Love, we are in God’s hand.
How strange, now, looks the life he makes us lead;
So free we see, so fettered fast we are!
I feel he laid the fetter: let it lie! –Browning
But deep within my heart of hearts there hid
Ever the confidence, amends for all,
That heaven repairs what wrong earth’s journey did
When love from lifelong exile comes at call.
Certain ancient mariners were accustomed to say, as they put out to sea, “Keep me, O God, for my boat is so small and the ocean is so great and stormy.” There could not be a fitter prayer for a life – any life – as it sets out on its career. The world is vast and full of perils, and a life, even the greatest, is very small and frail. It has no ability to face the difficulties, the obstacles, the hardships it must face, if it is to pass successfully through life.
Probably one half the children born in this world die as infants. Then of those who get through infancy, how many drop during the early decades that follow? How many of those who reach adult years live vigorous lives and accomplish things worth while, attain success in business, in the professions, in life’s callings? It has been stated, perhaps correctly, that only four or five percent of those who enter business pursuits succeed, while ninety five or ninety six percent fail. The world is large and full of storm and struggle, and only a few get through it safely.
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