Compassion

"JUDGE NOT," the heavenly Teacher says,
Judge not, your erring brother's ways;
It is the great, omniscient part
Of God alone, to know the heart.

'Tis God alone the trial knows
Of Him, in error's paths who goes;
The secret, hidden tempting power,
Which ruled him in the dangerous hour.

And since the wicked deed was done,
'Tis  known to God, and God alone;
What bitter sighs, what scalding tears,
Have rued that deed of other years.

 

Though Priest and Levite pass him by,
Oh, let him have Thy pitying eye;
Thy tender look, Thy heart-felt prayer,
A brother's love, a sister's care.

— Christ in the Soul (1872), XXI.

Cheerfulness

The bird is happy all the day,
The morning hears his early songs;
The love, that breathes the morning lay;
To evening's shade the note prolongs.
Never weary, never fearful,
Always singing, always cheerful.

Is  man less happy than a bird?
Has he less power his song to raise?
Why, then, so seldom is he heard
In the glad notes of joy and praise?
Often weary, often fearful,
Seldom singing, seldom cheerful.

Oh, be a, bird, a cheerful bird;
Thy love like his, as pure and free;
Till all the earth and air is stirred
With notes of joy and liberty.
Never weary, never fearful,
Always singing, always cheerful.

— Christ in the Soul (1872) XX.

The Union of Holy Souls in Love

When the soul, divested of selfishness, is born into the state of pure love, it is then regenerated into the image of God. The two existences, the human and the divine, are alike, with the exception that one is created, the other uncreated; one is the copy, the other the original. In connection with a mutual likeness of nature, there cannot fail to be a mutual tendency to union. So that God, and the child of God are drawn towards each other, and are united and absorbed, as it were,  the less in the greater, not only by the law of filiation, but by the law of attraction involved in the fact of mutual resemblance. 

There is nothing arbitrary or accidental in God's moral kingdom; nothing which violates responsibility and truth.  Everything, in being established in the truth, is established in the wisdom of permanent law or nature; and nothing exists or is done by unreasonable will or by unmeaning chance. The love of union, which draws together and makes kindred spirits into one, has its nature. It loves existences, because it desires to make them good; it both loves them and unites with them when they are made good. It has its nature; it has its triumphs also. It is triumphant, both because it conquers by the might of its attractive power, and also because it is happy. The union of souls... cannot fail to constitute the highest happiness. They do not love in order to be happy; but they are happy because they love. The union of holy souls in love is the nuptials of the spirit. Their happiness is as bright and as pure as the love from which it flows. Extracted from the exhaustless mine which constitutes God's happiness, it ls indeed the pearl of great price; the gem which illustrates the walls of the New Jerusalem.

Thus among holy beings there is one great circle of relationship. Love alone, in its mighty power, works out the problem of universal harmony. The fact of holiness, which is but another name for pure or holy love, constitutes a bond of union; reaching all, encircling all, beautifying all. Those in the same rank of being are attracted to each other; and all are attracted to that which is higher in rank; not only loving, but united in love; and united each in his place and order, on the combined principle of extent of being and perfection of character. So that the result is — God in all, and all in God; the Father in Christ, and Christ in those who are begotten of him; mutually bound together and living in each other; no more separated in fact, and no more capable of being separated from each other than the rays of the light are separated or capable of being separated from the natural sun.

— A Treatise on Divine Union (1851) Part 4, Chapter 5.

Living by Emotion or Faith?

There are two classes of Christians; those who live chiefly by emotion, and those who live chiefly by faith. The first class, those who live chiefly by emotion, remind one of ships, that move by the outward impulse of winds operating upon sails. They are often at a dead calm, often out of their course, and sometimes driven back. And it is only when the winds are fair and powerful that they move onward with rapidity. The other class, those who live chiefly by faith, remind one of the magnificent steamers which cross the Atlantic, which are moved by an interior and permanent principle; and which, setting at defiance all ordinary obstacles, advance steadily and swiftly to their destination, through calm and storm, through cloud and sunshine.

— Religious Maxims (1846), LXXIX.

A False Estimate of Human Knowledge

When I witness the erroneous estimate which men often place on certain kinds of human knowledge, I am reminded of one of the remarkable sayings which abound in the practical writings of St. Augustine. "Unhappy is he who knows everything else, and does not know God. Happy is he who knows God, though he should be ignorant of every thing else."

— Religious Maxims (1846), LXXVIII.

Do Not Avenge Yourselves

Some persons seem to be able to trust God in every thing, excepting in one particular. viz: they feel that they must do their own fighting. But what is the language of Scripture? "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." It is said of Christ himself, Matt. xii.19,  HE SHALL NOT STRIVE.

— Religious Maxims (1846), LXXVII.

In the Sight of God

Men bestow honor upon one another. Sometimes they build up, sometimes they pull down. But human opinions cannot alter the reality of things, by making it greater or less than it is. Every man is truly such and such only AS HE IS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.

— Religious Maxims (1846), LXXVI.