So you see how true greatness is within the reach of every one, and within quite easy reach, too. One is not obliged to do a great many things, nor labor many years, nor accomplish what makes a long report with large headings in the newspapers. One has only to take care _how_ the work is done one is called to do--with what spirit one does it. Says the "Imitation of Christ": "We are apt to inquire _how much_ a man has done, but with _how much virtue_ he has done it is not so diligently considered. We ask whether he be strong, rich, beautiful, ingenious, a good writer, good singer, or a good workman; but how poor he is in spirit, how patient and meek, how devout and internal, is what few speak of." Yes, it is not so much the long and splendid record of the work, but the spirit of the working, the pure, unambitious, God-loving intention ruling our labors, that makes them worthy of everlasting memory and meritorious of the renown of a great name, which leaves behind one a memory held in benediction and the history of a life delicious to recall. ------------------- Sermon XCVIII. Idleness. _And they had nothing to eat._ --Gospel of the Sunday. The people who crowded about our Lord had nothing to eat, because out of love of the word of God they had for a time quit their work and their homes. This docility, this constancy argues well for their earnestness in the fulfilment of all their other duties. They were out of food, not through laziness, but because of set purpose they preferred spiritual to temporal nourishment. Hence they merited this extraordinary and unlooked-for manifestation of our Lord's goodness and providence in supplying them with food. {327} We may confidently expect, my brethren, the assistance of God even in temporal want and necessity if our honest endeavors fail. We are not to be over-solicitous; we are not to desire nor strive after an over-abundance of such things. This promise, however, we have: that our Heavenly Father knows our needs, and he will come to our aid. But we have a duty, an obligation to discharge, and that is to work, to earn our bread. Now, this is the point of my sermon: that there are many people--the number seems to be increasing--who have nothing to eat, or who say they have not, and it is their own fault.