| The Glory of the Common Life |
Chapter 3 |
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Through all the great ages of world building we find evidences of this divine brooding and forethought. Think of all the beauty put into the earth which was to be man’s home, of all the good and useful things stored in nature for man’s comfort, ages before there was a man on the earth. Think, for instance, of the vast beds of coal laid up among earth’s strata, that our homes might be warm and bright in these late centuries. Think of the minerals piled away in the rocks; of electricity stored in exhaustless measures and kept hidden until these modern days, to be of such incalculable service to mankind. Look at the springs of water opened on every hillside; note the provision in every clime and zone for man’s food and raiment. All this marvelous preparation was made ages before man’s creation. It was God sowing seeds of light and gladness, that in due time they might grow and fill the world with good.
Or think of the way Jesus Christ sowed light and gladness for his people in his incarnation. What was he doing in these beautiful years of his, those days of sharp temptation, those hours of suffering? He was sowing seeds of light and gladness, the blessings of whose brightness we are receiving now. Or think of the divine promises as seeds of light, seeds of gladness, sown in the fields of the holy word. Wherever they grow they yield joy and beauty. Deserts are made to blossom as the rose wherever the sower goes forth to sow.
God’s sowing was not all in the past, in forethought. He is sowing light and gladness for us everyday. Every duty given to us is a seed of light, sown for us. We may not see the shining in it as it first presents itself. Many of us do not like duty. We prefer to follow our own inclinations. A good woman, speaking of something someone was urging her to do, and which she was trying to evade, said, “I suppose it must be my duty, I hate it so.” Ofttimes our duties at first seem distasteful, even repulsive. They have no attraction for us. But when we accept them and do them, they are transformed. We then begin to see good in them – blessing to ourselves, help to others. Seeds are sometimes dark and rough as we look at them, but when they are planted there emerges a beautiful tree or a lovely flower. So disagreeable tasks when done appear bright and glad.
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