The life of those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High may be called a Hidden Life, because the animating principle, the vital or operative element, is not so much in itself as in another. It is a life grafted into another life. It is the life of the soul, incorporated into the life of Christ; and in such a way, that, while it has a distinct vitality, it has so very much in the sense, in which the branch of a tree may be said to have a distinct vitality from the root.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

The Fire of Love

If thou would'st slay thy wrong desire,
Thy hate and ills of every kind.
Plunge them in LOVE'S consuming fire;
Love is the furnace of the mind.

Whate'er their kind, degree, or name,
The evils, which thy heart enthrall,
It matters not, LOVE'S mighty flame
Shall burn or purify them all.

'Tis true, it costs thee much of pain,
And thou dost seem to suffer loss;
But wisdom bids thee not restrain
The fire, that only burns the dross.

The golden ore, which thou hast cast
In LOVE'S consuming fire and strife,
Fears not the fiercest furnace blast.
But brightens in its flames of life.

Christ in the Soul (1872) LXI.

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