(a) By its reference of everything to God--our powers and our
circumstances and our activities.
(b) By its prominence given to Retribution. It speaks not merely of
_vita brevis_--but of _vita brevis_ and an Eternity which grows out of
it.
(c) By its great motive for work--love.
(d) By the freedom It brings from the weight that paralysed.
It takes away sin. Lifting that dreary load from our backs, it makes us
joyful, strong, and agile.
The true view of Christianity is not, as some of its friends, and some
of its foes, mistakenly concur in supposing, that it weakens interest
in, and energy on, the Present, but that it heightens the power of
action. A life plunged in that jar of oxygen will glow with redoubled
brilliance.