Seventh Sunday after Whitsun

Deus, cuius providéntia in sui dispositióne non fállitur: te súpplices exorámus; ut nóxia cuncta submóveas, et ómnia nobis profutúra concédas. Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. ℟. Amen.

O God, whoſe never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beſeech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us tho ſe things which be profitable for us, through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord. Amen.

Keynote: The Choice of the Soul

Desire is prayer. When we desire a thing, we are invoking it as far as lies in our power, and a great deal more lies in our power than we realise, though its manifestations are not always seen in the immediate future.

How many souls would dare to pray, "Put away from us all hurtful things and give us those things which be profitable for us," is they thought that their prayer was going to have an immediate answer! Is not our prayer all too often, "O Lord, save us from the consequences of our actions and make the things we like profitable for us"? How many souls are prepared to found their house of life on the rock of truth? How many try to drive piles into the shifting sands of fantasy and evasion in order to secure a firm foundation? Such a pile-driving is an expensive process, and a house erected on insecure foundations is an insecure dwelling at the best of times, and in constant need of repair.

We shall never know security, or freedom, or happiness, or health until we determine that our lives shall be founded upon truth in their every aspect, and that we will fearlessly and without counting the cost, "turn and overturn, till He whose right it is shall reign," for whatever the cost may be, it is less than the price of keeping a house built upon sand in a state of repair.

If we could only dare to pray that great prayer in sincerity how different our lives would be, and how much more we should have to show for them at the final accounting. If we are willing to part with whatever is hurtful to us, however sweet it may be, and to welcome whatever is profitable to us, however hard it is, our house of life will be of sound workmanship, founded on the rock, and will stand fast in the day of tempest, sheltering us and our loved ones in security when "the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall."

The higher life can only be lived in proportion to our courage, honesty, and staying-power. Even though there may be vision, the people will perish without this holy but humble trinity, for they are the hidden foundations of the higher life.