THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

Collect. Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

Epistle. 1 St. Peter iii. 8.

Gospel. St. Luke v. 1.

Growth in Peace! This is the chief thought of the day. The Church has so many ways of growing. In strife, in upheaval, in conflict over doctrine, in reform of manner, or what one might call revolution; but to-day we see her in peace; developing in the atmosphere that best suits a growing flower; the members pictured in the Epistle as forming a society, courteous, refined, pure, untroubled, having God in their hearts.

A restful, comforting side of our human life is here portrayed. Like the character of Isaac, set between the supreme faith of Abraham, and the bitter conflicts by which Jacob was made a Prince before God. Isaac the contemplative, the quiet inheritor of his father's trust; living in perfect peace in his tent with his beloved wife, Rebecca, and going forth at eventide to meditate. In his simplicity doubting no one, least of all his wife and son. Blessing as he desired to bless. Doing what was to work out the regeneration of

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the nations, yet in entire ignorance of the great design. A type of quiet godliness, doing the next duty.

We draw aside from the pressing crowds, as our Lord did, and on the bosom of the quiet Lake we listen to our Lord speaking peace. The rest after storm, the quiet after turmoil, the Port, the Haven and the Ingathering. For the tone of hopefulness and confidence is strong in the Gospel. The pessimism of Peter's reply, "we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing," is brightened immediately by that beautiful "nevertheless." Blessed recorded word for those who Istrive to be "fishers of men"! The consolation of many a wakeful night, of many a despairing hour to those who labour to serve the Master through their fellow men.

The source of this harmony and peace we find in the ordering of all things by God's governance. If we are conscious of God's governance; if we place ourselves in accord with the one perfect Will, life is made full of music, not of noise; dull prose is not allowed to prevail over beautiful rhythm; noble feelings, aspiring thoughts set themselves in loving actions. That exquisite grace, the art of living, is accomplished in us. Not without practice, though; as in any other art, proficiency only comes from practice. St. Peter, in the Epistle, gives us what might be called the "exercises" of this noble art.

This is living a life of true sanity. Not the distorted estimate of Macbeth, fevered by mortal

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sins; likening life to "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"; but, sanctifying the Lord God in our hearts, we are given to recognize much of the governance of God in the world, and to trust Him utterly where we cannot see.

THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

Collect. O God, who hast prepared for those who love

Thee such good things as pass man's understanding; pour into our hearts such love towards Thee, that we, loving Thee above all things, may obtain Thy promises which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

Epistle. Rom. vi. 3.

Gospel. St. Matt. v. 20.

This is the Sunday of Love: the love which leads us into union with Christ, who is the impersonation of the Father's love, in whom we are baptized-into His death to sin, into His resurrection to righteousness. That righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, our Lord says; it must not consist in the negative avoidance of evil, in the timidity and dread of slaves, or of the utilitarian who only seeks to avoid the consequences of sin. The motive by which we reject sin and desire righteousness must always be a positive one, not a utilitarian one. In the temptation in the garden what was a trial of love and trust the Evil One said should be a matter of selfish gain and experience. "Try it, and then you will know !" Alas for this careless system of morality, repeated in every form of ethics since the beginning! It

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is the typical temptation. Obey your father because you see it is good for you; he is a sensible man, he holds the purse, you will be better off— instead of the primal instinct, reverence, love, obey. Self-will, passion and appetite are too strong, and bias the mind too much for us to be clear in our judgments. But "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." About them there must be no debate. be a question of happiness or unhappiness, benefit or loss, but of the will of God. quences make a thing right or wrong. It is the will of God; written on the conscience, then on tables of stone, then on the life of Christ, who came "to do Thy Will, O God."

It cannot

No conse

The infinite worth of this faith in a personal God, and desire towards His will, becomes more evident as we get near those who have it not. Such insolvable problems confront them! For this faith in an unseen power, love, and redeeming grace has been worked into the very fibre of humanity. The agnostics vainly struggle to get out of it. It waylays them, as it were, for the ages are against them.

In each age the sense of God-the great I Am -has been felt; and through the Jewish culture He became the close friend and protector; finally revealed as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This evolution in the spirit world seems so luminous to me; but what force has it to one who conceives all spiritual phenomena to be the result of material organization?