In order to achieve any success the heart must be in the work, and from this center of our being all true Christian culture must begin. Every one can make his own destiny, and “Taught by time the heart has learned to glow For others good, and melt at other’s woe.” It is good to indulge the habit of looking out of ourselves, to study the ways and needs of others, and to keep the heart busy with things about us—the trifles, as they are considered, which are apt to be overlooked or made light of. For there is great danger that the small philanthropies and courtesies of life will be neglected because of the large schemes that are so absorbing. This kind of outlook requires, of course, a certain amount of _insight_, or intuition, without which we can not bring ourselves into sympathetic relations, or prove ourselves the friend of humanity. Our home, the place where we spend the most of our time, should be the field in which to exercise our best gifts, wherein we both sow and reap, and which is left to us to brighten and beautify, or to darken and disgrace. The heart renewed by grace is zealous of good works, fond of home, and anxious to do its full duty therein. It has a word of cheer for those who are cast down; it comforts the sick; speaks tenderly to those in trouble; has patience with the erring; seeks out ways of interesting the young; is mindful of the aged, and helpful to everybody. “A heart at leisure from itself, To soothe and sympathize,” need never want for an opportunity; and it is often the small attentions, the unconsidered trifles, that are most highly valued. The heart that begins its labors in too wide a sphere will find it hard to concentrate its interests, while a more gradual expansion will result in more satisfactory work, and the strengthening of the magnetic current, for on our personal magnetism depends, to a great extent, our influence on those with whom we associate. What responsibilities rest upon fathers and mothers, on sisters and brothers! How much good and how much evil they can do in their special fields of operation! That son needs a little wholesome correction from the father, a few kind words may be all that is requisite, but the father is busy about other affairs, his heart is interested in things outside of his family, and the boy slips downward for want of a restraining hand. That girl would have turned out, oh! so differently, if she had only had the right kind of a mother. Some boys and girls are not fit to be left to themselves. They seem to be born without any inward monitor, or strong moral sense. The germ may be there, but it has never been properly cultivated. At a school examination the question was put, “What is conscience?” But one pupil could give the definition, “An inward monitor.”