What the sun is to the flower,
Thou to us art every hour;
Like the dew on lily's breast
Fall all blessings from the Best.
Not alone in day would we
Turn our faces, Lord, to Thee,
But through lowering clouds of night
Would reflect Thy radiant light;
Thanking Thee for all Thy care,
May our lives be filled with prayer.
"What an outpouring there was in the silence after this. Such a flood of
reverence and trustfulness filled my heart, and instantly it flashed
upon me that God requires no outward forms or ceremonies of His
children, except they be the spontaneous and involuntary expression of
an overflowing heart.
"Kneeling in prayer was first prompted by reverence and not the servile
form into which it has too much degenerated. A form is only a sign at
best. If there is nothing to prompt the sign, what a mockery it is!
Truly, 'the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life.'
"Exactly how these thoughts came to me I can not tell, but after the
silence I knew by a great and sudden wave of understanding, things that
I had never thought of before, and to attempt to tell them would be like
trying to catch the sunshine. The hint I have tried to give seems very
far from the reality of my experience--but what are words compared to
thoughts, anyway!... My heart is too full. I know now what
'inexpressible' means.
"Good bye, with love to all.
"MARION.
"P. S. I had just finished my letter when Mrs. Dawn and Miss Singleton
came in. They too, had something wonderful in the silence. It seems too
sacred to tell, but to you three who are so earnestly seeking the way of
Truth, I can say what might seem sacrilege to the thoughtless world.
Miss Singleton had realized in those few moments the inexpressible
meaning of the Lord's prayer. 'Why,' she said, 'why, if we could realize
what it means, there would be no more sickness, sin or death. It seemed
to me the very heavens opened, and I looked upon a broad white shining
light like a path, only it was broadened and broadened as I looked, till
it became wide enough to cover the whole earth. This is to be wherever
the kingdom has come upon earth. Wherever the thoughts are heavenly and
pure there the Father is, there heaven, wholeness, health are, and I
could realize that the light is here, but ignorance keeps it veiled, so
that verily the 'light shineth in darkness but the darkness
comprehendeth it not.' Talk of sickness, trouble, sorrow, why, they are
nothing! The _light_ is here, the kingdom of heaven _has_ come, and been
here all the time. Jesus knew it, but he had to use language they could
understand. He knew if they prayed faithfully in that spirit, bye and
bye the spiritual meanings would flash upon them. Oh, how much, how much
it means! I can never lose this, for it means unutterable things, and I
_know_ there is no reality in sickness for I am _well_!'
"Miss Singleton is, or has been troubled for years with heart disease
and a slight curvature of the spine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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