know the right, and yet the wrong pursue.'

Ah, have you cause to mourn over sin?

Do you see that in you which is hateful to yourself,

and which causes you sorrow? Then thank God for it,

as the most decided proof that He has planted within

you the germs of a being that shall one day burst the

bonds of natural corruption, and with all the beauty

and purity of the God who created it, start forth a

glittering gem, forever to shine in the crown of the

Redeemer.

But what is the sequel?

Truly it becomes a Christian to be always happy.

What reason has he to be otherwise, when every

step of his journey, every incident, however minute,

that occurs in his pilgrimage through life, is ordered

and ordained by his heavenly Father, his loving

Savior, his best Friend?

True it is that he has often more care, more affliction,

than the worldling has; while the worldling prospers in

his way, the believer is often bowed down with care

and trouble, scarcely able to struggle through life.

But what is the sequel?

The ungodly enjoy the pleasures and wealth of this

world, only to realize more bitterly their loss in the

world to come; while the Christian sees the worst

side of this world, and tastes more of its bitters,

only to enhance the happiness of a better world,

where he will enjoy the sweetest bliss.

But even in the deepest afflictions the believer in

Christ has cause to be happy, if he can but realize

the truth that the All seeing Jehovah, who framed

and created out of nothing the vast universe, and

who guides its great machinery, has ordered that

event for his essential good.

Love so undeserved, so great, so free!

Oh, what a loving Father He must be! Ah, yes! that

love so undeserved, so great, so free, gave from

His own loving bosom His only beloved Son a sacrifice

for man, when every heart rankled with hatred to God.

Are there no choice beings who reap the fruits of

their Redeemer's love? Yes! God has a chosen church,

and for them the blood of Jesus was shed, to redeem

them from the curse and to bring them to heaven!

I am utterly helpless!

I have been led to feel that in myself I am utterly

helpless. God has made me to see that all my hard

studying, and all my talents, abilities, and boasted

knowledge, will be of no avail to me in this crisis,

if He withholds His blessing.

I have been led to leave the outcome of it all in

God's hands, and to feel that He will do all for the

best, yes, better than the wisest of us could imagine

or desire. One mightier than all is for me!

When we can trace His loving hand

Brief, but sweet, is my diary of today. Oh, how

savory every morsel when the blessing of God is

upon it! When we can trace His loving hand,

what unequaled happiness does it give!

Oh, to trust Him, though He may seem at the

time to blight our fond hopes; to have a thankful

heart for mercies undeserved!

How has He especially appeared to me today

none but Himself can tell. And to repay it is

out of the power of mortal.

O what changeable and fluctuating creatures!

Man, with all his boasted wisdom, understanding,

and sagacity, seldom learns the necessary lesson

of profiting by the past.

That which at one time made an apparent and

indelible impression upon his mind is now entirely

forgotten, or, if not forgotten, viewed in a careless

and indifferent light.

O what changeable and fluctuating creatures

are the human race! We travel with time in all its

changes and fluctuations; and wherever it tends

and winds its onward course, we often pursue the

same given track, and, unsuspecting and unalarmed,

are led to the brink of a fearful precipice, and are

lost to all eternity!

It is good for a man that he should reflect upon

his own condition: what he is? and where bound?