It is a proverbial saying, that every one makes his own destiny; and this is usually interpreted, that every one, by his wise or unwise conduct, prepares good or evil for himself: but we may also understand it, that whatever it be that he receives from the hand of Providence, he may so accommodate himself to it, that he will find his lot good for him, however much may seem to others to be wanting. WM. VON HUMBOLDT. Evil, once manfully fronted, ceases to be evil; there is generous battle-hope in place of dead, passive misery; the evil itself has become a kind of good. T. CARLYLE. May 12 _Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer:... ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life_.--REV. ii. 10. Then, O my soul, be ne'er afraid, On Him who thee and all things made Do thou all calmly rest; Whate'er may come, where'er we go, Our Father in the heavens must know In all things what is best. PAUL FLEMMING. Guide me, O Lord, in all the changes and varieties of the world; that in all things that shall happen, I may have an evenness and tranquillity of spirit; that my soul may be wholly resigned to Thy divinest will and pleasure, never murmuring at Thy gentle chastisements and fatherly correction. Amen. JEREMY TAYLOR. Thou art never at any time nearer to God than when under tribulation; which He permits for the purification and beautifying of thy soul. M. DE MOLINOS. Prize inward exercises, griefs, and troubles; and let faith and patience have their perfect work in them. I. PENINGTON. May 13 _I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil_.--JOHN xvii. 15. In busy mart and crowded street, No less than in the still retreat, Thou, Lord, art near, our souls to bless, With all a Father's tenderness. I. WILLIAMS. Only the individual conscience, and He who is greater than the conscience, can tell where worldliness prevails. Each heart must answer for itself, and at its own risk. That our souls are committed to our own keeping, at our own peril, in a world so mixed as this, is the last reason we should slumber over the charge, or betray the trust. If only that outlet to the Infinite is kept open, the inner bond with eternal life preserved, while not one movement of this world's business is interfered with, nor one pulse-beat of its happiness repressed, with all natural associations dear and cherished, with all human sympathies fresh and warm, we shall yet be near to the kingdom of heaven, within the order of the Kosmos of God--in the world, but not of the world--not taken out of it, but kept from its evil. J. H. THOM. May 14 _And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God_?--MICAH vi. 8. _Put on therefore... kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering_.--COL. iii. 12.