'Tis not enough to save our souls, To shun the eternal fires; The thought of God will rouse the heart To more sublime desires. God only is the creature's home, Though rough and strait the road; Yet nothing less can satisfy The love that longs for God. Oh, utter but the name of God Down in your heart of hearts, And see how from the world at once All tempting light departs. A trusting heart, a yearning eye Can win their way above; If mountains can be moved by faith Is there less power in love? How little of that road, my soul, How little hast thou gone! Take heart, and let the thought of God Allure thee further on. Dole not thy duties out to God, But let thy hand be free; Look long at Jesus; his sweet blood-- How was it dealt to thee? The perfect way is hard to flesh; It is not hard to love; If thou wert sick for want of God How swiftly wouldst thou move. Be docile to thine unseen Guide; Love him as he loves thee; Time and obedience are enough, And thou a saint shalt be. --Frederick William Faber. Thou broadenest out with every year Each breadth of life to meet; I scarce can think thou art the same, Thou art so much more sweet. With gentle swiftness lead me on, Dear God, to see thy face; And meanwhile in my narrow heart O make thyself more space! --Frederick William Faber. LONGING Of all the myriad moods of mind That through the soul come thronging, Which one was e'er so dear, so kind, So beautiful, as Longing? The thing we long for, _that_ we are For one transcendent moment, Before the Present poor and bare Can make its sneering comment. Still, through our paltry stir and strife, Glows down the wished ideal, And longing molds in clay what life Carves on the marble real; To let the new life in, we know, Desire must ope the portal; Perhaps the longing to be so Helps make the soul immortal. Longing is God's fresh heavenward will With our poor earthward striving; We quench it that we may be still Content with merely living; But, would we learn that heart's full scope Which we are hourly wronging, Our lives must climb from hope to hope, And realize our longing. Ah! let us hope that to our praise Good God not only reckons The moments when we tread his ways, But when the spirit beckons; That some slight good is also wrought, Beyond self-satisfaction, When we are simply good in thought Howe'er we fail in action. --James Russell Lowell. MORE HOLINESS