Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
And just so, again, with that same thirst after truth. That, too,
can only be satisfied by God, and in God. Not by the reading of
books, however true; not by listening to sermons, however clever;
can we see light: but only in the light of God. Know God. Know
that he is justice itself, order itself, love itself, patience
itself, pity itself. In the light of that, all things will become
light and bright to thee. Matters which seemed to have nothing to
do with God, the thought of God will explain to thee, if thou
thinkest aright concerning God; and the true knowledge of him will
be the key to all other true knowledge in heaven and earth. For the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and a good
understanding have all they that do thereafter. Must it not be so?
How can it be otherwise? For in God all live and move and have
their being; and all things which he has made are rays from off his
glory, and patterns of his perfect mind. As the Maker is, so is his
work; if, therefore, thou wouldest judge rightly of the work,
acquaint thyself with the Maker of it, and know first, and know for
ever, that his name is Love.
Thus, sooner or later, in God the Father's good time, will thy
thirst for truth be satisfied, and thou shalt see the light of God.
He may keep thee long waiting for full truth. He may send thee by
strange and crooked paths. He may exercise and strain thy reason by
doubts, mistakes, and failures; but sooner or later, if thou dost
not faint and grow weary, he will show to thee the thing which thou
knewest not; for he is thy Father, and wills that all his children,
each according to their powers, should share not only in his
goodness, but in his wisdom also.
Do any of you say, 'These are words too deep for us; they are for
learned people, clever, great saints?' I think not.
I have seen poor people, ignorant people, sick people, poor old
souls on parish pay, satisfied with the plenteousness of God's
house, and drinking so freely of God's pleasure, that they knew no
thirst, fretted not, never were discontented. All vain longings
after this and that were gone from their hearts. They had very
little; but it seemed to be enough. They had nothing indeed, which
we could call pleasure in this world; but somehow what they had
satisfied them, because it came from God. They had a hidden
pleasure, joy, content, and peace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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