Hope to the soul, when distracted by the confusions of the world, is as
an anchor to a ship in a dark night, on an unknown coast, and amidst a
boisterous ocean. In danger it gives security;--amidst general
fluctuation it affords one fixed point of rest. It is the most eminent
of all the advantages which religion confers. It is the universal
comforter;--it is the spring of all human activity.
Upon futurity, men are constantly suspended; animated by the prospect of
some distant good, they toil and suffer through the whole course of
life; and it is not so much what they are at present, as what they hope
to be in some after time, that enlivens their motions, fixes their
attention, and stimulates industry.
Was this hope entertained with that full persuasion which Christian
faith demands, it would in truth totally annihilate all human miseries;
it would banish discontent, extinguish grief, and suspend the very
feeling of pain.
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