And, reader, there are many who cannot understand many things in God’s world of nature, and they do not want to, for they accept them as matters of faith. But if there is anything in religion they cannot understand, they must needs disbelieve it at once, or else be guilty of seeking to pry into "the deep things of God." Learn, then, this one lesson from these few words on faith; namely, that there are things which Almighty God has purposely hidden from the sons of men, both in the Church and in the world; many things of which it is written, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter[#]." [#] S. John xiii. 7. *THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE.* "Brief life is here our portion; Brief sorrow, short-lived care: The life that knows no ending, The tearless life, is _there_. The morning shall awaken, The shadows shall decay, And each true-hearted servant Shall shine as doth the day." _S. Bernard._ The ancients had a saying, "Whom the gods love, die young." By which, I suppose, they meant that the best men, and those whose lives were of the greatest promise, died in early youth. Whether this is true or not, I cannot pretend to say. Certain it is that many die in early youth, long before we have had a chance of seeing what they were likely to turn out. And indeed the shortness of life is evident to us all. From the child who dies in infancy, to the old man whose grey hairs are brought down to the grave in sorrow, all have experience of the shortness of life. And what is life? What does the Bible say of it? "It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away[#]." "Vanisheth away;" yes, reader, just like the steam which issues from boiling water; just like the mists which cling for a while to the hillsides, before they melt into nothingness, so is life. We see it for awhile, a little while, and then like a morning mist, life vanishes away. [#] S. James iv. 14. Life has often been compared to the sea. At times the sea is ruffled by the winds which pass over its surface; and then again, the wind drops, and the sea is calm and still again. And so is it with life. The winds of passion or of discontent pass over it, and angry temper ruffles the calm of life, and then by degrees the peace of God comes down upon us, and life is once more happy. But true happiness, in life or in death, is only to be found in Jesus. He is the only sure haven of rest, the only hiding-place from the storm, and in Him alone can we find rest until we pass the waves of this troublesome world.