Edward Collins Downing bids us to wait through earth’s night for the
coming day of God’s accomplishments:
To those who sit and watch at night
And look to God alone for strength,
There will arise, I know, at length,
A foregleam of eternal light.
The morning does not hesitate;
The glory of its hour is fixt,
Tho sorrow has been strangely mixt
In all our lives, there is no fate
That can retard the coming day.
Be patient. In His perfect time
God’s purpose will unfold, sublime,
And light and joy shall have their way.(Text.)
(2314)
* * * * *
Lady Henry Somerset has told how her attention was first called to the
work of relieving the sufferings of poor city children.
“I was moved in that direction by the rare patience and
imagination of one little boy. His example convinced me that
patience was one of the qualities I needed most, and in seeking
it I grew into that work. I was in a hospital on visiting day
while the doctors were changing a plaster-cast which held the
crippled boy’s limb. The operation was exceedingly painful, I
was told. To my surprize the little sufferer neither stirred nor
winced, but made a curious buzzing sound with his mouth. After
the doctors left him, I said:
“‘How could you possibly stand it?’
“‘That’s nothin’,’ he answered; ‘why, I just made believe that a
bee was stingin’ me. Bees don’t hurt very much, you know. And I
kept buzzin’ because I was afraid I’d forget about its being a
bee if I didn’t.’”
(2315)
* * * * *
When the quality most needed in a prime minister, who
should be fully master of the situation, was the subject of
conversation in the presence of Mr. Pitt, one of the speakers
said it was eloquence, another said it was knowledge, a third
said it was toil. “No,” said Pitt, “it is patience.” And
patience is undoubtedly a prime quality of mastery in any
situation.--JAMES T. FIELDS.
(2316)
See WAIT AND SEE; WAITING.
=Patriot, Acting the Part of a=--See PRETENSE.