Religious Studies, Sketches and PoemsStowe, Harriet Beecher
Religion
Religious Studies, Sketches and Poems
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Religion
We know of but one safe rule: read the life of Jesus with
attention--study it--inquire earnestly with yourself, "What sort of
a person, in thought, in feeling, in action, was my Saviour?"--live
in constant sympathy and communion with him--and there will be
within a kind of instinctive rule by which to try all things. A
young man, who was to be exposed to the temptations of one of the
most dissipated European capitals, carried with him his father's
picture, and hung it in his apartment. Before going out to any of
the numerous resorts of the city, he was accustomed to contemplate
this picture, and say to himself, "Would my father wish to see me
in the place to which I am going?" and thus was he saved from many
a temptation. In like manner the Christian, who has always by his
side the beautiful ideal of his Saviour, finds it a holy charm,
by which he is gently restrained from all that is unsuitable to
his profession. He has but to inquire of any scene or employment,
"Should I be well pleased to meet my Saviour there? Would the trains
of thought I should there fall into, the state of mind that would
there be induced, be such as would harmonize with an interview with
him?" Thus protected and defended, social enjoyment might be like
that of Mary and John, and the disciples, when, under the mild,
approving eye of the Son of God, they shared the festivities of
Cana.
A SCENE IN JERUSALEM
It is now nearly noon, the busiest and most bustling hour of the
day; yet the streets of the Holy City seem deserted and silent
as the grave. The artisan has left his bench, the merchant his
merchandise; the throngs of returned wanderers which this great
national festival has brought up from every land of the earth, and
which have been for the last week carrying life and motion through
every street, seem suddenly to have disappeared. Here and there
solitary footfalls, like the last pattering rain-drops after a
shower, awaken the echoes of the streets; and here and there some
lonely woman looks from the housetop with anxious and agitated face,
as if she would discern something in the far distance.
Alone, or almost alone, the few remaining priests move like
white-winged, solitary birds over the gorgeous pavements of the
temple, and as they mechanically conduct the ministrations of the
day, cast significant glances on each other, and pause here and
there to converse in anxious whispers.
Ah, there is one voice which they have often heard beneath those
arches--a voice which ever bore in it a mysterious and thrilling
charm--which they know will be hushed to-day. Chief priest, scribe,
and doctor have all gone out in the death procession after him; and
these few remaining ones, far from the excitement of the crowd, and
busied in calm and sacred duties, find voices of anxious questioning
rising from the depths of their own souls, "What if this indeed were
the Christ?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account