If we would think more about arousing our faith than exciting our feelings, would not our visits and our communions be the gainers? And would not the affections of the heart often follow the lead of faith? A few minutes spent in trying to bring home to ourselves that He Who is really present a few yards from where we sit or kneel is the world’s long-promised Messiah, Whose advent kings and prophets desired to see; Whom in His own time all men desired to see and hear; He at Whose feet Mary sat at Bethany, unmindful of all but that Face and that Voice; He Whose words--“Peace be still,” “Thy brother shall rise again,” “Go, and now sin no more”--brought hope and joy to the troubled heart; He Who fell on His Face under the olive trees, crushed to the earth by my sins; Who died with the thought and the love of me in His Heart that Good Friday long ago; Who is to come again in the eastern sky where every eye shall see Him--a few minutes of earnest dwelling on thoughts such as these will rouse in our souls faith and hope and charity, will kindle humility, sorrow, gratitude, desire--for fuel is furnished for the fire. “Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief.” I believe that beneath Your humble veils You are here truly present, O hidden God! I believe the day draws near when You will be the hidden God no more; when I shall see You coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty, all nature trembling at Your approach; whilst the elect lift up their heads because their redemption is at hand. O Judge of the living and the dead, in that awful day remember me! Remember me when You come to gather Your own into Your kingdom! Remember, I beseech You, in that second coming, how often I have welcomed You at Your hidden coming, and let my heart welcome and leap up to meet You then. Jesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio, Oro, fiat illud, quod tam sitio, Ut, Te revelata cernens facie, Visu sim beatus Tuae gloriae. O Jesu, Whom by faith I now descry Shrouded from mortal eye; When wilt Thou slake the thirsting of my heart To see Thee as Thou art, Face unto face in all Thy glad array, ’Tranced with the glory of that everlasting day. --G. T. [45] Luke xviii. [46] _Ibid._ xxiv. XII. AFTER A DEFEAT. Let not this thing discourage thee, for various is the event of war.--2 _Kings_ xi. 25. The cheery words You have for me, O Lord and Leader, when downcast and troubled I come to tell You of another reverse to our arms! Truly Your ways are not our ways. With us results are everything. A general may do his best, take every precaution, be skilful in preparation, and brave in action. Yet repeated mishaps will beget mistrust, and he will find himself superseded in command. It must be so. But it is not Your way with us.