 | Footsteps of the Master |  |
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[For ever more beside us on our way]
“For ever more beside us on our way,The unseen Christ doth move,
That we may lean upon his arm and say,
‘Dost thou, dear Lord, approve?’”
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Christ's Call to Retirement.
“Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest awhile; for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.”—
Mark vi., 31.
'Mid the mad whirl of life, its dim confusion,
Its jarring discords and poor vanity,
Breathing like music over troubled waters,
What gentle voice, O Christian, speaks to thee?
Its jarring discords and poor vanity,
Breathing like music over troubled waters,
What gentle voice, O Christian, speaks to thee?
It is a stranger,—not of earth or earthly;
By the serene deep fullness of that eye,—
By the calm, pitying smile, the gesture lowly,—
It is thy Saviour as he passeth by.
By the serene deep fullness of that eye,—
By the calm, pitying smile, the gesture lowly,—
It is thy Saviour as he passeth by.
“Come, come,” he saith, “O soul oppressed and weary,
Come to the shadows of my desert rest;
Come walk with me far from life's babbling discords,
And peace shall breathe like music in thy breast.
Come to the shadows of my desert rest;
Come walk with me far from life's babbling discords,
And peace shall breathe like music in thy breast.
“Art thou bewildered by contesting voices,—
Sick to thy soul of party noise and strife?
Come, leave it all and seek that solitude
Where thou shalt learn of me a purer life.
Sick to thy soul of party noise and strife?
Come, leave it all and seek that solitude
Where thou shalt learn of me a purer life.
“When far behind the world's great tumult dieth,
Thou shalt look back and wonder at its roar;
But its far voice shall seem to thee a dream,
Its power to vex thy holier life be o'er.
Thou shalt look back and wonder at its roar;
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Its power to vex thy holier life be o'er.
“There shalt thou learn the secret of a power,
Mine to bestow, which heals the ills of living;
To overcome by love, to live by prayer,
To conquer man's worst evils by forgiving.”
Mine to bestow, which heals the ills of living;
To overcome by love, to live by prayer,
To conquer man's worst evils by forgiving.”
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Bearing the Cross.
“They laid hold upon one Simon a Cyrenian, and on him they laid the cross,
that he might bear it after Jesus.”
Along the dusty thoroughfare of life,
Upon his daily errands walking free,
Came a brave, honest man, untouched by pain,
Unchilled by sight or thought of misery.
Upon his daily errands walking free,
Came a brave, honest man, untouched by pain,
Unchilled by sight or thought of misery.
But lo! a crowd:—he stops,—with curious eye
A fainting form all pressed to earth he sees;
The hard, rough burden of the bitter cross
Hath bowed the drooping head and feeble knees.
A fainting form all pressed to earth he sees;
The hard, rough burden of the bitter cross
Hath bowed the drooping head and feeble knees.
Ho! lay the cross upon yon stranger there,
For he hath breadth of chest and strength of limb.
Straight it is done; and, heavy laden thus
With Jesus' cross, the turns and follows Him,
For he hath breadth of chest and strength of limb.
Straight it is done; and, heavy laden thus
With Jesus' cross, the turns and follows Him,
Unmurmuring, patient, cheerful, pitiful,
Prompt with the holy Sufferer to endure,
Forsaking all to follow the dear Lord,—
Thus did he make his glorious calling sure.
Prompt with the holy Sufferer to endure,
Forsaking all to follow the dear Lord,—
Thus did he make his glorious calling sure.
O soul, whoe'er thou art, walking life's way,
As yet from touch of deadly sorrow free,
Learn from this story to forecast the day
When Jesus and His cross shall come to thee.
As yet from touch of deadly sorrow free,
Learn from this story to forecast the day
When Jesus and His cross shall come to thee.
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O, in that fearful, that decisive hour,
Rebel not, shrink not, seek not thence to flee,
But, humbly bending, take thy heavy load,
And bear it after Jesus patiently.
Rebel not, shrink not, seek not thence to flee,
But, humbly bending, take thy heavy load,
And bear it after Jesus patiently.
His cross is thine. If thou and He be one,
Some portion of His pain must still be thine;
Thus only mayst thou share His glorious crown,
And reign with Him in majesty divine.
Some portion of His pain must still be thine;
Thus only mayst thou share His glorious crown,
And reign with Him in majesty divine.
Master in sorrow! I accept my share
In the great anguish of life's mystery.
No more, alone, I sink beneath my load,
But bear my cross, O Jesus, after thee.
In the great anguish of life's mystery.
No more, alone, I sink beneath my load,
But bear my cross, O Jesus, after thee.
| Footsteps of the Master | |