"Instead of complaining, therefore, be content that the weddings and burials of the wealthy should be made to provide for these requisites. Moreover, brethren, let us lift up our souls and look beyond the present life. Thank God, we are not destined to spend all our existence on earth. You know full well that this life is not all our life. There is another to follow, where all the inequalities which we see here will be perfectly adjusted, and when every one shall receive according to his works and not according to his good fortune. Why, then, attach so much importance to these matters? Surely you do not think that God troubles Himself about them; that He counts the number of tapers, or carpets, or chairs? ... God looks to see whether a man has been upright and honest, faithfully discharging his duties as a citizen and a Christian. Be all that, my brethren, and He will not fail to give you a blissful abode in heaven; which will be far better than the most magnificent place in the church, either at your wedding or your funeral." {222} Chapter VIII. Interest, Emotion, and Animation. We should endeavor to excite Interest by Thoughts, by Sallies or Epigrams, by Studies of Men and Manners. The Truth should be animated. The Père Ravignan. The Père Lacordaire. The Heart is too often absent. We remarked in a former chapter that the preaching of the Divine word, especially on Sundays, should be to the people, wearied with the toil and cares of the week, a rest, a joy; or, as the Scripture says, a refreshment. ... It should be to them what a spring of water surrounded with verdure is to our soldiers worn out with marching, and scorched by the sun and burning sands of Africa. Under its breath, the souls of men should dilate, blossom, as it were, and feel less unhappy; for is not the Gospel glad tidings? Was it not proclaimed at the Nativity of Christ:--"I bring you glad tidings of great joy?" {223} Christian pulpit instruction should be a sort of paternal intercourse enlivened with faith and charity--a family meeting where the different members come to talk over their labors and their trials, their fears and their hopes, and the bounty of that Father who is in Heaven, in such a way that each may go away benefited and less unhappy, saying within himself:--"I feel all the better now. The words of the preacher have cheered me. Why did he not speak a little longer? While he spoke, my soul was on fire."--"Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way?"