The temple : a book of prayers

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THE TEMPLE

THE TEMPLE

A BOOK OF PRAYERS

BY THE REV.

W. E. ORCHARD, D.D.

NEW YORK

E. P. DUTTON & CO,

68 1 FIFTH AVENUE

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9i2S76A'

ASTOR, LENOX AND

TILDttN FOUNDATIONS

^ 1937 I^

Copyright 1918 bt
R. P. DUTTON & COMPANY

All rights reserved

Third Edition

Pnrted in the United States of America

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DEDICATED

TO ALL THOSE

WHO^ WEARY OF FRUITLESS QUEST

AND ENDLESS ARGUMENT^

ARE WILLING TO TRY

THE WAY OF PRAYER

FOREWORD

COME account of the origin of the prayers
^ which compose this book may prove interest-
ing to the reader and is perhaps necessary in
order to prevent their improper use. Although
they were mostly composed for use in congrega-
tional worship, the writer ventures to hope that
they will not be used liturgically, and he does not
recommend them as a model for public prayer.
They were first of all written to serve the needs
of a congregation which gathered on Sunday
evenings to an ordinary Church Service, but
which was composed very largely of those who
had either lost faith in orthodox Christianity or
were beginning to enquire their way into religion.
The writer tried to put himself vicariously in the
position of these people, and then to set his face
Godward on their behalf. These prayers are
gathered together mainly in the earlier part of the
book, particularly in the sections called, "The
Outer Gate," and "The Evening Sacrifice." The
prayers in the later sections were mostly used at
Morning Service, when the congregation was of
a more confessedly definite Christian type.

It might also be explained that, although the
prayers were written out carefully beforehand,
they were not read in the Service, nor w^as any

vu

viii FOREWORD

attempt made to commit them to memory. They
were written out rather to prepare the writer's
own mind and spirit. They were afterw^ards
corrected by the memory of their actual utter-
ance and other ideas which found expression
through the inspiration of the time were in-
cluded. The intensely personal character of
many of the prayers may surprise those who have
made a study of what are called 'Tulpit Prayers,"
but it ought to be stated that the Service in
which they were used included liturgical prayers
of the traditional type, which embraced more
general needs. It is the conviction of the writer
that public prayer ought to be either liturgical
or personal, and that what is suitable for one
type would be unsuitable for the other; every
adequate service of prayer should contain both.

These prayers have now been gathered together
to meet the needs of private devotion, in the hope
that their somewhat unusual form may make
them more attractive than books of prayer often
are, and thereby the mere reading of them may
set some unaccustomed feet upon the path of
prayer. They are therefore recommended rather
as meditative preparations for private prayer with
the idea that they may stir the soul to adven-
ture for itself upon this greatest of all unexplored
territories. The plural form appropriate to
common worship has been deliberately retained,
in order to remind the novice that he does not
set out upon this path alone, but in company with

FOREWORD ix

a great number, living and dead; and also as an
acknowledgment that whatever inspiration these
prayers may contain is derived from that mystical
and Interpenetratlon contact of souls which the
effort to lead a congregation In prayer sometimes
establishes.

The writer would offer these prayers as the
best contribution he can make towards the solu-
tion, not only of the problem of prayer, but of
the general problem of personal religion. One
can argue about prayer and religion indefinitely,
to very little effect; and although the writer is
convinced that prayer is the highest exercise of
the rational mind and religion is the very basis
of all thought; yet it is impossible to give a full
rational account of religion before one has awak-
ened to the needs of one's own soul. And prayer
is the very essence of religion; and the only way
to solve the problem of prayer is by learning to
pray.

To those who have yet to take the initial steps
in the way of prayer, it may perhaps be permitted
to make one or two recommendations; for it is
the earnest hope of the writer that this book will
find its way outside the circle of those who need
no such instruction.

Preparation for prayer is almost more Import-
ant than prayer Itself. That preparation ought
to include some effort to compose the mind by
bringing it to silence. This need not be of any
great duration, but it ought to be attained before

FOREWORD

one goes any further. Some people find this very
difficult to accomplish; the modern mind can do
anything but be still. They are not helped by
the advice of pseudo-mysticism which recom-
mends concentration without providing anything
on which to concentrate. But it offers what is
sound enough advice when it recommends certain
devices such as mental listening to the tick-
ing of a clock for a few seconds, or counting
one's breathing, though there is nothing myster-
ious or mystic about such practices; they simply
suffice to engage the attention of certain areas of
mental activity and thus leave others free for
their higher functions.

Let there follow this first silence some familiar
ascription, such as: ''Glory be to God on high,"
or "Holy, Holy, Holy." If the spirit takes fire
at this let it have its way. It not, then have
ready to hand some prayers of the great masters.
Then let there be silence again to see if the soul
will stir on its own account; only this time the
silence needs to be longer. If words now come,
let them have free course, and let the prayer be
audible. This audible prayer may pass into a
still higher silence; either the dumb stretching
out towards God, or the actual contemplation of
His glory in which every faculty is held awed
and adoring. There is therefore a threefold
silence possible in the upward movement of
prayer. The silence which comes when the soul
issues the command to every other faculty, "Be

FOREWORD XI

still"; the silence which may be described as
''waiting on God," which is indeed the actual
Hebrew for that expression; and the silence
which God imposes, when there is with Him all
the giving and with us nothing but the receiving.
It must be understood, however, that this is an
analysis of what happens rather than a prescrip-
tion of what ought consciously to be followed.

Many will find that to have a special place set
apart for prayer is a great help to devotion. It
may be surrounded with everything that will
keep the mind upon the object sought; and it will
be found that in this direction catholic tradition
has gathered up the richest and longest experience
in the way of prayer. Others may fear or even
despise outward aids; though they should be
warned against any assumption that to do with-
out them is a sign of superior grace.

Perhaps it is also necessary to remind the
uninitiated that the setting apart of regular times
of prayer, however short, is most desirable; and
the value of them is not to be judged by the fact
that these will rarely be the times of greatest
devotion or when the heights of communion are
attained; but they may be preparations for the
great times. In the writer's very limited exper-
ience of these higher reaches of the life of prayer,
he has always found that any great visitation of
God, which has surprised the soul when it was
not consciously seeking, has nevertheless nearly
always followed some more assiduously disci-

xii FOREWORD

plined season of prayer.

It needs to be said again that it is as a prepa-
ration entirely outside this process that these
prayers are put forth. They are best described
as "meditations" ; but if they help anyone further
along the way, even though it means casting this
book aside as no longer of service, then the

writer's purpose is served. ,,. t^ ^

W. E. Orchard,

CONTENTS

FOREWORD . . . i

PAGE

vii

THE OUTER GATE .

I

THE INNER COURT .

. 27

THE EVENING SACRIFICE .

. . 87

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE .

. 107

THE HOLY PLACE .

. 141

Xlll

THE OUTER GATE

The good Lord pardon every one

that setteth his whole heart to seek God,

though he be not cleansed

according to the purification of the sanctuary,

— 2 Chronicles xxx. i8, 19.

THE OUTER GATE

rpTERNAL Father, Quest of ages, long
^-^ sought, oft doubted or forsook; can it be
that Thou art known to us, the Law within our
minds, the Life of every breath we draw, the
Love that yearneth in our hearts? Art Thou
the Spirit who oft hast striven with us, and
whom we greatly feared, lest yielding to His
strong embrace we should become more than we
dared to be?

An impulse toward forgiveness has sometimes
stirred within us, we have felt moved to show
mercy, the sacrificial life has touched our aspira-
tion; but we were unprepared to pay the price.
Was this Thyself, and have we turned from
Thee? Something like this we must have done,
so barren, joyless and so dead has life become.
Canst Thou not visit us again?

We hush our thoughts to silence, we school
our spirits in sincerity, and here we wait. O
may we not feel once more the light upon our
straining eyes, the tides of life rise again within
our waiting hearts?

We never looked to meet Thee in the stress of
thought, the toil of life, or in the call of duty;
we only knew that somehow life had lost for us
all meaning, dignity and beauty. How then
shall we turn back again and see with eyes that
fear has filmed? How can we be born again,
now grown so old in fatal habit?

If we could see this life of ours lived out in

THE TEMPLE

Thee, its common days exalted, Its circumstances
made a throne, its bitterness, disappointment and
failure all redeemed, then our hearts might stir
again, and these trembling hands lay hold on
life for evermore. Amen.

THE OUTER GATE

OGOD, Immortal and Invisible, forgive the
faltering faith of those whose dwelling is
among the mortal and the seen. We have no
sight for unseen things, and we may have missed
Thee at every turn. Every common bush may
flame with fire, but we have no time to turn
aside, and our hardened feet do not apprehend
the holy ground. The heavens may declare Thy
glory, but our eyes are too earthbound to read
their story of infinity and peace. Day unto day
may utter speech, but our ears are deaf with
inward strife, and we hearken not nor under-
stand. We have brooded long on the pain and
anguish of the world, but we can read no
redemption in the cross to which humanity is
nailed; we have looked into the faces of our
fellows, but discern no divine impression there;
we have found little to love in the brother
whom we have seen, how can we hope to love
the God whom we have not seen? And now
the awful fear has crept upon us that we are
blind.

O Lord, that we might receive our sight.
Amen.

THE TEMPLE

OTHOU whom no man hath seen nor can
see, the invisible cause of all that is visible,
the reality beyond all appearance; how can we
who are bound by sensuous things discern
Thee?

The cares of the world, its insensate riches,
its false standards have enslaved our souls, until
the things that are seen have become our all.

Forgive us, O Unseen Spirit, if we have missed
Thee and forgotten Thee. How shall we seek
for Thee for whom our spirits yearn? For the
things we see and feel only wake desires for
something they are not. Shall we fast and pray,
shall we separate ourselves from the world that
is too much with us, shall we seek some quiet
cloister of the soul?

Nay come to us, O Blessed, for we cannot
come to Thee. Come to us in the life that
entangles us, meet us in the common ways
trodden by our busy feet, make Thy highways
through the avenues of sense, clothe Thy glory
in our failing flesh, breathe through the things
that are seen the peace of the unseen and
eternal. Amen.

THE OUTER GATE

r\ GOD, we turn to Thee in the faith that
^^ Thou dost understand and art very merci-
ful. Some of us are not sure concerning Thee;
not sure what Thou art ; not sure that Thou art
at all. Yet there is something at work behind
our minds, in times of stillness we hear it, like
a distant song; there is something in the sky at
evening-time; something in the face of man.
We feel that round our incompleteness flows
Thy greatness, round our restlessness Thy rest.
Yet this is not enough.

We want a heart to speak to, a heart that
understands; a friend to whom we can turn,
a breast on which we may lean. O that we
could find Thee. Yet could we ever think
these things unless Thou hadst inspired us,
could we ever want these things unless Thou
Thyself wert very near?

Some of us know full well; but we are sore
afraid. We dare not yield ourselves to Thee,
for we fear what that might mean. Our foolish
freedom, our feeble pleasures, our fatal self-
indulgence suffice to hold us back from Thee,
though Thou art our very life, and we so sick
and needing Thee. Our freedom has proved
false, our pleasures have long since lost their
zest, our sins, oh how we hate them.

Come and deliver us, for we have lost all
hope in ourselves, Amen.

THE TEMPLE

f~\ FATHER, we turn to Thee because we
^-^ are sore vexed with our own thoughts.
Our minds plague us with questionings we
cannot answer; we are driven to voyage on
strange seas of thought alone. Dost Thou dis-
turb our minds with endless questioning, yet
keep the answers hidden in Thy heart, so that
away from Thee we should always be perplexed,
and by thoughts derived from Thee be ever
drawn to Thee? Surely, our God, it must
be so.

But still more bitter and humbling, O Father,
is our experience of failure, so frequent, tragic
and unpardonable. We have struggled on in
vain, resolves are broken ere they pass our lips;
we can see no hope of better things, we can
never forgive ourselves ; and after all our prayers
our need remains and our sense of coming short
but deepens. Yet, at least we know that we
have failed, and how, if something higher than
ourselves were not at work within?

Our desperate desires have driven us at last to
Thee, conscious now, after all vain effort, that
it is Thyself alone can satisfy, and now at peace
to know that Thou it is who art desired,
because Thou it is who dost desire within us.
Beyond our need reveal Thyself, its cause and
cure; in all desire teach us to discern Thy
drawing near. Amen,

THE OUTER GATE

r\ GOD, Holy above all thought, Holy past
^^ all vision. Holy beyond all bearing; how-
can we ask to look upon Thy face, how could
we stand in Thy presence, how shall we abide
the very thought of Thee? Yet none can
escape Thee, none shut Thee out, none live
apart from Thee. Only our blindness hides
Thee from us, only our dullness passes Thee by,
only our forgetfulness keeps Thee out of mind.
Unheeding we climb the mount where Thy
voice is uttered in thunder and Thy glance
smites like lightning; none of us takes off his
shoes, and none makes haste to veil his face.
At the foot of a sorrowful cross we sit down to
play; we heed no breaking heart, we feel no
drops of blood, we lift our eyes only to mock
and rail. We stand before the judgment seat,
the books are opened, the truth shines clear, an
awful hand divides us on the right and on the
left; yet still we clasp our filthy rags about us,
and make excuses to disguise our sins.

Dare we pray that our eyes should be
opened? Should we not be overwhelmed with
fear, smitten with sorrow, humbled to the
breaking of our hearts?

Yet better far, O God, better far.
Amen.

THE TEMPLE

/^ GOD, who dwellest in light unapproach-
^^ able and full of glory, why dwell we in
darkness and in the shadow of death? The
shadows of night which so quickly veil the
glory of the day are not so heavy as those that
rest upon our hearts. We are here for a
moment, like a bird that flashes from the dark-
ness, through the light, back to darkness once
again. And even here as we pause awhile the
shadows creep upon us. They rest upon those
we love: they rest upon those into whose eyes
we look: they rest upon ourselves. We cannot
understand the brevity of life; w^e are just learn-
ing how to work, just catching some glimpse of
its meaning; a sudden call, and we are gone.
We cannot understand why such pain of body,
heart, and mind, should sadden every day. We
cannot understand why we should bring upon
ourselves such misery, make such tragic failures
of our life, or suffer such eternal loss.

Is it, O Father, that we see these shadows,
because the Dayspring from on high hath visited
us; that these pains are the feeling of those
who wake from the stupor of death; that the
darkness broods upon our hearts because we
have turned our backs to Thee and hidden
ourselves from Thy light?

Give us the grace, the daring, the desire to
turn again that w^e may see Thy face. Amen.

10

THE OUTER GATE

f^ GOD, who hast formed all hearts to love
^^ Thee, made all ways to lead to Thy face,
created all desire to be unsatisfied save in Thee;
with great compassion look upon us gathered
here. Our presence is our prayer, our need the
only plea we dare to claim. Thy purposes the
one assurance we possess.

Some of us are very confused ; we do not
know why we were ever born, for what end
we should live, which way we should take.
But we are willing to be guided. Take our
trembling hands in Thine, and lead us on.

Some of us are sore within. We long for
love and friendship, but we care for no one and
we feel that no one cares for us. We are mis-
understood, we are lonely, we have been disap-
pointed, we have lost faith in man and our
faith in life. Wilt thou not let us love Thee
who first loved us?

Some of us are vexed with passions that
affright us; to yield to them would mean dis-
aster, to restrain them is beyond our power, and
nothing earth contains exhausts their vehemence
or satisfies their fierce desire.

And so because there is no answer, no end or
satisfaction in ourselves; and because we are
what we are, and yet long to be so different;
we believe Thou art, and that Thou dost under-
stand us. By faith we feel after Thee, through
love we find the way, in hope we bring ourselves
to Thee. Amen.

II

THE TEMPLE

/^ GOD, we have heard Thy call sounding^
^^ in our ears ; in youth and in age, in sick-
ness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, at
morning and at eventide; in the voice of nature,
from the page of history, leaping from the lips
of men, stirring in our own thoughts, crying
from our poor desolate hearts. Yet we have
not yielded ourselves to Thee.

We have been afraid lest we should lose
something dear to us; our comfort, our content,
our pleasure. Yet refusing we have lost our
all, love and light and life itself.

We have been afraid lest we should lose our-
selves in Thy being, lest the direction of our
lives should be wrested from our hands, lest our
wills should become as not our own. And now
our wills are broken, we cannot direct our lives
even where we would, and our very souls within
are hard to find.

We have been afraid of the burden of Thy
love. It seemed too hard to care for those wc
find it easier far to hate, to love those from
whom our natures shrink, to break our heart
over those who seem worthless, to spend our
life for those who are hopeless. And now
we are enslaved to self; we move among our
fellows alien, afraid and lonely; we are weary
of our carefulness and calculating ways.

O save us. Make us willing to be what we
were meant to be. Give us the courage to forsake
all and yield to Thee, ere it be too late. Amen.

12

THE OUTER GATE

r\ FATHER, who hast set us amid the
^^ bonds of time; this hurrying pace of life
frightens and amazes us. We cannot crowd
our purposes into such a narrow space. Ere
ever the day has worn to noon, or we have even
planned the work we meant to do, the night
comes down upon us and we can work no more.
The swift years pass and find us little farther
on. We wake to mourn what we have missed,
to value most what comes no more.

Forgive our waste of precious moments, cur
loitering feet, our procrastinating will. O teach
us to number our days, that we may apply our
hearts to wisdom ; to lengthen our brief life by
intensity of living; to fill swift hours with
mighty deeds; to lay up treasure where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt.

Seeing we spend our days as a tale that is
told, let us haste to speak that which is within
us, lest we be called away before the stor}^ is
begun. If there is anything Thou hast meant
us to do in life, O spare us till we have accom-
plished it. If there is any kindness we can
shew, may we not neglect or defer it, seeing
that we pass this way but once.

So may the very stress of earthly life aducate
us for the life eternal. Amen.

13

THE TEMPLE

C\ THOU Desire of nations, by whom the
^-^ prophets spake, of whom the poets dream,
for whom the people long; when wilt Thou
dawn upon our waiting vision? Age after age
the heavens are scanned for the sign of Thine
appearing. We watch for Thee more than
they that watch for the morning. Yet all
things continue as they have been from the
beginning. Man labours still for wrong, sees
the fruit of honest toil torn from him, and
mingles tears with hopeless tasks. Still men sell
their souls for a price and women are forced to
a traffic of shame. The poor cry for bread and
are offered a stone. Not yet do we see the
mighty cast down from their seat; not yet hast
Thou exalted the humble and meek; the race
is still to the swift and the battle to the strong.
Where is the promise of Thy coming?

Forgive the impatience, O our God, that
would fling itself upon Thy slowly turning
chariot wheels. Thou Thyself hast bid us
watch and pray for the coming of Thy kingdom.
The promise was it should be soon.

Perhaps Thou hast come, and the earth has
rejected Thee; come like a thief in the night —
and gone; come disguised as a child seeking
love, a woman seeking justice, a man seeking
souls, and we found no room for Thee. Then,
O come back to us again.

Or dost Thou wait till we are ready? Dost

14

THE OUTER GATE

Thou tarry till we turn from the trifles that now
hold our hearts? Must we ourselves prepare
the way?

O help us to understand.
Amen.

<»

IS

THE TEMPLE

A LMIGHTY God, who sustainest man's
'^*' spirit by an undying hope, hast taught us
to look for a perfect revelation of Thyself, and
bade us watch for Thy coming; be patient with
our impatience when we cr>^ in bitterness. How
long? when in doubt and desolation we faint
for a glimpse of Thy face. The heavens keep
their dreadful order, the silence of the infinite
spaces terrifies our minds; on earth tyranny,
evil, poverty and sin retain their ancient power.
Generations suffer, toil and pass away uncom-
forted and hopeless. The same veil of mystery
hides the truth and all man's learning leaves him
still unsure.

Are we in Thy presence and know it not;
has the judgment commenced though we go
about our careless ways? We fear a future
hell, while already flames the quenchless fire,
and the worm that dies not feeds upon our
flesh. We look for a distant heaven, while it is
all around us, if we care to walk its streets.
The stones of the new Jerusalem lie ready to
our hands, but we have rejected the chief corner
stone.

Then let knowledge grow, the light dawn,
and our eyes waken to reality. Or if we still
must wait Thy time, then, though faith and love
both die within the heart of man, let not hope
depart, lest we sink in sight of port and lose our
way with the city clear before us. Amen.

i6

THE OUTER GATE

I^UT of the depths have we cried unto Thee,
^-^ O God ; O God hear our prayer. Our
ilesperate need of Thee is mocked by our faint
and feeble petitions. Hearken not to the words
of our lips disciplined by such fatal habit to con-
ceal ourselves, but consider our travail of soul and
listen to the groanings that cannot be uttered.

When we have dared to descend within,
fathomless deeps make us afraid, and we dread to
know ourselves; passions sleep within which any
wandering breeze might stir to storm, and we be
overwhelmed beneath its waves. Surely this
cannot be ourselves, for of this we are afraid.

Deep within we have caught a glimpse of
smiling seas which mirror the beauty of the
^ky, w^hile they themselves are dark and foul;
strange self-deceptions make us crave for com-
fort, while we sing of sacrifice; we pretend to
love Thee, but love better still ambition, praise,
the hollow word. If this should be ourselves,
all hope for us is gone. Thou canst not love
what we can only hate.

Yet, deeper still, O God, lies hunger for Thy-
self, and this must be of Thee, yet we fear this
most of all. If this should pass our power to bear,
we might be swept beyond our studied selfishness,
our calculating prudence, and never be the same
again.

Out of such depths we cry unto Thee, O God.
Amen.

17

THE TEMPLE

f^ GOD, Life Eternal, save us ere we die.
^^ Our days are speeding fast away, the
things we meant to do are still undone, what we
meant to be we feel we never shall be now, and
night is nigh.

O leave us not.

Sometimes we fear that life itself is dying down
within us, learning comes no longer easy to us,
change makes us afraid, enthusiasm fades, resolve
proves impotent.

O take not Thy Holy Spirit from us.

We have so carefully husbanded our resources,
yet they have steadily declined. We have
hoarded our powers, but what we kept we lost,
only what we gave remained our own; and
that is, oh so small. We have sheltered our
souls fi;om the chill of criticism, and daily have
grown weaker; we have excused ourselves from
arduous tasks, only to lose our rest; we have
shrunk from pain, only to find the fear of life
invade and terrify our hearts.

O cast us not away from Thy presence.
Amen,

i8

THE OUTER GATE

/^ GOD, source of the Light that never fades,
^-^ and of the Life that never ends, apart
from whom all is darkness and death; we lift
our dimmed faces to Thee, and long for Thy
life to flow through our wearied hearts.

To some of us this mortal life has brought
no happiness or lasting joy; though we sought
it long and earnestly. The things on which
we set our hearts have faded to shadows in
our grasp. The things we dreamed to do we
have left all undone, and we are very desolate.
Before the gaze of men we have dissembled our
weariness and our unrest; but we cannot here.
It relieves our spirits, O our Father, to confess
what we are; most of us are disappointed and
in despair.

We have tried the broad, well-trodden way;
we have followed the primrose path, and played
the pleasant game; tears and burdens we have
put far from us; and yet the flowers have faded
at our feet, and we have found ourselves at last
in the wildernes alone, the wine of life turned
to gall, its. bread to ashes, our hearts weighed
down with weariness and sick with fears.

We feel there is something in life we have
missed, we feel it as we look towards the
western sky, feel it beneath the quiet stars, feel
it most of all when we see what Jesus made of
life like ours.

Can we retrace our steps and seek the cross-

19

THE TEMPLE

ways once again where long ago we missed our
path? Dimly we remember there a narrow
way led upward to a place called Golgotha,
where, beyond, we saw the sky break clear
upon a city's towers.

O Shepherd of the lost, lead us there again;
and if the returning way be too hard, and long,
and sad for us to bear, of Thy great love lift us
up and carry us, like the lambs, upon Thy
shoulders. Amen,

S»>

lo

THE OUTER GATE

/^ GOD, we have heard of Thee with the
^^ hearing of the ear, but we want to know
Thee for ourselves. We touch the outskirts of
Thy presence, but we desire to see Thee face
to face. We believe Thou art guiding our lives,
but we want to feel Thy hand.

But ah, how purely we must love the truth
if we are ever to know Thee; and it is this
that makes us fear we never may. Despite all
our earnestness and bravery, we are fearful lest
the truth should overturn some beloved and
sheltering lie. We are curious to know the
hidden truth of things, but we dread to learn
the truth about ourselves.

How deeply we must hunger after righteousness
if we would see Thy kingdom come. We long
for righteousness, but mostly in those who have
wronged us, and in the ordering of things without.
If it should mean a reformation of our lives, some
great renunciation of ourselves, we fear our love
for righteousness might never stand the strain.

We remember that to love Thee we must
love our brother also; and this we were pre-
pared to do till someone we despised or hated
crossed our path, and then what seemed the
easy way to Thee became impossible.

Yet, O Most Merciful, heed not our fears,
consider not our cowardice, forgive our failings.
But hearken to those prayers of our hearts
which come to us in highest moments when
We forget ourselves and think of Thee. Amen.

21

THE TEMPLE

/^ THOU who hast visited the children of
^^ men with Thy presence, and hast made us
conscious of our ignorance, sin and frailty;
either take away our hopes or satisfy us early
with Thy mercy. A spark disturbs our clod ; O
free us from its plague, or fan it into flame until
all dross and earthiness are consumed.

Righteousness we cannot claim, yet we hunger
for it, and can endure no longer that our hunger
go unsatisfied. Why hast thou wakened our
discontent, if not to lead us higher? Remain as
we are we cannot; either sink beneath where
pain is not, or rise above where pain is turned
to purity, we must; yet neither can we seem
to do.

O leave us not; not for all our complain-
ings, nor for any pain. Better thirst and famine,
tears and torment, than the comfortable sleep of
death.

Is this longing but Thyself? Is this sense of
loneliness and absence but the ante-chamber of
Thy gracious revealing? This thirst we had not
felt unless we had tasted the water of life; our
eyes had not strained after Thee, unless some
gleam of Thine had touched us.

Then come, our God, as cleansing wind, as
flaming fire, O come quickly. Amen.

22

THE OUTER GATE

npj

'HE river finds its way, however slowly, to
the sea. The birds of the heaven know
their appointed seasons, but how slow our feet
to turn to Thee.

When we turn to seek Thee, it is often late, so
late; our feet failing, the storm driving us, and
only when we have tried all other ways, drunk of
every broken cistern, consulted many physicians
and found ourselves nothing better but rather
worse, do we turn to Thee. O the mercy that
Thou receivest us even then.

Yet some of us must travel farther ere we
turn again Not yet are we sure that some fruit
of pleasure, some drug of sin, may not be the
medicine we need. We have not yet lost all
hope in ourselves. In all our folly do not Thou
forget us, nor release the hidden thread that
binds us to our home.

But some of us want to come while the day
is young and life is full; to come, not because
we must, but because we may; to choose Thee
with all the kingdoms of the world in sight; to
count Thee better than all the treasures of
knowledge or the pleasures of sin. Give us
. the grace to come even now, Amen.

23

THE TEMPLE

/^ GOD, who hast made all things, and
^^ orderest all things to fulfil Thy purposes;
we whom Thou hast created to be free and
choose the good, turn again to Thee; for our
freedom is found only in Thy service, and there
is no good that we desire beside Thee.

It cannot be that Thou hast created what Thou
canst not govern, yet we have been strangely
wilful and rebellious. We have wrestled all
night with one who would overcome us, and
then in the morning light have seen Thy face
and learned Thy name. We have closed our
door against an entreating voice, to find that
light and joy have departed from us.

Surely Thou wilt not leave us because we
fought against Thee; we did not know with
whom we strove. Take not our refusal for an
answer, but have pity on our misguided minds.

Can it be that Thou hast created a capacity
that Thou canst not satisfy, that these hearts
must for ever hunger and never be filled, these
eyes strain to watch for a glory that they can
never behold? O God, none but Thyself, none
but Thyself; not Thy gifts, but Thee we crave.

Thus we lift to Thee our broken cries, thus
we turn to Thee our waiting eyes. If we may
not see Thee as Thou art, then gather Thyself
into human form, come to us through the night,
walk upon the waves of the storm, and bid us
be not afraid. If Thy love cannot be told, then

24

THE OUTER GATE

pour it forth in sacrifice that we may see and
understand. So shall our pain be assuaged and
our hearts comforted of their sorrows.

Like the night enwraps the hills; as stars
steal into the skies; like a shepherd folds his
sheep; as a mother stills her child; like calm
after storm, rest after battle, hope after fear; O
come. Amen.

^

25

THE INNER COURT

/ called upon the Lord in distress i

the Lord answered me,

and set me in a large place,

— Psalm cxviii. 5.

THE INNER COURT

/^ GOD, too near to be found, too simple to
^^ be conceived, too good to be believed; help
us to trust, not In our knowledge of Thee, but
in Thy knowledge of us; to be certain of Thee,
not because we feel our thoughts of Thee are
true, but because we know how far Thou dost
transcend them. May we not be anxious to
discern Thy will, but content only Vv'Ith desire
to do it; may we not strain our minds to under-
stand Thy nature, but yield ourselves and live
our lives only to express Thee.

Shew us how foolish it is to doubt Thee,
since Thou Thyself dost set the questions which
disturb us ; reveal our unbelief to be faith fretting
at its outworn form. Be gracious when we
are tempted to cease from moral strife: reveal
what It is that struggles in us. Before we tire
of mental search enable us to see that it was
not ourselves but Thy call which stirred our
souls.

Turn us back from our voyages of thought to
that which sent us forth. Teach us to trust
not to cleverness or learning, but to that Inward
faith which can never be denied. Lead us out
of confusion to simplicity. Call us back from
wandering without to find Thee at home within.
Amen.

29

THE TEMPLE

i^ MOST Merciful, whose love to us is
^^ mighty, long-suffering, and infinitely ten-
der; lead us beyond all idols and imaginations of
our minds to contact with Thee the real and
abiding; past all barriers of fear and beyond all
paralysis of failure to that furnace of flaming
purity where falsehood, sin and cowardice are all
consumed away. It may be that we know not
what we ask; yet we dare not ask for less.

Our aspirations are hindered because we do
not know ourselves. We have tried to slake
our burning thirst at broken cisterns, to comfort
the crying of our spirits w^ith baubles and trinkets,
to assuage the pain of our deep unrest by drug-
ging an accusing conscience, believing a lie, and
veiling the naked flame that burns within. But
now we know Thou makest us never to be
content with aught save Thyself, in earth, or
heaven, or hell.

Sometimes we have sought Thee in agony
and tears, scanned the clouds and watched the
ways of men, considered the stars and studied
the moral law ; and returned from all our search
no surer and no nearer. Yet now we know
that the impulse to seek Thee came from Thy-
self alone, and what we sought for was the
image Thou hadst first planted in our hearts.

We may not yet hold Thee fast or feel Thee
near, but we know Thou boldest us, and all is
well. Amen.

30

THE INNER COURT

/^ LIGHT that burns and heals, O Love that
^^ breaks and soothes the heart, O Life that
stirs and satisfies; how shall we endure Thee?

We have prayed so carelessly that Thou
wouldst show us Thy love, forgetting that angels
veil themselves before Thee. We have longed
to look upon the beauty of Thy countenance,
not considering whether anything would ever
seem so fair again. We have sought to know
all mysteries, and never stayed to ask if w^e had
fortitude to bear the truth. We have desired to
follow after Christ, counting not His lonely way,
His utter sacrifice, His broken heart.

And now we have come at length to appre-
hend what such answered prayers might mean,
yet with the clearer lig'ht we dare to ask them
all again. Answer them even though we do
not fully know; for we are tired of twilight,
falsehood, and the easy way. Tremblingly we
place ourselves in Thy hands. Lead us by Thy
love into fuller light and to more glorious life.
Amen.

31

THE TEMPLE

f^ GOD, infinite in Mercy, Love, and Power,
^^ hear the cry of Thy children, meet our deep
necessities, and answer our unutterable desires.

We come to Thee as those who are brought
sick and wasted to their native air, when all
other cures have failed. Thou hast made us,
and stood us a hand's-breadth off, that we might
return to Thee if we chose; and because we
did not know, and were childish and wilful, we
essayed to manage life alone.

We have failed to comprehend ourselves or
grasp our little life's full meaning. We bring
Thee but broken aspirations, unfulfilled attempts,
and many a failure that makes us ashamed. Wilt
Thou receive us? The night is coming down
dark and fearful, there is no time to put things
straight, and our eyes are aching for the light.

Thou didst send us into life infants without
knowledge, but full of needs. There was so
much that promised to satisfy: the bauble of
fame, the glitter of gold, the seductiveness of
sin. When these had failed we tried the waters
of forgetfulness, and the bread of pleasure; and
now famine has come, and we perish here with
hunger.

Father we remember still the house where
even the servants had enough and to spare, and
we turn our steps homeward again. Meet us
with the kiss of peace. Amen.

32

THE INNER COURT

ALMIGHTY Father, whose presence fillest
all things; we thank Thee that Thou
canst by no means be excluded from the work
of Thy hands. We thank Thee that Thou
hast made us to realize Thyself, and that Thy
purposes are beyond defeat. We have shut
ourselves in, girded the mind with strong argu-
ment, repeated our unbelief like a creed, but
we have never escaped Thee.

We have striven to walk alone in pride,
sufficiency and ostentation, and then some
thought of Thee has shattered all our wilfulness
and we have gone softly ever afterwards, and
prayed : God be merciful to me a sinner.

We have plunged into sin, we have turned
from the bright ideals which plagued us, we
have stabbed at our own complaining souls,
drugged our conscience, poisoned our minds,
set up idols, made our hearts like hell — and lo,
Thou art there.

We yield to Thee, O God, for Thou art
stronger than we. We cannot escape Thee
without forsaking our reason, our hope and our
joy. We cannot do without Thee, unless we
surrender all that comforts and all that inspires.
Forgive us our folly, pardon our wandering,
make room for us within Thy gracious love.
Amen.

33

THE TEMPLE

IX/f ERCIFUL Father, whose faithfulness abides
■^ '- all our fickleness whose forgiveness out-
lasts all our sins; take from our minds, we
pray, the delusions that threaten our sanity and
mislead our minds. We mistake shadows for
realities, we are afraid of things that do not exist,
we spend our labour for bread that perisheth,
for treasures that fade.

Reveal to us w^herein standeth our life, lest
we miss for ever its significance and reality, and
it pass like a dream away.

Be gracious to us, O Compassionate, when
with the light shining clear upon us w^e turn in
madness and rebellion to the dark. Why should
we fall so easily and turn away so soon? Help
us to believe that in all our sin and self-reproach
Thou abidest with us still, and that our sorrow
is but Thj^self suffering within to bring us to
salvation.

We turn in longing unto Thee; Thy perfec-
tion calls us, Thy mercy welcomes us. Be
unto us as the morning, dear Grace of God.
Be unto us as fires that cleanse, Thou glorious
Sun of Righteousness. Amen.

34

THE INNER COURT

A LMIGHTY God, in whom alone we live,
•^^ we turn in all our need to Thee, the
fountain of our life. Thou hast made all things
dependent upon Thee for their existence, and
Thou hast made our hearts so that they fail with-
out the inspiration of Thy presence. Forgive
us if, knowing this, we have been careless about
that which should be our chief concern, if we
ha i taken no pains to establish a life of com-
munion with Thee, if we have not hungered
and thirsted after righteousness. We have been
slack in prayer, careless in living, until we have
found a glory departing from the earth and Thy
rest from our hearts. We thank Thee that
Thou dost never withdraw Thyself from us
without our knowing that the Spirit of God
has departed. Thou makest us quickly to cry
after Thee. O visit us early with Thy mercy,
satisfy with Thyself, for Thou art our God.
N Bind us to Thee with the bond of an endless love.
Find us in the wilderness, lead us to where
fountains of living waters flow, shepherd us
where flowers for ever bloom. Bring us in
sight, most Gracious One, of the Cross, at once
lifers mystery and life's healing. And may our
foolish wandering and false self-worship come
to an end this day. Hold us, for Thou art
stronger than we. Forgive us, for Thou art
kinder than we dare to be. Amen,

35

THE TEMPLE

r\ GOD, we thank Thee that Thy love is
^^ so constant and tender that it passeth
understanding. A mother's love may fail towards
her only child, our faithlessness sometimes robs
us of the love of our friends, self-knowledge
prevents us ever loving ourselves, yet Thy love
for us is not conditioned by our worthlessness,
but through all rebellion, waj^vardness and
despair continues unfailing and unending.
Help us then to fly to Thee.
We thank Thee more that Thy love is just
when it is merciful. Often we have pleaded
earnestly that something might step in between
us and the entail of our sin ; that when we have
stooped to meanness, sought the refuge of lies,
done some unrighteous deed, all might be for-
gotten and life flow on as before. We are glad to
know that Thy justice is wiser than our mercy,
and Thy purpose greater than our prayers.

Help us to trust only in that forgiveness
which needs not to forget.

We thank Thee most that Thy love is like
the light, relentless, unescapeable, victorious.
Thou wilt not leave us in the darkness, however
much we love it ; Thou wilt not let us shield our-
selves with ignorance, deception or pride, but
wilt shine in upon us, whatever be revealed ; burn
Thy way to our souls, at whatever pain-
Therefore is all our trust in Thy mercy and
our final refuge in Thy love. Amen.

36

THE INNER COURT

rp TERNAL and ever blessed God, blessed be-
"■— * cause Thou eternally givest; we thank
Thee for the enrichment of our life by the won-
drous communication of Thyself to man. We
thank Thee that Thou hast set eternity in our
hearts and planted the image of Thyself within.
We mourn our concern for transient and trifling
things which so often distract our minds from
high pursuits and set our thoughts upon un-
worthy ends; yet we are thankful that nothing
temporal has power to satisfy our souls. We
lament the defacement of Thine image in us by
foolish sin and irreverent thought, but we rejoice
that it can never quite be blotted out. For
Thou hast made the world without us and the
heart within to bring these things continually
to mind. The murmur of the wind, the far-
stretching distance, the purple mountains set the
spirit longing for something vaster than earth
itself can give. The love of friends, the inner
vision of the soul, the spur of conscience, and the
commanding call of goodness keep Thine image
bright within.

For all our failures and our faithlessness Thou
art still our hope. Cast us not away from Thy
presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from us.
Amen.

37

THE TEMPLE

SOUL of the universe, Light of the mind of
man, Spirit of Jesus Christ; who dwellest
in all things, from whom and in whom and unto
whom we are; we thank Thee that Thou hast
so formed the world and so made the heart of
man that we cannot escape Thee, and would
not'if we could.

In all our restless desire it is Thee we really
seek, even though we know it not; for if we
have all and not Thee, we have nothing, and
our spirits remain still famished and athirst.

Thou comest to us through every channel of
impression and visitest the heart in every experi-
ence; for even though we do not mark Thy
coming and we fail to recognise Thy hand ever
and always Thou findest some secret way within,
and the silence of the soul announceth Thou
art there.

Interpret then to us, we pray Thee, the
movement of the world and the motives of our
hearts; so that we shall no longer search for
what we have, nor seek with sin to stay desires
designed to find no satisfaction till we come to
Thee.

Shine through our blindness, break through
all our delusions, strive with our rebellion, plead
with our pride. Thou art our All, leave us not.
Amen.

38

THE INNER COURT

OGOD, whose word is hidden in the frame-
work of the world, shines in the mind of
man, and is made flesh in Jesus Christ; w^e
have heard Thee calling us by name, and like
sheep to a shepherd, children to a father, we
come to Thee.

In every age men have heard Thy voice, and
we can hear it still. We catch its accents in
the whispering wind and the sighing gale, its
music in the ray of stars and in the light of day.
Beneath the hum of the world's vast work, and
beyond all the clamour of men, it soundeth to
us. And when we shut our eyes or stop our
ears, it calleth louder still within.

We have journeyed far, but Thy voice has
followed ; we have been careless, rebellious, and
sometimes tried to drown Thy call; but as we
dared to hearken, it came back again, and is
with us to this hour.

We know we can never roam where that
voice will not follow, nor shall we ever try
again; for we know it leads to joy and rest, to
happy service and to perfect freedom. We know
it is the voice of love beyond imagination or de-
sire, the call of a heart that feels and cares.

So long, so late, and many of us so sad, yet at
last we come. Fold us with Thy sheep, number
us among Thy family, call us to be Thy friends.
Amen.

39

THE TEMPLE

r^ INFINITE Light of Truth, dawn upon
^-^ our darkened minds, and lead us past all
shams and shadows to Thyself. Make us dis-
contented with anything less than Thee, lest
we be found following broken lights or mould-
ing some image of Thee from base desire. In
this hour of worship cleanse us with longing
for Thee alone.

O Infinite Life of Love, the Source, the Way,
the Goal of all true life; may we feel the tides
of Thy Being sweeping round our hearts, catch
sight of that immortal sea which brought us
hither, and open the flood-gates of our lives to
the ocean of Thy love.

Forgive us for our shrinking from the light,
forgive us for all fear of love. Leave us not
alone to our darkness and dread, lift up our
hearts and make us strong. Amen.

40

THE INNER COURT

OTHOU who art all, without Thee we are
nothing; yet Thou who art all can surely
make us something. To live apart from Thee
is impossible; to hate Thee is to court death;
to love Thee is to love everything; what shall
we do then but love Thee, and all things shall
then be ours.

Thy law is inevitable, and Thy love is in-
escapeable. Whither shall we flee from Thy
Spirit or whither shall we go from Thy pres-
ence? If we ascend to the heavens, Thou art
there, and it is Thyself that makest all the hells
our souls can know. We have to come to Thee
because we cannot fly from Thee; we yield to
Thee because we can do no other.

But not only because we must, but because
we may, we come to Thee; it is Thy love that
compels, and it is our very selves that answer to
Thy call. The revelation of Thyself ends all
rebellion, the shewing of Thy heart has broken
ours. From One who has loved us to the utter-
most, we cannot keep our own poor love. To
the Father who begat us, and bore with us and
desires to be our Friend, we cannot refuse the
service of our sonship. So, as an arrow to its
mark, as dew drawn heavenward by the sun,
as a child to its mother's breast, we come.
Amen*

41

THE TEMPLE

OGOD, who hast encompassed us with so
much that is dark and perplexing, and
yet hast set within us light enough to walk by;
enable us to trust what Thou hast given as suf-
ficient for us, and steadfastly refuse to follow
aught else; lest the light that is in us become
as darkness and we wander from the way. May
we be loyal to all the truth we know, and seek
to discharge those duties which lay their com-
mission of our conscience; so that we may come
at length to perfect light in Thee, and find our
wills in harmony with Thine.

Since Thou hast planted our feet in a world
so full of chance and change that we know not
what a day may bring forth, and hast curtained
every day with night and rounded our little
lives with sleep; grant that we may use with
diligence our appointed span of time, working
while it is called to-day, since the night cometh
when no man can work; having our loins girt
and our lamps alight, lest the cry at midnight
find us sleeping and the door fast shut.

Since we are so feeble, faint and foolish, leave
us not to our own devices, not even when we
pray Thee to; nor suffer us for any care to
Thee or for any pain to us to walk our own
unheeding way. Plant thorns about our feet,
touch our hearts with fear, give us no rest apart
from Thee, lest we lose our way and miss the
happy gate. Amen.

THE INNER COURT

OGOD, there are many things in our life
we cannot understand, but there are a few
we can, and we thank Thee for these.

We cannot understand why we should, like
silly sheep, stray so often from the paths of peace,
why the bent of our nature should be towards
folly, why we should continuously incline to-
wards evil. But we are grateful at least that
we do know when our feet have missed the
track; we never mistake the lonely night upon
the moutains or the wandering in the wilder-
ness for the shelter and plenty of the fold.

We cannot understand why we can never
learn from the experience of others, when it wit-
nesess consistently that the way of transgress-
ors is hard; that the stolen fruit crumbles to
ashes on the lips; that as we reap we sow. But
at least we are thankful that we are never
satisfied with sin, that forbidden fruit never
quenches thirst or satiates hunger, but only sets
our teeth on edge; that no bread of life can be
made from the wild oats we have sown. We
are thankful that not all the glitter and tinsel of
the world can finally deceive us.

We cannot understand why we must try every
physician before we try Him who alone can heal
us. We are so pitifully taken in by any impostor.
At whose door have we not waited? But we
are thankful that we never think we have found
heartsease when we have not; that we do

43

THE TEMPLE

not imagine we are growing better when dis-
ease is still wasting our frames. We are glad
we never rest until we come at last to the great
Physician.

What we cannot understand is why He should
receive us, and take us in and spend Himself
upon our healing. But that we do not ask to
understand: it is the wondrous love to which
we trust, the mercy in which is all our hope.
Amen.

44

THE INNER COURT

OLORD most high and wonderful, to
whose mind the past and the future
meet in our eternal now, to whose sight all
things lie naked and open; we are the creatures
of shifting time to whom the past is soon for-
gotten and from whom the future is completely
veiled.

Our day is but a gleam of light between two
nights of dark. The mists hang about our minds,
our feet are fettered, we are bruised and bound,
robbed and cheated every day. Yet we can con-
ceive a higher knowledge beside which ours is
poor and incomplete. Though our ignorance is
well-nigh universal, at least we know we do not
know ; our night is never so long or so dark that
we forget what the day is like. We are more
than we seem, and Thou art nearer than we
dream. Yet we only dare to ask for light upon
one step ahead, faith to take one day at a time,
endurance to wait for the dawn.

Forgive the crushing care that comes from our
lack of vision, our fears that the truth will never
be clear, our frenzied, ineffectual strivings. Let
us feel through all that Thou dost lead us on.
Forgive the impertinence that would hurry on
the dawn, that would thrust impious hands
across the pattern Thou art weaving, that would
outrun Thy perfect will for us.

May we become heirs to the Spirit of Jesus,
calm because there are twelve hours in the day,

45

THE TEMPLE

confident that the truth shall yet be proclaimed
from the housetops, courageous enough to endure
the cross, despise the shame, and in death to com-
mit ourselves into Thy hands. Amen.

THE INNER COURT

/^ THOU who art from everlasting to ever-
^^ lasting, Ancient of days, yet ever new;
all things wax old as doth a garment, but Thou
art the same and Thy years shall not fail. We
who are born amid the things of time and swad-
dled in a vesture of sense, turn to catch some
glimpse of things eternal. Our life is but a
moment in the vastness of eternity, and yet it is
long enough for us to grow old and careworn.
We inherit wisdom from all the ages, the key of
hidden treasure is in our hands, but we do not
understand the truth; we are very wise but very
weary; rich and increased with goods, but friend-
less and unloved. We have spoiled our sight in
poring over many books, while the unclasped
books of nature and the heart remain unread.
And now, like men of old, we have come to
search for simplicity, for freedom and for truth.
Lead us, O Father, back to the lowliness of
childhood, that we may be born again. Lead
us to the Babe of Bethlehem, to Thy Holy Child
Jesus, to Him who kept His heart unaged through
all His years of earth, and is now alive for ever-
more.

Carry us in Thy arms as a child ; as a mother
comforteth her only son, so comfort us; for
with all our years and learning we are infants
crying in the night, hungry for the breast of
God. Amen.

47

THE TEMPLE

CTANDING, O our God, upon the shrink-
^ ing shores of time, where ever break and
moan the waves of an eternal sea, we feel utterly
homeless and afraid. Beneath our feet, crumb-
ling rock and shifting sand; around us, scenes
that change; before us, an ocean perilous, un-
chartered and dark with storm. We have heard
that far over the horizon islands of the blest lift
fronded palms in air. All we know for certain
is that this is not our home. We cannot stand
this restless change, this hurrying pace of life,
the loss of loved ones, the terror of the shade
which creeps around us. We must build our
everlasting mansion, not here upon time's flooded
shore but in Thee, man's dwelling-place in every
generation.

Standing, O our God, before the face of Christ
so glorious, beneath His cross so strange, we
cannot rest content with what we are, so craven,
mean and petty, so sinful, stained and poor. We
know we were meant to be infinitely more.
Thy voice in Him calls us to live as sons of God,
to venture all, to love to the uttermost, to spend
ourselves even unto death. But the flesh is w^eak ;
our frailty shrinks from His purity. His loneli-
ness, His awful Passion. Yet if we could only
be as He, we should be at last at rest. Then, O
reveal Thy Son in us. May Christ be born
within us, and rise from the tomb of our dead
selves, glorious and triumphant. Amen.

48

THE INNER COURT

/^ THOU, whose love passeth knowledge,
^^ and whose peace passeth understanding,
it was Thy thought which conceived us. Thy
love which bare us. We are of yesterday and
know nothing, and yet we partake of Thine
infinite nature; the truth we cannot attain
shines ever before us, so that we know how
far short of Thy glory we fall. Our hearts
are restless in their search for rest, and even
though we find nothing to satisfy our desire, this
but witnesses that Thou Thyself art the goal of
all our strivings; it is Thyself who hast made us
to long for Thine infinite perfection, Thy eternal
nature, Thy holy and omnipotent love.

We thank Thee for the unquenchable impulse
towards Thee Thou hast planted within. We
are pained by its passion, disturbed by its desire,
and there have been times when we have sought
to destroy its power; but we thank Thee we
cannot.

We bless Thee for Him who gave full utter-
ance to Thy Spirit, whose joy was to do Thy
will, who clothed the inborn word with flesh,
that all might come to know themselves and
Thee. We see Thy purpose for our life on
earth displayed in Christ, and we would yield
our spirits to Him ; but Thy purpose for our life
to come is lost in unimaginable glory and light.

Set us In the light of eternity once again to-
day. Reveal what we are. Make us able to

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bear Thy revelation, brave enough to do Thy
will. Enable us to see the path that leads to
Thee, in the things around us; to respond to
Thy call to holy, helpful service. O give us
to express something of Thee before we go
hence and on our life's brief day the night comes
down. Amen.

s»

THE INNER COURT

IMMORTAL, Eternal. Invisible, with whom
is no mutability or changing shade, no
night or winter, no ebbing tide; we, the
children of time and sense, are met to worship
Thee. Thou art the same yesterday, to-day,
and for ever, and we are fretted by every pass-
ing wind, tempest-tossed and afraid. Thy
years fail not, and though all things fade as
doth a garment, Thou remainest; while we
spend our years as a tale that is told. Thy holi-
ness and perfection surpass all thought, and we
are stained by childish faults and petty sins.

Make us not to despair, Eternal Father; we
are called by Thy name, we are Thine. Thou
hast set thoughts of Thee in our hearts, Thou
hast made us restless among the things we see,
Thou hast made us to thirst after purity, Thou
hast taught us to hope for eternal life.

Teach us not to despise the life we are called
to live, since it was given us by Thee. Teach
us not to neglect the task of to-day because we
cannot see its eternal effect. Teach us not to
neglect the little duties which are training us
for a great stewardship. May we remember
that this life of ours has been divinely lived,
that this robe of flesh and strange infirmity has
been Thy garment; Teach us so to live that
we may not fear the judgment of the world to
come, nor be frightened at the flaming of eternal
dawn. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

/^ GOD, the Author of all joy, and the
^-^ ground of all gladness; we thank Thee
that life is to be crowned at last with song.

Sometimes we find it hard to believe that
when the world began the sons of God shouted
for* joy, so mournful and painful has proved the
course of the world; and harder still to believe
that the song of the redeemed shall overwhelm
in its richness and beauty, the song of the un-
sinning ^angels.

We thank Thee that above the sounds of
strife and pain sometimes there break strains as
of an army marching in triumph; and even our
greatest sadness finds a setting in some old sweet
song. And because of this we wait while the
harmonies gather out of seeming discord.

So we bring our broken lives to Thee, and
pray Thee, O Divine Musician, win from us
some mighty strain, tune us to the harmony ot
Thy will, make all our lives a hymn of praise.
Amen.

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THE INNER COURT

/^ GOD, who guidest the mind of man
^^ when he thinks his thoughts a«e all his
own, and holdest his hand even when he chooses
to walk alone; may we know that Thou hast
a purpose in our lives and art leading us safely
and surely home.

Gone are the days when we were content to
live for the passing hour and the transient joy;
the swift passage of our lives has made us
afraid. Darkness gathers round about us and our
gladness has departed, the habitations we have
builded do not make a home for our souls, a
strange desolation has fallen upon us, and
though our day is far spent, we have set out to
seek the city that hath foundations.

We are wearied with the knowledge of which
we were once so proud; we have forgotten
what we set out to find; we know all things
but the truth. We followed gleams of light,
but they faded away and all our hopes have
failed. We guided our path by stars, but they
sank below a horizon where we could not
follow, and now our eyes wait for Thee, the
only Light of men.

Though Thou leadest ug only to a cattle-
shed, we will follow all humbly; though we
find only a child lying in a manger, we will
worship all reverently: no pride shall blind our
eyes, no fears shall turn us back, if Thou Thy-
self wilt lead us on. Amen.

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/^ GOD, we praise Thee that, though faith
^^ and love both fail, Thou makest hope to
spring eternal in the human breast; so that
while there is hope there is life. Save us there-
fore we pray Thee, from the deadly sin of despair.

We thank Thee that when we lie down and
desire that Thou shouldst take av/ay our life,
there comes to us the longing to see at least
another day, watch one more spring-time, wait
one more year. And when we lose all faith
and sense of guidance and blunder blindly on,
an unseen hand guides every step and leads us
as though we still believed in Thee.

If any of us are labouring under a sense of
failure, burdened with the memory of broken
vows and duties left undone, or shamed by!
yielding to temptation help us once again to
lift our eyes to the life for which we long, suffer
us not to give up conflict till victory is won,
release us not from the aspirations that, however,
hard they seem, are the wealth of our life and
the spring of all existence.

Grant to us to dream great dreams and not to
disobey the heavenly vision, and though the
hope seem forlorn may we be found ready to
lead it; even though the ship be* sinking may
we never strike our flag.

However black the night, let the morning
star shine in the sky. Amen.

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r\ FATHER, who hast ordained that we be
^^ set within a scheme of circumstance, and
that in stern conflict we should find our strength
and triumph over all; withhold not from us the
courage by which alone we ran conquer. Still
our tongues of their weak complainings, steel
our hearts against all fear, and in joyfully ac-
cepting the conditions of our earthly pilgrimage
may we come to possess our souls and achieve
our purposed destiny.

It has pleased Thee to hide from us a perfect
knowledge, yet Thou callest for a perfect trust
in Thee. We cannot see to-morrow, we know
not the way that we take, darkness hangs about
our path and mystery meets us at every turn.
Yet Thou hast shut us up to final faith in good-
ness, justice, truth; that loving these for them-
selves alone, we may find the love that passeth
knowledge, and look upon Thy face.

O suffer us not for any terror of darkness or
from any torment of mind to sin against our souls,
or to fail at last of Thee. Amen.

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/^ GOD, who hast sent us to school in this
^-^ strange life of ours, and hast set us tasks
which test all our courage, trust and fidelity;
may we not spend our days complaining at
circumstance or fretting at discipline, but give
ourselves to learn of life and to profit by every
experience. Make us strong to endure.

We pray that when trials come upon us we
may not shirk the issue or lose our faith in Thy
goodness, but committing our souls unto Thee
who knowest the way that we take, come forth
as gold tried in the fire.

Grant by Thy grace that we may not be
found wanting in the hour of crisis. When the
battle is set, may we know on which side we
ought to be, and when the day goes hard,
cowards steal from the field and heroes fall around
the standard, may our place be found where the
fight is fiercest. If we faint, may we not be faith-
less ; if we fall, may it be while facing the foe.
Amen.

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THE INNER COURT

/^ THOU, who turnest the shadow of death
^-^ into the morning, and makest the day
dark with night, to whom darkness and light
are both alike, come and abide with us through
every experience of life. The day is Thine
when shines the sun and all our path is fair;
the night is Thine when stars light up the
vastness of Thy world. Help us neither to
weary of the day, nor fear what night may
bring.

Sometimes we turn from the certitude that
we have in Thee, to follow vain shadows again,
and bring upon ourselves anguish and confusion;
but Thou knowest where we are, and at our
faintest cry of need the valleys are exalted,
every hill made low, and a straight path runs
before us to Thyself.

When, perverse and foolish, we leave the
pleasant paths of peace to try the slippery way.
taste the bitterness of sin, fall into the mire,
herd with swine, and come at length to loathe
ourselves; Thine amazing love brings Thee
over the mountains of our misery, into the
wilderness where we have wandered; seeks
until it finds, clasps us again to Thy pure breast,
bears us in Thy strong embrace, and brings us
home rejoicing.

Oh the depth of Thy mercy, and the wonder
of Thy love ! Amen.

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/^UR Eternal Father, whose kindness is lov-
^^ ing and whose mercy is tender, we come
to cast ourselves upon Thee, for Thou hast
made us, We rest in the thought that Thy
love knows no end nor change, else it would not
love us long. Our love knows so little con-
stancy, it changes with our moods, it proves
worthless in the hour of trial. We need to
know that Thou art long-suffering and Thy
patience endless, for we soon lose patience with
ourselves. We are so spoilt by prejudice, so
blinded by pride, so dense to the simplest things.
We are burdened by things that do not matter,
bewildered by problems of our own imagination,
fearful at that which does not exist. Thou
hast made us heirs of all the ages, we stand at the
confluence of time, and yet in many ways we
fall beneath the measure of the men who went
before us. Our vision is wider, but our en-
thusiasm less; our knowledge deeper, but our
peace less secure; and we incline to blame the
knowledge and the vision, instead of ourselves.

We pray for strength for our burdens, wisdom
for our responsibilities, insight for our times,
faith enough for the wider demand. Our God,
make us strong, make us strong.

Pardon all our littleness, our foolishness, our
distrust, our fickleness of spirit. Give us breadth
like the sea, constancy like Christ's, the love
that passeth knowledge, the peace that passeth
understanding. Amen.

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/^ GOD, who remainest the same though all
^^ else fades, who changest not \vlth our
changing moods, who leavest us not when we
leave Thee; we thank Thee that when we lose
faith in Thee, soon or late we come to faith in
something that leads us back again with firmer
trust and more security. Even if we wander
into the far country we take ourselves with us;
ourselves who are set towards Thee as rivers to
the sea. If we turn to foolishness, our hearts
grow faint and weary, our path is set with
thorns, the night overtakes us, and we find we
have strayed from light and life.

Grant to us clearer vision of the light which
knows no shade of turning, that we stray not in
folly away; incline our hearts to love the truth
alone, so that we miss Thee not at last; give us
to realise of what spirit we are, so that we cleave
ever to Thee, who alone can give us rest and
joy. Amen.

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f^ GOD, in whom we live and move and have
^^ our being, enable us to feel the strength
that surrounds us, to follow the light that in-
dwells us, and to avail ourselves of the wisdom
Thou givest liberally to all who ask of Thee.

Give to us so great a love of truth that we
may pass beyond all doubt and error, until our
minds are stayed on Thee, and our thoughts are
kept in perfect peace.

Give us wisdom to follow the promptings of
duty in our daily lives, that we may grow con-
scious of Thy presence who workest hitherto,
and callest us to be fellow-workers now with
Thee.

Grant unto us the grace of penitence that we
may not grow insensible to our need of forgive-
ness, from one another, and from Thee; but
seek cleansing in communion, fellowship in the
light, and rest upon Thy heart. Amen.

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f^ UR Father, these words concerning the
^^ Eternal City most strangely move our
hearts. No such city have we ever seen, and
yet the story of its painless, unshadowed day, its
crystal streams, its healing trees, makes us think
of home. Some thought of such a habitation
where we could dwell in light for evermore,
and separation, night and sorrow should be done
away, has often stirred within us; and then the
fairest cities of earth have seemed to us like cities
of dreadful night.

We have dared to hope that this heaven of
our heart's desire shall one day be our own.
We have even dreamed that here on earth we
might help to build that city's walls.

But there has come to us the awful fear that
we could have no place in such a city. Our
hostile spirits, our bitter tempers, our selfish
hearts would play the traitor to any common-
wealth of the soul. Heaven could never lie
about us, while hell burned within the heart.
And yet we cannot be content to take our place
with those who miss the gate and wander in the
outer darkness, homeless and hardening in hate.

Our only hope, O Holy One, is in Thy
willingness to dwell with us, till we are fit to
dwell in Thee, Thou only City of the soul.
Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

A LMIGHTY Father, from whose bosom we
•^^ dropped into life ; we know so little of our-
selves, of the path we tread or where it leads;
but Thou knowest, and in this we rest. We
seem to carry with us memories of infinite space
which make this mighty frame of things nought
but a narrow prison; as if remembering better
things, we are sick at the sadness we see all
around us, and pained at the evil we find in our
hearts. Yet soon the haunting recollection fades
away and we grow satisfied, the vision of purity
is lost, and we cease to be surprised at sin. The
glamour of earth would teach us to forget our
origin, the temptations of the world would lead
us to sell our birthright. It is hard for us to
understand that it was Thy will that sent us
hither, so that we might come to know ourselves
and be prepared to share the glory of Thy Being.
Yet only thus believing can life be bravely lived,
or its purposes made plain.

Teach us then, O Father, not to despise the
things of earth ; the narrow way, the weary task,
the pettiness of men ; its trials, misunderstandings
and strife; nor trifle with its passing opportuni-
ties; nor scorn its swiftly-ebbing day. Enable us
to bear the fret of care, to keep through toil of
brain and hand unbroken vigil of the soul. Help
us to play our part in the life of our times; think
truly, act kindly, strike a blow for freedom ; and,
having made some heart glad for knowing us,

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and leaving the world better for our sojourn in it,
may we find beyond these bounds and burdens of
time, a throne prepared and a crown held out for
our reward. Amen.

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TV/fOST Merciful and Compassionate Father,
^ •*• Thou knowest our nature and readest our
inmost thoughts; and nothing can be hidden
from Thee; help us then to unburden ourselves
of every disguise we wear before the face of
man, and find rest in being what we are and
nothing more. Enable us to put off all sham
and pretence, so that from henceforth we may
live a life of freedom and sincerity. Be patient
with any of us who still prefer vain shows and
empty pride to the shelter and refuge of truth.
Leave us not utterly alone when at length
we face the disillusionment of life; when our
dearest hopes fade away and ambition fails us,
be Thou nigh, nor of Thy goodness leave us to
despair.

We feel that Thy sheltering love has been
about us all our days, wooing us to better things,
but we are conscious that ofttimes we have
done despite to Thy grace, and our foolish hearts
have spurned the only Love that would stoop
to such as we. If Thy goodness were not in-
finitely patient, and Thy love were not stronger
than our stubbornness, we were all lost and
undone.

When, disappointed with ourselves, sickened
with our sin, worsted by life, and wounded by
the world, we turn to Thee; though late the
hour and fled life's little day, reject us not, for
pity's sake. Amen.

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r THE INNER COURT

A S we have come into this place of prayer,
-^^ out of darkness into light, out of the drear
night into the shelter of home, out of our loneli-
ness into the fellowship of the saints, so may
we come, O God, to Thee; from all cloud and
shadow, from all falsehood and unreality, to
truth, to certainty, to the welcome of Thine
arms and the shining of Thy face.

May no indocility of temper, no indolence of
mind, no perversity of spirit cloud the vision of
Thyself, or bar our breast against Thine enter-
ing in. May we dare to leave the door upon
the latch to Truth, to Christ, to Thee.

Thou knowest all the unhappiness of our life,
its weariness, sadness and strain, the feeling that
no one cares, that the game is nearly done, and
life can hold no more light and comfort tor us.
If Thou hast nothing more to give, we are of
all men most miserable.

Make known to us, we pray, the blessedness
of those who serve Thee, the joy of the Cross,
the rest of those who wear Christ's easy yoke,
and may we be comforted and made glad.
Grant us to that last great grace of life which
transforms all things and renews the soul: the
sense of Thy friendship and nearness, a hand in
ours, a companion on the weary way, a light
within the heart. So redeem the days we have
wasted, reveal the meaning of the life we have so
nearly lost, lift from us the melancholy of our mis-
takes, and turn all our mourning into joy. Amen.
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THE TEMPLE

T MMORTAL, Eternal, Invisible, who hidest
■■• Thyself in darkness and silence, who veilest
Thy glory in the lesser beauty of nature; Thy
form is unknown, Thy name we mortals dare
not utter; yet Thy worship is truth and Thy
tabernacle man. Calm our passions, silence our
clamorous thoughts, that we may be still and
know that Thou art God. Put out all lesser
lights that we may see the Light within. Naked
in soul we stand before Thy dread tribunal, that,
trembling there, we may know no other fear;
that gazing upon the face of the Eternal we
may not fear the face of man. Lead us through
the deeps of our own nature, past the gateways of
thought, till face to face, heart to heart, thought
to thought, we are in Thy presence.

Break down pride, burn out sin, banish self.
May perfect love cast out all fear, perfect sacri-
fice make an end of sin, and Thou, the All in
all, smite down the prison house of self and set
our spirits free, in tune with the Infinite, at
home with the Eternal. Shut us in with Thy-
self. O God. Amen.

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r\ SHEPHERD of Israel, who dost neither
^^ slumber nor sleep, we are the people of
Thy pasture and the sheep of Thy hand. Fold
us safely in Thy love, lest we be overtaken by
the storm and be lost in the darkness. And if
in carelessness, or curiosity or wilful pride, we
should wander from Thy care, O leave us not,
good Shepherd, to our fate, but seek us till
Thou findest us, and bear us home again.

Thou knowest the rebellion that often rules our
will, the instinct to rove, the desire for strange
scenes and the thirst for adventure. How little
we understand that the fold is freer than the plain,
following Thee more adventurous than wandering
at will, and what in Thee seems to us unreason
and austerity, only Thy perfect knowledge of what
we need, a love for us that passes understanding.

Pardon the evil thoughts we think of Thee,
and grant to us wisdom and repentance. Make
us to love Thy voice and answer to the name
by which Thou callest us; suffer us not to fall
from Thy guidance, and may no one pluck us
from Thy hand.

Beside the still waters, through the green
pastures, and in the valley where dark shadows
lie, be Thou our strength and shield, and may
we come to find even thy rod and Thy staff a
stay and comfort to us. So shepherd us beyond
the plains of peril to the eternal fold, where we
may lie down in safety, and go In and out freely
for evermore. Amen.

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GRACIOUS Father of our spirits, in the
stillness of this worship may we grow more
sure of Thee, who art often closest to us when
we feel Thou hast forsaken us. The toil and
thought of daily life leave us little time to think
of Thee; but may the silence of this holy place
make us aware that though we may forget
Thee, Thou dost never forget us. Perhaps
we have grown careless in contact with common
things, duty has lost its high solemnities, the
altar fires have gone untended, Thy light within
our minds has been distrusted or ignored. As
we withdraw awhile from all without, may we
find Thee anew within, until thought grows
reverent again, all work is hallowed, and faith
re-consecrates all common things as sacraments
of love.

If pride of thought and careless speculation
have made us doubtful of Thee, recover for us
the simplicity that understands Thou are never
surer than when we doubt Thee, that through
all failures of faith Thou becomest clearer, and
so makest the light that once we walked by
seem but darkness. Help us then to rest our
faith on the knowledge of our imperfection, our
consciousness of ignorance, our sense of sin, and
see in them shadows cast by the light of Thy
drawing near.

If Thy purposes have crossed our own and
Thy will has broken ours, enable us to trust the

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wisdom of Thy perfect love and find Thy will
to be our peace.

So lead us back to meet Thee where we
may have missed Thee. Amen.

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/^ GOD, the Source of our being, the Goal
^-^ of our desire, and the Guide of these our
pilgrim days; we have turned aside from the
ceaseless fret of life that we may think of all it
means for us. We would stay for a moment
the noisy shuttle of time, that we may watch
the pattern it is weaving. We would hush our
busy thoughts, that we might learn in silence the
mysteries of our being.

Beyond the clouds that veil our sight, w^e feel
the sun must still be shining; behind the tangle
of human a£Fairs some mighty purpose working,
beneath the strange yearnings of our souls there
moves Thyself, awful, vast and holy. Gleams
of purpose have visited our minds, the sense of
some great destiny accompanies all our thoughts.
We have reason for believing Thou art nearer
than we think.

O God, our Life, our Hope, our Strength;
leave us not. Make us sure of Thee. Disclose
Thy purposes. Make Thy way straight before
us. Amen.

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r\ GOD, the Light of all that is true, the
^^ Strength of all that is good, the Glory of
all that is beautiful, we thank Thee that Thou
hast put within our minds some spark of the
eternal flame, some desire after goodness, some
enjoyment of whatsoever things are lovely.

We thank Thee for the strength of reason and
for all the inner kingdom of the mind ; for every
thought that lifts us to Thyself; for every noble
desire; for every holy impulse.

We thank Thee that Thou hast so framed
our hearts that our deepest instincts anchor us to
Thee: that Thou hast so created everything, that
he who loves the Truth can never miss Thee
at the last. In all our thoughts, save us from
anxiety, presumption, and fear. Deliver us from
ail falsehood, error, and prejudice. And as we
ha\e gathered ourselves to seek Thee afresh may
all our doubts vanish before the shining of Thy
face, and as our thoughts are hushed to silence
now, may we find Thee moving upon our minds,
higher than our highest thought, yet nearer to us
than our very selves. Inspire, uplift, and comfort
us, and manifest Thyself, O God. Amen.

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/^ GOD and Father of us all, breathe upon us
^^ now Thine hallowed calm ; lift the burden
from our hearts, soothe the anxieties of our
minds, and send peace into our souls.

Forgive the disorder, the fever, the vain pur-
pose of our lives. We have made haste as those
who believe not. We have been desperate as
those who lead a forlorn hope; we have not
trusted in Thee who workest evermore. We
have spent our days contrary to Thy plainest
laws. Our eyes have been fixed to earth, and
rarely lifted to the hills. We have not silenced
ourselves to hear, nor been patient to understand.
We have been fretful as children, comfortless as
those who never knew Thee. We have spent
our strength on things that do not profit, and
laboured for the bread that perisheth; while
Thy free and glorious gifts have lain near to us
unappropriated and often spurned.

Help us now to stand awhile in the shelter of
Thy shadowing wrings, and to be still; to look
out again upon life with new vision, that we
may understand ; to wait for the revelation of
Thy will that shall make us calm and strong.
Amen.

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THE INNER COURT

/^ GOD, who comest to us disguised in lowli-
^^ ness to seek Thy dwelling with the humble,
may false expectations not deceive us, nor pride
shut Thee from our hearts.

If Thou comest dressed as Duty, plain, drab
and undesired, grant that we may not turn from
Thy commands. Often the homely figure has
called in vain, and only when it passed we saw
its glory, all too late. As neglected duties come
now to mind, help us to go back and faithfully
discharge them, lest we stand at last condemned
before Thee, life beyond recall, with no joy of
having done Thy will upon the earth ♦•.o make a
heaven about us.

If Thou comest robed as Truth, white, relent-
less and austere, may we not fear to take Thee
as our guide. We have often been afraid that
truth would strip us naked to the blast. We
could not bear the gaze that seemed to burn into
our souls. We knew not that truth would only
set us free and fearless, glad to be what we were
in Thy sight, and nothing more. Help us then
to welcome all the truth, however painful and
humiliating, lest when we come to gaze upon
Thy glory our eyes have lost the power to
see.

If Thou comest to us as Love, clothed in
flame and crowned with sacrifice, may we not
reject the offer of Thyself for dread of fire or
fear of suffering, lest we refuse that which alone

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THE TEMPLE

can cleanse us, and reject the love that leads
to wider life.

Let us know Thy Name, we pray Thee, lest
we be left lamed and lonely to face the light and
life of the eternal world. Amen.

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/^UR Father, tempest- tossed and worn with
^^ war, we turn to Thee in deepest need.
Without, all is tumult and confusion; within,
weariness and deep dispeace. The storm has left
us tired with watching, the strife has found out
ever}^ weakness, and v/e long to be at rest.

We want rest ; yet not the rest of those who sit
with idle hands, not the rest of those who cease
from mental strife, not the rest of those whose
ambitions leave them disillusioned or content.
We want that inward rest of soul which comes
to those who share the easy yoke of Christ.

We need forgiveness; nought else can meet
our case. The struggle has not left us unscarred,
our souls are disfigured and stained, and sin has
enfeebled our will. Yet no easy word of pardon,
Lord, or promise of f orgetf ulness ; not merely
the hiding of Thine eyes or a garment to cover
our shame; nothing but the transformation of
our being, the cleansing of the heart by blood,
the weaving of a robe of righteousness from
repentance and renewed desire.

We need a refuge, for the tempest still is high,
and the enemy is close at our heels. Yet not a
refuge from life, from truth, from Thee. We
want to face life with strength for all realities;
we want to find our refuge only in the truth;
we want to hide ourselves deep within Thy
heart. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

/^ GOD, who art so near that nearer Thou
^-^ cannot be, whose Spirit mingles with our
own as sunshine in the air; even this does not
content us, unless we can feel Thy presence
and see Thy light and look upon Thy face.

We know Thou art in our minds, yet Thou
art always a step beyond our thoughts; and we
long to speak with Thee as friend with friend.
In the stillness of the chamber, under the silence
of the stars, we know Thou art; but oh that
Thou couldst call us as a mother calls her child.
We believe Thou art near, for suddenly our
hearts grow still, heavenly thoughts stir within
the mind, in sad and lonely hours we smile and
know not why; but oh that we could feel Thee
like the wind upon our cheeks, like the tide
about the shore, like a hand within our own.

We could understand Thy love if it were
warm with our own humanity, we could even
dare to love Thee if Thou wouldst clothe Thy-
self in our frail form; we could trust ourselves
to life if Thou couldst consent to walk our ways,
endure our sorrovv^s, and taste the bitterness of
death. Amen.

76

THE INNER COURT

/^ THOU who art more truly than can be
^^ thought, and who can be thought more
truly than uttered, silence seems the only wor-
ship we can bring. We call Thee holy, but how
poor is all our thought of holiness. Thy name is
Love, but how little we know of what love may
be. Yet leave us not to worship Thee dumbly
and perplexed; rather come to us in kindling
thought, and open our lips to shew forth Thy
praise. Stoop to our world of sense that we
may be lifted to comprehend Thine ineffable
nature. We thank Thee that high as Thou
art, Thou hast buried within us thoughts of
Thyself: thoughts of infinite and perfect good-
ness, longings for a holiness that knows no defeat
of sin, promptings of a love that puts self to
painless death. We thank Thee that in the
fulness of time Thou didst gather man's blind
thoughts and mingle them with Thine to make
the Word Christ Jesus.

Now Thou art near to us, all our sufiferings
are Thine, our very sins are borne by Thee, and
in the mystery of an eternal sacrifice Thou hast
atoned us unto Thee, and overcome all sin and
separation.

Praise be unto Thee, O Lord most High.
Amen.

77

THE TEMPLE

/^ GOD, Thou knowest how our hearts yearn
^^ after Thee. Thou hast heard the prayers
which plead for Thee to manifest Thyself to us.
And sometimes It has seemed that there was
none to hear, and none to answer us. For
when we asked to see Thy power, we saw only
a child set In our midst; and we felt we had
been m.ocked. Yet afterwards we saw all the
beasts of the field and all the powers of the earth
led captive by that little child.

We prayed for a revelation of Thy glory,
that we might wonder and worship, and never
doubt again. And then the sunlight failed at
noonday, and outside a city wall a lonely cross
was reared against a darkened sky; and our very
hope became despair. Yet often since we have
seen that cross again, now an ornament of grace,
a holy symbol before which men bowed, a
banner of victory, and a sign of faith.

Men call on Thee to give them light on the
sufferings they are forced to bear, and only the
more does the sense of pain press in upon their
hearts. They find It hard to believe that pain
is the sign of our progress, the promise that
all things shall one day be redeemed. Yet
we thank Thee that Thy revelation is break-
ing through, and that Thy ways are being
learned.

O Thou, who travailest in us to lead us to a
higher peace, who livest by yielding Thyself to

78

THE INNER COURT

the uttermost, who art mighty only in merq^,
and strong only in humility; reunite us to Thy-
self, and make Thy perfect will our own.
Amen.

79

THE TEMPLE

O

GOD, who Cometh to us in an hour when
we think not, and in such a way as we
least expect; we are all gathered to wait and
watch for Thy coming. Disappoint us not be-
cause we disappointed Thee when Thou camest
to Thine own before. Refuse not to return to
us because we knew not the day of Thy visita-
tion, nor the things that belonged to our peace.
We had expected a king coming in glory, girt
with royal robes; not a wayfaring man who
turned aside to tarry for a night. We looked
for a mighty conqueror travelling victoriously,
who would demand our submission in tones we
dared not disobey; not for a suppliant standing
at our gate pleading in lowliness and garbed in
humility. We awaited one whose raiment would
shine like the sun and whose crown was rich
with precious stones and purest gold ; not one
clothed in mockery and crowned with thorns.
We sought a Saviour whose magic touch would
heal all our sickness, whose medicine would
minister to a mind diseased; we never dreamed
we might be called to drink a cup of tears and
share a baptism of blood.

Yet come again to us. We look no more
for seeming strength or outvvard power, but for
a heart which cares, for a face which answers
ours. Amen.

80

THE INNER COURT

/^ LIGHT Eternal, to whose dawning man
^^ lifts his darkened face, shine on us gathered
here to wait for Thee. Pierce the earthborn
clouds that hide Thee from us, dark clouds of
unbelief, chill clouds of anxiety, heavy clouds of
despair. May every heart that watches with us
see the Sun of Righteousness arise, with healing
in His wings.

Pour Thy glory forth that we may see what
lies around us. The light in the valley, the
rainbow in the storm, the silver lining of the
clouds. V^e thank Thee for the dimmest con-
sciousness of Thy presence; the trail of a seam-
less robe about us, a light in the sky brighter
than that of the sun, a burning of the heart, a
whisper in the mind.

But oh for more, for the sunshine of Thy
face clear and radiant; the glory of Thy throne
resplendent and awful; the majesty of our daily
path crowded with helpfulness, broadened with
opportunity, a highway through the desert. Oh
for that vision for lack of which we perish.

Is this Thy throne, an upreared cross? Is this
Thy form, a bleeding Lamb? Ah, Thou hast
stricken us, heart-whole, pleasure-loving, by this
dying love, the revelation of perpetual sacrifice.

We are humbled, we who never bowed ; we
are broken, we who never wept; yet let us
watch until the mystic sight tells upon our souls,
for this is all our life and our salvation. Amen.

Si

THE TEMPLE

/^ THOU who art light to all that loves and
^^ fire to all that hates, let Thy glory shine
upon us, that love in us may come to life and all
our hatred be consumed.

O Beauty of ancient days yet evec nev^^, too
late have we loved Thee. Our hearts faint for
the sight of Thy face, yet when we see Thee
we could creep away and hide ourselves for very
shame.

O seeking Saviour of our souls, w^e could pray
Thee to depart from us, for we are sinful men;
in Thy pure presence our impurities take on a
deeper stain. Yet leave us not, lest we die in
our sins.

O Cross that art crimsoned with the cleansing
love of God, we would turn away at sight of
thee, afraid ; yet we want this worn-out self
to die, and for the new man created after Christ
to rise in power.

Come then again to our hearts: shine upon
us in all Thy fairness, burn Thyself ineffaceably
within: heal us, though by pain; save us, though
by death.

O Man upon Thy cross, we cannot turn
back now; for our weakness, pain and need
are more than we can bear; Thy sorrow stays
our feet. Thy suffering stirs our hearts, Thy
sacrifice has saved our souls. O Lamb of God,
we come. Amen.

82

THE INNER COURT

FATHER, Thou knowest how strangely in us
faith and doubt are mingled, how we have to
do battle for our highest things, and how some-
times our hold is very frail and insecure. But
Thou dost understand. We believe ; help Thou
our unbelief.

Sometimes the darkest doubts assail us, but we
thank Thee so much in life conspires to make
our doubt impossible. We have sometimes felt
all life sink down to the darkness of an endless
night; but when we watch the setting sun fling
back its beams upon the blackest clouds, and make
them gloriously bright, we feel there is always
still to-morrow.

Sometimes our hearts are sad with sorrow, and
we want no more of life; and then from some
blossoming bough a bird sings a song of sweet-
ness, and we know there is nothing in our life
so sad that it cannot be made into music.

And now we hear from far-off days a rumour
that Jesus the pure and tender-hearted has risen
from the tomb where He was buried, and shewed
Himself alive. And as we wait together here we
know that it is true. For our hearts are burning
with His presence and our faith breaks forth to
flame. Amen.

83

THE TEMPLE

O

GOD, so near, yet so invisible to our dim
eyes; so beautiful, yet whom we dare not
look upon; the dweller in the innermost, and yet
unknown to our distracted thought: how wilt
Thou reveal Thyself to us?

The pure in heart see Thee, but purity we
could never claim. The sinless might endure
Thy gaze, but we should surely perish at the
sight. The loving might know Thee, but we
find love too hard for us.

Couldst Thou not appear to us through the
things we can see? Lead us beyond the glory
of the sunset to the gates of Thy high place.
Speak to us through the sighing of the wind.
Let Thy peace come down with the twilight
and the stars.

O that Thou wouldst wear our human form,
and look on us with eyes majestic and a smile that
bade us hope. If Thou wouldst walk our ways
and taste our sorrows, and, O dear God, endure
the torment of our sin ; then we might see Thee.

Who art Thou, O lowly toiler at the bench;
why walkest Thou alone with burdened heart;
how came those thorns upon Thy brow, and
whence these drops of blood?

My Lord and my God! My Love I can no
more. Holy, Holy, Holy, the whole earth is
full of Thy glory; glory be to Thee, O Lord
most high. Amen.

84

THE INNER COURT

TV/fOST pure, most wise, most holy, before
•*■ * whom the angels veil their faces, the
saints confess their sinfulness, and the disputer
is silent at last; how shall we dare to enter
Thy presence? How foolish seem our highest
thoughts; how trifling the things for which we
strive; the very thought of Thee makes all else
seem poor. And when we draw near to Thy
burning throne, old forgotten sins come back
to mind, wounds that will not heal throb again
with pain, and hidden evil tells its tale in flame
upon our face.

Ofttimes we have sought an easier way. We
have determined to remain without Thee; away
from the searching light, sheltered by the friendly
dark; only to be smitten with desire to see
Thy face, and with enough and to spare of
the bread that perisheth, still hungering after
Thee in our starving souls. We cannot do
without Thee.

They told us of an easier way, through Christ
the Saviour who Himself would bear our sins.
Yet when we looked on Him we saw our sins as
we had never done before ; for the way He wore
our nature makes us ashamed for all that we have
ever been. They said His cross would save us;
it has only poured contempt on all our pride and
utterly broken our hearts.

Yet, O our Father, we have learned enough to
know this is the only way; and so, with all our

85

THE TEMPLE

doubts and fears, our failures and our cowardice,
we come. We do not ask that pain be spared us,
if only we may see Thy face. We will not turn
from the cross, if only it lift us to Thee. Amen.

^

86

THE EVENING SACRIFICE

Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense,

and the lifting up of my hands

as the evening sacrifice.

— Psalm cxli. 2.

THE EVENING SACRIFICE

ETERNAL Father, we come to Thee at the
close of day when from olden time men
have always turned aside to. seek Thy face. With
strange rites, by different names, beside cruel
altars they made their prayer, and though more
light has come to us, and we may have grown
wiser than they, our need continues still the same.

We would make to Thee our evensong for
the fair beauty of the day, for the Sabbath rest
of our spirits, for sacred memories and thoughts
of holiness, and for this . evening hour made
solemn by Thy peace.

Yet we need a peace far deeper than the world
can give. For never does departing day find us
fit for rest till we have cleansed ourselves by
secret intercourse with Thee. There haunt us
at this hour memories of duties unperformed,
promptings disobeyed, deeds of kindness and of
pity that we have left too late; words untrue,
acts unkind, thoughts impure; the stain of these
is on us all. And *as the sense of unfading light,
of spotless purity, of long-suffering love steals
upon us, it makes us all the more ashamed. If
this be Thy coming to us, gracious Lord, come
nearer still, till selfishness is burned from our
breasts, our minds are purged from error, and
our wills lose all their weakness in union with
Thine own. Amen.

89

THE TEMPLE

T IKE pillow to tired head, like light to watch-
*-^ ing eyes, like wine to fainting heart, be
Thou our God to us this night.

Wearied by the conflict of life, worn by the
burden of the day, we seek Thee as our resting
place. May Thy eternal calm descend upon our
troubled spirits and give us all Thy peace. Amid
the treacherous sands of time Thou standest still,
the Rock of Ages. In life's desert places Thou
art a spring whose waters never fail. "

We turn from our perplexities, our imperfec-
tions, and our sins to Thine infinite perfection,
goodness and beauty; like men who turn from
dusty toil to cleansing streams, like those who
raise their eyes from the city's foul and narrow
streets to snow-clad mountains and the light of
stars.

Appear to our waiting eyes, welcome us with
outstretched arms, clasp us to Thy heart. Amen.

90

THE EVENING SACRIFICE

A LMIGHTY Father, whose care for us is un-
•^^ sleeping, whose love passeth knowledge,
and whose mercy takes away despair; we turn
to Thee because apart from Thee we have
neither light, nor rest, nor strength. An infi-
nite desire cries out within us that only Thyself
can satisfy. We are ashamed for our failures,
we chafe at our limitations, we fret within the
chains of sin. We feel there is something more
for us, and we want to be free. We know there
is something higher, and we want to be lifted
there.

Come nearer to us than we have ever known.
May Thy voice startle us from sleep, may Thy
call rouse us from death. If we are living for
self, flash in upon our minds the vision of the
cross ; if we are living carelessly and in sin, may
the Christ call us back this night, and whatever
we need, do Thou Thyself answer and satisfy.
Amen.

91

THE TEMPLE

(^ LORD our God, we come at the sweet
^^ close of day to Thee, our Eternal Light,
our refuge in all generations. We thank Thee
for Thy power so unimaginably great, greater
than our failure, our sin, or our rebellion. Most
of all do we thank Thee for the love which all
our foolishness has never tired ; the love which
makes all Thy dealings with us mercy; the love
which ne\'er despairs; the love that thinketh on
us only for good ; the love that one day shall
gather every wanderer home.

Some of us have grown weary with the heat
and burden of the day. Be a strength and cheer
to us now. Lead us where quiet waters flow.

Some of us have been unfaithful to our great
calling, have slunk from the field in the height
of the conflict, have missed our Leader, blurred
our vision, lost our ideals. Come to us with
visions of victory, ner\T us afresh for the fray.

Some of us have been proud and rebellious,
have preferred our own will, loved to see and
choose our path, and are in danger of losing life,
missing the great secret, and laying up for our
selves a harvest of remorse in days to come.
May Thy tender grace soften us. Thy love win
us, the knocking of a pierced hand persuade us
to open the door. Come and abide with us.
Be our guest this night. Nay, take Thy right-
ful place: be the host of our waiting, lonely
hearts. Amen.

92

THE EVENING SACRIFICE

V/fOST Compassionate Father, whose tender
"*• "^ mercy is over all Thy works, we gather
ourselves to Thy Name, and seek to realize Thy
presence at this evening hour. We are weak,
weary, and sinful, but Thou dost know our
frame and pitiest our frailties, for Thou didst
make us. We bring our sins to Thee, for Thou
art gracious and full of compassion, that in the
light of Thy face they may melt away.

Like children who gather to hear the old
stories again at nightfall, we want to hear the
stor>' of Thy love, the story of Jesus and His
cross. Like mourners who seek to forget in
sleep their sorrow and their loss, we want to
lose our griefs, our sadness and ourselves in Thee.
Like dwellers on the heated plains who lift their
eyes to distant hills, so do we lift our hearts to
the thought of Thee, the Pure and Holy.

Receive us, shelter us under Thy wings, hide
us in Thy heart. Amen.

93

THE TEMPLE

/^ CARE unsleeping, Love unchanging,
^^ Light unfading ; in Thee is all our strength
and hope. If thou didst think no more of us
when we thought no more of Thee, how soon
we should perish. If Thy love depended on our
loveliness, we could hope nothing from Thee.
If Thy love was gloomed by our unfaithfulness,
how swift and irrevocable our night would be.

Thou art so near us, yet we miss Thee, and
often think Thee far away. The path runs
straight enough to Thee, yet we lose our way.
The knowledge of Thee is clear in us all, yet
we are uncertain, and so easily deceived. Thy
truth is so simple, and yet it is too hard for us.

We turn to Thee because our feeling of dis-
content, our sense of sin, our restlessness witness
that Thou hast not left us. We silence our
thoughts to feel Thee, we hold our eyes to
watch for Thee.

Come, as noiseless as the light, and steal
within. Brood upon the deep with peace and
calm. Touch us with Thy hand that we may
turn and see Thy face. Amen,

94

THE EVENING SACRIFICE

T^ATHER of Light, Sun of the Soul, when
^ the shadows of twilight fall and darkness
ends the day, our thoughts turn to Thee who
dwellest where night never comes. It fills us
with quiet trust to know that somewhere the
truth is always clear, however clouded it appear
to us; that there is a light that does not fade
when we lose sight of it. Shine through the
mists of our' mortality and through the deeper
gloom of our sin, that the night for us may hold
no fears.

If we have lost our way in doubt, so that we
despair of Thee, may the light that lighteth
every man shine the clearer within us now, and
in Thy light may we see light.

And if we have turned aside to try the ways
of darkness and death, and fear the light, because
of what it may reveal, or hate it because our
deeds are evil; yet leave us not, but lead us
back by the kindly lights of home, till in Thy
flame our sins are consumed and in the light of
Thy countenance we rest in peace. Amen.

95

THE TEMPLE

r\ FATHER, we thank Thee for the rest of
^^ this sacred day, and for the benediction
of the eventide. To every one of us may Thy
peace be granted. If the day has been vt^earying,
may the darkness bring refreshing sleep, li any
mind has been plagued with perplexity, may
there be light for such at evening time, li the
quiet of departing day has made us conscious of
our sin, may forgiveness fold around us, and may
we find tht shelter and cleansing of Thy love.

If bitter thoughts, angry clamour and passion-
ate words have disturbed the day of rest, may
there creep back into the mind the sweet
peace of penitence. If we have closed and
barred the door of our hearts against unwelcome
truth, may it steal back by secret paths and
find its way within.

If we have sought Thee despairingly and
think not to nave found Thee, may we hear the
voice that says: Beloved, thou couldest not have
sought Me if I had not found thee. Amen.

96

THE EVENING SACRIFICE

/^ GOD, who from the beginning of the
^^ world hast walked with man in the cool
of the day, come to commune with us now
this eventide, and may no fear or shame lead
us to hide ourselves from Thee. Since Thou
knowest already our inmost thoughts and beareth
still to us a love wherewith we dare not love
ourselves, may we consent to walk with Thee
in the garden Thou hast planted for our souls.

If any of us have come to the end of this day
faint with struggle and worn with failure, con-
fessing ourselves worsted and our strength de-
parted, just as we give up all may we find Thy
comfort in our hearts, feel Thy presence at our
side, and gird ourselves again for battle.

If any of us have searched for truth till our
minds are weaned, and sadness has crept into
our eyes, as we relinquish the task and yield
ourselves to despair, may we find the light
dawning within, and grow sure of Thee who
art ever near. Amen.

97

THE TEMPLE

/^ FATHER, we are gathered together, a
^^ company of men and women, unknown to
one another, yet each known to Thee. Some
cannot think what has brought them hither:
old-time custom, unconscious habit, something
in the evening sky, a desolation in the heart;
knowing not that it was Thyself who callest
everywhere and movest in all. Some of us are
only conscious of our ignorance, aware of the
hopeless poverty and confusion of our thoughts.
Help us to understand that this is because in the
secret places of the mind we touch the wisdom
of Thy mighty mind and overhear Thy glorious
thoughts. Some of us are saddened and per-
plexed by the ugliness and misery around us.
Help us to understand that this is because we
have seen the holy city descending out of heaven.
Some of us are in despair because of unworthi-
ness and sin. Grant us to know that only in
Thy light could these shadows be discerned.

As stars come out when the sun goes down,
strange music sounds w^hen the quiet of evening
comes, and voices are heard in the silence which
were drowned in the noise of the day, so let us be
silent now until Thy presence grows more real
and we find both doubt and desire but heralds of
Thy drawing nigh. Amen

98

THE EVENING SACRIFICE

T DRD of the night as of the day, we thank
■*-' Thee that the gathering darkness so often
speaks to us of Thee. It is when the light of
day is done that we often grow more conscious
of the purer light that shines within. The clos-
ing hours of day beget in us a tenderness towards
eternal things. A feeling of homelessness moves
our feet to seek for Thee, our only rest. The
memory of unnoticed sins comes back to mind, and
we long for nobler life. We become like the chil-
dren w^ho put off their garments gladly, who wait
to hear again some oft-told tale, who feel they
must unburden their hearts to some listening and
forgiving heart. Be near us now, O Father.

O Thou, who often standest before us, when
for the holding of our eyes we behold Thee not,
help us to know Thee near in the darkness of
doubt and fear. Save us from despairing of the
age that presses round us with its questions and
denials, and help us to see in every perplexity of
faith but the prelude to some further coming of
the Son of Man. Turn us again and cause Thy
face to shine upon us, and we shall be saved.

And when we stand within the valley of the
shadow and bid a sad farewell to those who
journey down its depths alone, or when we our-
selves look back for the last time with longing
eyes, and then move onward with what hope we
may, then let us find what seemed to us such
hopeless night only the shadow cast by an eternal
dawn. Amen.

99

9i2976A

THE TEMPLE

AS the quiet splendour of the day dies down,
-^ we wait for the shining of the Light that
never fades. We step aside from the crowded
highway to seek the garden of the soul where
Thou keepest tryst for us at cool of day. We
have looked into the worn faces of men, into the
eyes of those who love us, and now we look for
the face of the Son of Man that we may rest.
We have seen an end of all perfection; show to
us now the glory of the cross, where failure
becomes victory, and the bitterness of sin dis-
solves in tears of penitence. Call us from all
that distracts; gather us into the quiet of Thy
love; meet with us, O Father, for we seek Thy
face. Amen.

lOO

THE EVENING SACRIFICE

/^ THOU who companiest with us even when
^^ we know it .not, shepherdest us in shadowed
valleys when we think Thee far away, and often
with us sojournest unrecognised; disclose Thy-
self to us this evening hour, we pray. Apart from
Thee all life is joyless, all minds are restless, all
hearts loveless. Dare, O Lord, to tabernacle
with us, unworthy as we are; and though Thou
preferrest before all temples the contrite heart,
and grantest only to the pure the vision of Thy
face, yet leave us not alone with our pride, nor
shrink from contact even with our sin. Only
Thy light can make us lowly ; the sight of Thee
alone will show us what we are. Lift then upon
us the light of Thy countenance ; draw near and
abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the
day is far spent. Amen.

lOI

THE TEMPLE

/^iJR God, who art the Father of our spirits,
^^ when evening falls and strange feelings,
ancient fears, obstinate questionings, rise within
us, we turn to Thee, who alone boldest the
secret of Thine own creation.

We believe some kindly purpose lies beyond
our coming into the world : not chance, nor fate,
nor punishment can explain life; but only love.
We feel sure of this because of Thy word in our
hearts, and because of Thy Word made flesh.

We have stood before a lonely cross whereon
one died, despised and rejected of men, and there
we have learned how pain and death need bring
no defeat to Thy purposes, and » hold no contra-
diction of Thy love. '

Thou hast placed within our trembling hands
the strands of life whose issues are in eternity.
How shall we live aright; we who are sinful,
w^ak, wilful ? Be very m.ercif ul to Thy children.
Father. The lessons of life are difficult unless
one interpret to us. Give us to-night Thine in-
terpretation of all that we are, and are destined
yet to be. So shall we realize Thy salvation and
be glad in Thee all our days. Amen.

102

THE EVENING SACRIFICE

A S the sounds of day die away and the silent
'^*' night creeps on, may Thy calm, O God,
possess our souls. As the storms of passion cease,
may our hearts reflect Thy love as the sleeping
sea the sky. As our restless thoughts, tired out,
give up their fruitless quests, may truth be dis-
entangled in the mind and light shine clear
through its untroubled depths.

As the light of sunset fades and the stars steal
into the evening sky, so do Thou come into our
hearts, noiseless and unheralded, save that we
grow conscious Thou art there.

When the instinct of home draws all things
that have learned to love, may the turning tide
set towards Thee, and may we find ourselves
steering for the shore, the Pilot on board, and
ere the night comes down, anchored, safe home
in port.

We wait, we still our minds, we hush our
spirits, Come, gracious Spirit, come, Amen.

103

THE TEMPLE

O

UR Father, we gather to Thy name as a
holy day passes once more in shadow
away. Forbid that we should think any day
less holy than this, any hour less fleeting. May
the solemnity of the hour recall us to the fact
that this, like all other days, is the judgement
day. May we not be under the delusion that
this is not the critical and decisive hour.

May we not fail to recognize Thy presence
with us now, and may that open our eyes to
Thy presence everywhere. Thou rarely comest
to us as King of Kings, as Lord of Lords; but
oftenest as truth, or duty, a stranger seeking
shelter, a little child, a lonely dying man.

May we not spurn to do the simple thing;
to make submission of our spirits, to speak the
prayer of our hearts; lest this should be the day
of Thy visitation, and we miss the things that
belong to our peace. Amen.

104

THE EVENING SACRIFICE

TpATHER of us all, at this hour when the
■■• solitary are set in families, men gather again
under the old roof, and wanderers and exiles
think longingly of home, we think of Thee the
home of us all, of the hearth fire of Thy love
where all are welcome, of that last great Christ-
mastide when He who was the Babe of Bethle-
hem shall have gathered all souls together one
unbroken family, not one missing.

May the solemn associations of this hour be
blessed to all of us this Christmas Eve. May
kind thoughts find lodging in the hardest heart,
may longing for purity be born in minds that
are unclean, may the lonely and the labouring
hear the angels sing to-night.

We are all still children, our Father; our
knowledge and our years drop from us all to-
night. We gather to Thee, as long ago to our
mother's knee. Let us hear again the wonderful
story of Thy love, let us listen to the songs of
heaven, and in the light of Thy forgiveness
have all our doubts and sins and fears dispelled.
Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

OUR God, we who are poor and lowly are
met to worship Thee the High and Holy.
Yet our minds are fearless and our hearts at
rest, for in Christ, the holy Child, the Son of
Man, the Crucified, Thou hast become to us
Immanuel, God for ever with us.

We are gathered for evening prayer, but
prayer turns to praise upon our lips, for we have
naught to ask of Thee. Thou hast spoken to
us so simply. Thou hast come to us so fully, we
can never doubt or want again.

The angels sing no more above the cradle
of the Christ, but, a greater wonder still, man
learns their song, and soon it shall swell to the
skies a mighty melody, the harmony of all
earth's thousand tongues.

We need not leave our homes to seek by star-
light some far-off shrine, for the Babe is no
longer Bethlehem's pride and Mary's joy, but
the whole wide world's, and the blessed burden
of every heart that makes Him room.

Here we dedicate our rediscovered treasures,
gold of royal love, frankincense of holy inter-
cession, myrrh of healing sympathy, and bear
them forth to bless all birth, and to make at
every cradle a carol of welcome and a solemn
service of the Christ. Amen.

1 06

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

Golden bowls y full of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints,

—Rev, V. 8.

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

INTERNAL, Holy, Almighty, whose name is
^-^ Love; we are met in solemn company to
seek Thy face, and in spirit and truth to worship
Thy name. We come in deep humility, since
Thou are so high and exalted, and because Thou
beholdest the proud afar off. We come in
tender penitence, for the contrite heart is Thy
only dwelling. We come in the name and
spirit of Jesus to make our wills one with Thine ;
to abandon our lonely and selfish walk for
solemn communion with Thee, to put an end to
sin by welcoming to our hearts Thy Holy
Presence. Deeper than we have known, enter,
Thou Maker of our souls ; clearer than we have
ever seen, dawn Thy glory on our sight. Light
the flame upon the altar, call forth the incense
of prayer, waken the song of praise, and mani-
fest Thyself to all. Amen.

109

THE TEMPLE

/^ SPIRIT of the Living God, breathe upon
^-^ this assembled company Thy gracious
power. Come to us as long ago upon the deep.
Disturb our sleep, our pride, our apathy, and
may those of us who have never before been
conscious of our need, suddenly find ourselves
hungering for Thee. Come upon us like a
flame of fire. Cleanse us from moral pollution
and from mental darkness. Search deep within,
that to the core of self we may be clean.

Come to us as Thou camest to Jesus, con-
straining as a mother's love, giving us a new
gentleness and grace, making us long for fellow-
ship with all mankind, willing to bear the sins
of the race.

Come to us as a rushing mighty wind, scatter-
ing the mists of our doubt, stirring our spirits to
health and action, sweeping aside the fears that
have held us in captivity.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come.
Amen.

1 10

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

/^ GOD, at whose commanding word light
^-^ first sprang from darkness, we pray for the
spreading of that light till the day break and the
shadows flee away.

Send light unto our inmost souls, we pray,
lest some cherished iniquity shut Thine ears to
our prayers. Let the sunshine of Thy love stir
our sterile natures into fruitfulness, and win
from our stubborn soil a plenteous harvest of
heavenly grain. Illumine the unknown tracts
of our natures, that hidden powers may come to
light and yield their service to Thy kingdom.

Shed light upon the dark places of the earth
that the habitations of violence may be destroyed :
let human misery melt away before the rising
of the Sun of Righteousness.

Grant light upon the problems that perplex
the mind of man, dispel the night of doubt and
fear, and for the eyes that wait may morning
dawn. Amen.

Ill

THE TEMPLE

/^ GOD of all wisdom, who knowest our
^^ needs before we ask, and art more ready
to give than we are to receive; pardon our
pitiful worship and the peevishness of our
prayers. We have nothing we can offer Thee
except ourselves, and that is less than nothing.
Yet because Thou didst make us and dost love
us we yield ourselves to Thee, as we are, with
all our struggles, our failures and our aspira-
tions.

We have so often prayed for things that
afterwards we found would do us harm. We
have asked Thee to save us from the pain
and penalty of our sin; but now we feel there
is nothing for us to do but leave ourselves iq
Thy hands, and no safe prayer for such as we
but that Thy will be done.

We have sometimes wished we might become
righteous in a moment, our sanctification sud-
denly accomplished; that our desires could be
fulfilled without this weary wrestling of our
will. Yet now we know the hunger after
righteousness, the upward toil, the way of prayer
and penitence is the only way, safe for us, and
sure to lead at last to Thee.

Sometimes we have prayed, Hide Thy face
from our sins; but now. Set them in the light
of Thy countenance, be unto them as a con-
suming fire. Amen.

tI2

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

/^ GOD, forgive the poverty, the pettiness,
^-^ the childish folly of our prayers. Listen,
not to our words, but to the groanings that
cannot be uttered; hearken, not to our peti-
tions, but to the crying of our need. So
often we pray for that which is already ours,
neglected and unappropriated; so often for that
which never can be ours; so often for that
which we must win ourselves; and then labour
endlessly for that which can only come to us in
prayer.

How often we have prayed for the coming of
Thy kingdom, yet when it has sought to come
through us we have sometimes barred the way;
we have wanted it without in others, but not
in our own hearts. We feel it is we who stand
between man's need and Thee; between our-
selves and what we might be; and we have no
trust in our own strength, or loyalty, or courage.

O give us to love Thy will, and seek Thy
kingdom first of all. Sweep away our fears,
our compromise, our weakness, lest at last we be
found fighting against Thee. Amen.

113 H

THE TEMPLE

PATERNAL holy Love, God most high, we
^-^ seek to worship Thee not only in words
and outward form, but in the depths of our
spirit and in truth. We have only one offering;
it is our poor selves; we give Thee but Thine
own. We know only one way to Thee: the
way of Jesus, the attitude of sonship and of
childlike trust.

The perplexities of our strange natures drive
us to Thee. We cannot understand ourselves.
Glorious gleams and darkest shadows chase
across our hearts; conflicts rage there while we
stand helpless aside; within is no rest, without
is no hope. Unless Thou canst rest us, O our
God, we are exiles of eternity, homeless in
infinite space.

The path to Thee has been tortuous and
steep, our prayers fashioned in agony and moist-
ened with tears. Help us to see that the path
as well as the goal is Thyself ; the prayer Thine,
as the answer is Thine. End our search by
beginning Thine. Steal upon us like the grace
of summer evenings, like the dew on parched
ground, like warm winds from sunnier lands.
Lift our eyes to the hills, touch our aspirations,
rest our longings in Thyself; for Thou hast
made us. Amen.

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THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

f~\ GOD, whose Spirit searcheth all things,
^-^ and whose love beareth all things, encour-
age us to draw near to Thee in sincerity and in
truth. Save us from a worship of the lips while
our hearts are far away. Save us from the use-
less labour of attempting to conceal ourselves
from Thee who searchest the heart.

Enable us to lay aside all those cloaks and
disguises which we wear in the light of day and
here to bare ourselves, with all our weakness,
disease and sin, naked to Thy sight.

Make us strong enough to bear the vision of
the truth, and to have done with all falsehood,
pretence, and hypocrisy, so that we may see things
as they are, and fear no more.

Enable us to look upon the love which has
borne with us and the heart that suffers for us.
Help us to acknowledge our dependence on
the purity that abides our uncleanness, the
patience that forgives our faithlessness, the truth
that forbears all our falsity and compromise.
And may we have the grace of gratitude, and
the desire to dedicate ourselves to Thee, Amen.

115

THE TEMPLE

/^ LIGHT of the world, shine upon us, O Sun
^-^ of our spirits, reveal to us Thy comfort and
Thy glory. We have sought for the light that
never fades, for the glory that is never dimmed,
that our eyes might be gladdened and the path
of life made bright; and ofttimes found but
darkness. The things that men rejoice in,
the world's fame and power and riches, bring
no gloT}' that endures. We have seen the morn
that promised fair turn to desolate and weeping
noon, the crimson of the sunset sky has faded to
the chill of night, and the majestic glittering
heavens strike cold upon our sight.

And so we come back to the things we have
neglected, to the common tasks, the stern com-
mands of conscience, the sacrifice of love. We
take the path that once we turned from^ and
climb mount Czlvary. Surely this dolorous way
is the path of light: we see the glory of God in
the face of the Man of Sorrows; the solemn
shadow of His cross is better than the sun.

Here where Man has triumphed and Thy
great heart, O Father, is opened, we gather in
adoring wonder at Thy glor}^ and in deep con-
trition at our own cowardice, failure and loveless
lives. Amen.

Ii6

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

f^ THOU that hearest prayer, to Thee shall
^-^ all flesh come. Before ever our yearning
has broken into speech, Thou hearest us. No
secret sigh of discontent escapes Thy listening
ear. No silent resolve on higher things but is
granted the assistance of Thy grace. We come
to Thee who already knowest us altogether;
ourselves, our hearts, our minds, our lives, all
shall be our prayer. Like desert travellers wq
have thirsted after Thee, and Thou knowest
that thirst is Thine own creating. O satisfy us
early with Thy mercy.

We would spread before Thee all the spiritual
deadness of our nature, the careless content, the
unheeding soul, the short-sighted vision Thou
hast made all Thy glory to pass before us. We
heard the thunder, we felt the fire, but Thy still
small voice of calm we were too deaf to hear.
O quicken us by Thy coming, breath of God.

We confess to Thee that which has seared
our conscience; hours of riotous rebellion which
have left their mark, habits of self-indulgence
whose power grows greater with the years, selfish
determination to make life minister only to our-
selves.

O come, great Deliverer. Make known to
us Thy great salvation. Plant within us the
cross of Thy dear Son. May its pain awaken
and save us all. Amen.

117

THE TEMPLE

/^ REAT Shepherd of Thy people, who
^^ knowest all, and callest us by that secret
name which unlocks the heart to Thy presence,
we are folded together and wait for Thy coming.
Take us one by one and shut us in with Thy-
self. Light in every heart some overwhelming
vision of Thyself. Draw us apart to be with
Thee.

Ofttimes Thou hast called us, but our ears
have been dulled with other cries; now make
us deaf to every voice but Thine. We are each
one living alone, despite our friendship and our
common life. We have feared to walk in desert
places, we have loved the garish day, we have
been afraid to be left alone with ourselves, lest
long-stifled voices should speak something we
dreaded to hear. We have been afraid of Thee ;
afraid because we do not truly know Thee.
Thou hast been to us as the darkness is to
children, as the dread unknown to the fearful
and untravelled soul.

Come to us through the silence, in the night,
meet us in the desert, or, if we shun the lonely
way, meet us in the crowd, reveal Thyself in
the intercourse of life, speak above the tumult in
thunder to our souls. Amen.

n8

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

OTHOU who art of purer eyes than to
behold iniquity, canst Thou bear to look
on us conscious of our great transgression?
Yet hide not Thy face from us, for in Thy light
alone shall we see light.

Forgive us for the sins which crowd into the
mind as we realize Thy presence ; our ungovern-
able tempers, our shuffling insincerities, the
craven fear of our hearts, the pettiness of our
spirits, the foul lusts and fatal leanings of our
souls. Not for pardon only, but for cleansing.
Lord, we pray.

Forgive us, we beseech Thee, our unconscious
sins; things which must be awful to Thy sight,
of which we yet know nothing. Forgive by
giving us in fuller measure tihe awakening of
Thy presence, that we may know ourselves, and
lose all love of sin in the knowledge of what
Thou art.

Forgive us for the things for which we can
never forgive ourselves; those sad turned
pages of our life which some chance wind of
memory blows back again with shame; for the
moment of cruel passion, the hour beyond recall,
the word that went forth to poison and defame,
the carelessness that lost our opportunity, the
unheeded fading of bright ideals.

Forgive us for the things that others can
never forgive; the idle tale, the cruel wrong,
the uncharitable condemnation, the unfair

119

THE TEMPLE

judgement, the careless criticism, the Irrespon-
sible conduct.

Forgive us for the sins of our holy things;
that we have turned the sacred page without
a sigh, read the confessions of holy men and
women and never joined therein, lived in Thy
light and never prayed to be forgiven or rendered
Thee thanksgiving; professed to believe in Thee
and love Thee, yet dared to injure and hate.

Naught save being born again, nothing but a
miracle of grace, can ever be to us forgiveness.
Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, and take
not Thy Holy Spirit from us. Amen.

Sl^

120

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

■pTERNAL God, who hast formed us, and
"■— ^ designed us for companionship with Thee;
who hast called us to walk with Thee and be not
afraid ; forgive us, we pray Thee, if craven fear,
unworthy thought, or hidden sin has prompted
us to hide from Thee. Remove the suspicion
which regards Thy service as an intrusion on
our time and an interference with our daily task.
Shew to us the life that serves Thee in the quiet
discharge of each day's duty, that ennobles all our
toil by doing it as unto Thee. We ask for no
far-off vision which shall set us dreaming while
opportunities around slip by; for no enchant-
ment which shall make our hands to slack and
our spirits to sleep, but for the vision of Thyself
in common things for every day; that we may
find a Divine calling in the claims of life, and
see a heavenly reward in work well done. We
ask Thee not to lift us out of life, but to prove
Thy power within ft; not for tasks more suited
to our strength, but for strength more suited to
our tasks. Give to us the vision that moves, the
strength that endures, the grace of Jesus Christ,
who wore our flesh like a monarch's robe and
walked our earthly life like a conqueror in
triumph Amen.

121

THE TEMPLE

/^ GOD, who art visible only to the pure in
^^ heart, and can be known only by such as
love the truth ; cleanse our inward minds, we pray
Thee, from all insincerity and self-deception.
Strengthen in us the appeal of all that is true
and beautiful, that evil may lose its power over
us and sin be trampled underneath our feet.

Help us by discipline, by industry and prayer,
to refine, enlarge, and rightly employ the minds
Thou hast given to us, and may these days of
deeper knowledge not leave us in danger of
greater condemnation, because we have failed to
be true to the light we see. Make our bodies
Thy temple and our minds Thine altar where
the sacred flame is ever burning. Amen.

122

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

T^ TERNAL Father, most real when most in-
■^-^ visible, most near when we think Thee far
away, most clearly conceived when we acknowl-
edge Thee to be incomprehensible; speak to us
not only from the past, but from the living
present, not only from the awful silences, but in
every tumultuous thought, not only from the
clouds that veil Thy heavenly throne, but from
Thine image graven on the heart of man.

While our thoughts of Thee grow wider, may
we remember how vaster still Thou art, and may
we seek to grow more sensible of Thy presence
and to reflect Thee more purely in our lives.

Help us, O King of Ages, in these changing
times and these troubled days. Lose not care of
us when we lose sight of Thee. Still hold us
fast when faith is feeble and knowledge is con-
fused. H our thoughts of Thee should grow
doubtful and Thine image within be dimmed,
may we unconsciously fulfil Thy will. Help
us to remember that it is not to him that think-
eth, but to him that doeth, that Thy will is
known. Help us to believe that Thou abidest
beyond all change, and art always better than our
highest hopes, greater than our noblest thoughts.
Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

]\/rOST Holy Father, we thank Thee iot the
■*■ -■• inner kingdom of the mind, for the glories
which eye hath not seen nor ear heard. We
thank Thee for Thy footprints in creation and
for Thy glory in the face of man. Save us, we
pray, from all sins of intellect ; not only from the
error and ignorance which belong to our frailty,
but from prejudice and all unreason, from mental
insincerity, from lack of rational control, and
from blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Help
us through sincerity, singlemindedness, and en-
thusiasm to enter the kingdom that is open to
all believers.

Give us, above all, grace and endurance to
plant Thy kingdom in the world in which we
live, by love of truth, by striving after justice,
by following fearless wherever light may lead,
and by giving ourselves, if needs be, even unto
death. Amen.

124

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

r\ IMMANUEL, God for ever with us, help
^-^ us to make a place for Thee to reign within
our hearts, to build in these our days that city
where Thou shalt dwell with men, and sin and
darkness, pain and sorrow, shall be no more.

We thank Thee that Christ cometh to us
ever more manifest and more victorious. We
pray that this age may become as the highway of
our God; may the desires that stir among the
people exalt every valley and make every moun-
tain low.

When we grow contented with the things
that are, send us again the prophet's word.
When we soil our souls with sin, open then in
our midst the cleansing fountain. When in
our selfishness we sell men into bondage and
humble our women with shame, come again
from the ranks of those who toil ; from the lands
that are in darkness, from our despised Nazareths,
raise up the Deliverer. When we grow proud
of our petty knowledge, and can no longer stoop
to learn Thy ways, send us a child again, a new
generation springing from the uncorrupted source
of things, and lead us back to a sane mind, a
sincere heart, and a simple life.

Though poor be the chamber, shrink not from
its lowliness ; abhor not the womb of our human-
ity; be born again in us, assume our flesh and
lift us to Thyself. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

f~\ LORD, may we not imagine, because
^^ the world is old and worn, that all things
shall continue as they are, and we can comfort
our hearts and take our ease. We cannot tell at
what moment hidden fires may flame forth and
consume the habitations we have builded for our
souls. May we not be found wanting at the
testing time; all we have laboured for prove like
stubble to the flame; the foundations we have
chosen, only sinking-sand.

Though the days drift dreaming by, may we
not conclude they count for naught. Help us
to remember that the book of life is being written,
the account is being rendered, the harvest is ripen-
ing, the sickle is thrust in, the axe is at the root
of the tree, the judge is at the gate. May we
be counted worthy to stand before the Son of
Man, and to abide His coming who is like a
refiner's fire.

We see the long content of the peoples break-
ing down. We hear voices that challenge all
that men have counted final, fixed and sure; the
foundations of things are shaken, men's hearts
are failing them for fear. Enable us to lift up
our heads because our redemption draweth nigh,
to trim our lamps, and at the midnight cry go
forth to meet the Bridegroom. Amen.

126

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

/^ THOU, the Hope of Israel, the Saviour
^^ thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest
Thou be as a sojourner with us, as a wayfaring
man who turneth aside to tarry for a night?
Thou art in the midst of us ; leave us not. Thou
who hast set the hope of Thy revelation in the
hearts of all, manifest Thyself to us. Thou who
hast spoken in times past by the prophets and in
the fullness of time hast revealed Thyself in one
who was a Son, enable us to realize that Thou
abidest with us always. Dwell with us in
glorious splendour, enthrone Thyself among
the nations, walk in our midst, and be to us
Immanuel. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

/^REAT Father, we thank Thee that we have
^^ not to wait for Thine advent, for all history
is Thy coming, and Thou are here From the
hour when Thy Spirit stirred the dark primeval
deep till Jesus by the bench and on the moun-
tain top cried, "Abba Father," our world has
been growing more conscious of Thy presence.
And yet we wait for something more; strange
hopes stir the hearts of men and passionate prayers
break forth from their lips. Can it be that this
further revelation waits upon our faith and rests
with our endeavour?

We have grown unconscious of our need, be-
come accustomed to things remaining as they are ;
ceased to desire things different, lost our vision
and are ready to perish. Worst of all, we have
found ourselves unwilling to pay the price of
better things. We have desired Thy coming,
but not through us, we have sought a salvation
that would leave ourselves still unchanged; we
have prayed that Thy will might be done, but
we have shrunk from doing it first and alone

Stand Thou before us like the light, like love
all lovely, like the morning. Then surely we
shall hinder Thee no more. Amen,

I2l

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

/^ GOD, for whose advent Thy weary world
^^ has waited long, save us lest in these latter
days the hope of Thee grow dim, and we, for-
getting to watch with lamps trimmed and loins
girded, find ourselves unprepared to meet Thee,
when at midnight comes the cry.

For we know our hopes cannot lie. In the
past we can discern that Thou hast surely come ;
in the prophets and in the Word made flesh; in
the downfall of empires, and the rising of the
peoples; in the strange thoughts that stir the
world, in the dawning sense of brotherhood.
But not yet dost Thou wholly dwell amongst us.

We mourn the misunderstandings and sus-
picions that arm the nations, the growing aliena-
tion and strife between class and class, our failure
to find a common faith or a religion to unite us
all. Come and heal our divisions, and enable us
to find that one highway along which we may
march together to the Promised Land.

Grant that we may be found with those pro-
phets and forerunners who, knowing the mind of
God and the times of His restoration, prepared
the way of the Lord.

Forbid that when Thou comest Thou shouid-
est not find faith upon the earth. Amen.

129

THE TEMPLE

/^ DESIRE of nations, long-expected Christ,
^-^ when wilt Thou appear amongst us in Thy
glory? Thy coming in humility brought great
gladness and peace to those who waited for the
kingdom, but how few of all mankind know that
Thou hast come, and fewer still have learned to
walk Thy waj'S. Something more than this was
promised, something more has kept the advent
hope living in the hearts of men. Yet the cen-
turies pass, and men ask. Where are the signs of
his coming? Wars and rumors of wars still vex
the nations, the peoples rise and pass away in
darkness and confusion, the peasants sow the
fields but others take their harvest, craftsmen
build houses but others dwell therein, in crowded
dens the semptress sews the garment she may
never wear. Again and again the people have
struck at their fetters and risen for their liberties ;
but their victories fell from their hands and their
chains are riveted afresh.

Yet we feel Thou art at hand: hope still is
strong. The highway is being exalted, the stones
are being cast out; the people lift their heads
believing their redemption draweth nigh.

May Thy coming not be to us as a thief in
the night, may we not be numbered among the
tribes that mourn when the signs of the Son of
Man appear. Amen.

130

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

A/f OST merciful Father, strengthen our faith
'*■■'■ we beseech Thee, lest we fail to endure
to the end, and miss Thy great salvation. The
days hang heavy on our hands, the evening
often finds the morning promise unfulfilled, and
hope deferred makes sick the heart. Sometimes
we fear we cannot hold out much longer.

O God, make haste to help us.

We have hailed with high enthusiasm some
mighty movement which should set the peoples
free, only to see the battle go against the right-
eous cause, to find its principles betrayed for a
handful of silver, its lofty dreams dispersed before
the cold unyielding facts of life. And still the
faces of the poor are ground, men labour for
naught, and one slavery rises from the ruins of
another.

When wilt Thou save the people ?

We have striven to follow Jesus Christ, we
have tried to forgive our enemies, we have hum-
bled ourselves before haughty and cruel men;
but we have not changed their hearts. Kind-
ness has been met by cruelty, confidence by
betrayal, trust by mean advantage, hopes by dis-
appointment. We are tempted to despair of
Christ's slow and patient ways.

Let not our hearts harden into stone.

We have gathered with those who love the
Name of Jesus, we have sought the communion
of saints, the fellowship of the Church, only to

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THE TEMPLE

find the world entrenched therein ; men earnestly
contending for the faith they do not believe,
praying prayers they hope will never be an-
swered. Help us through good report and ill to
seek the purity of Thy Church, the unity of the
body of Christ.

O for the patience of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

132

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

/^ GOD, who hast made of one blood all the
^^ nations of mankind, so that all are children
and members one of another, how is it that we
are so slow to trace the family likeness, so re-
luctant to claim our common kinship? We
pray Thee, O our God, to make the peoples one»

We pray for the Church of Christ so broken,
scattered and dismembered, that none would
think we followed all one Lord and held a
common faith. Purge away the vanity, intoler-
ance, and unforgiving spirit which keep us far
apart. May the seamless robe not be utterly
rent, nor the body any longer broken.

We pray that since man's need is one, we all
may find the one way to Thee, the one God.
Forbid that in our highest things we should find
fellowship impossible. May the spirit of Christ
break down all barriers and answer the desire
of all nations.

We pray for a union so deep and universal
that it shall gather all within one fold: those
who pray and those who cannot; those whose
faith is firm, and those whose doubt is slow to
clear. May we never be content with aught
that excludes another from the fullness of Thy
grace, a single soul from the welcome of Thy
heart. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

"V/fERCIFUL Father, to whom all sons of
^ * men are dear, we pray for all that sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death, that the
Dayspring from on high may visit them; for
the poor and oppressed, for those who dwell
amid ugliness and squalor, far from loveliness
and purity, and for whom the iire-gemmed
heavens shine in vain ; for those who toil beyond
their strength and beyond Thine ordinance,
without pleasure in the work of their hands,
and without help of rest; for those who sink
back to the beast and seek to drown all thought
and feeling, and for all who are trampled under
foot by men. Raise up deliverance for the
peoples.

For those who in their plenty live delicately,

contemn the poor, and forget God ; for all

people whose hearts are so perished within them.

that pity has departed. Shew them Thy ways.

Amen.

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THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

/^ GOD, the Light of such as seek Thee,
^^ grant to our minds that illumination with-
out which we walk in darkness and know not
whither we go. Our hearts, like orphaned
children, cry out for Thee, Thou only com-
panion of man's soul. May we feel Thy pre-
sence about us and be allowed to love Thee, sinful
though we be. Condescend to walk with us
in the devious ways of life, granting us on earth
the friendship of Heaven, shepherding us i^
danger, piloting us through the storm.

Remember all such as feel no need of Thee,
who seem content with a careless, unexamined
life, whose hearts are unvisited by desires of
better things. Leave them not to themselves,
lest they go down to death and destruction, but
startle them with Thy call, awaken them with
Thy light, brood upon their spirits until they
stir to greet Thee.

Be especially gracious to all prodigal souls
who would turn to Thee if they only dared,
but fear for the greatness of their sin, the
despite done to Thy grace, the long delay of
their repentance. Make known the tenderness
of Thy compassion, reveal the grief of Thy
heart, disclose the long-suffering of Thy love,
that they may rise and come to Thee. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

f^ GOD, who hatest nothing that Thou hast
^^ made, carest for Thy creation more than
men care for their property, and lovest every soul
of man more than a mother her only child;
may this same care and love displace man^s
inhumanity and selfishness, until, in a new sense
of the beauty of man's body and the eternal
value of his soul, cruelty and neglect, pain and
sorrow pass away.

We pray for the coming of the commonwealth
where those who toil shall be honoured and re-
warded, where a man's worth shall be reckoned
higher than the price of the things he fashions
with hand or brain, where science shall serve, not
destruction or private gain, but preservation and
the common good.

We remember those who labour continually
under the danger of death, that others may be
protected, warmed, and comforted. We are
conscious of the sacrifice that others are called
upon to make on our behalf. We remember
those who are ready to lay down their lives for
the preservation of our peace and the provision
of our needs. May we so live that such sacri-
fice shall not have been in vain. May the whole
community be stirred to wonder whether men
need suffer as they do.

Give inspiration to those who labour at the
perfecting of protective science, and who seek
the redemption of the workers. Make a new

136

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

tie of blood sacrifice between us all. Since Thou
didst, to our confusion and amazement, declare
Thy nature most of all in the Craftsman of
Nazareth, so once again may redemption spring
from the ranks of those who toil.

We do not ask to pass beyond the things of
sense and time, but to see in them Thy presence ;
in the crises of our times, Thy judgements; in the
rising demand for righteousness, the coming of
Thy kingdom. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

Tp TERNAL God, who countest the nations as
"■-^ the dust of the balance, and takest up the
isles as a very little thing; who puttest down
the mighty from their seat and hast exalted the
humble and meek; have mercy upon this nation,
and look with favour upon the people Thou hast
planted.

Thou hast redeemed us from the past, and
led us through the solemn centuries to the vesti-
bule of destiny. It is of Thee that our name
is feared in the seven seas. It is Thou that hast
throned us in the gateways of the world. Thou
hast moulded our speech from barbarous tongues,
till it rings like iron, and shines like cloth of
gold; so that it gives a glorious setting to Thine
ancient Word and preserves the Gospel in sim-
plicity and grace. Thou hast mixed our blood
from uncorrupted springs, sobered it by sundering
seas, and purged it by our healthful land, until
our sons may dare the rigours of ever}^ clime and
plant our name and spread our speech in the four
corners of the earth.

Yet not unto us, not unto us, but unto Thy
name be all the glory. We humble ourselves
to remember that for all this we shall be brought
into judgement, and that where much is given,
much shall be expected in return. Thy pro-
vidence knows no favourites, naught can bend
Thy justice, and none can break Thy laws that
shall not themselves be broken. No past or

138

THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

prestige, not all our riches and our power can
save us, if we thwart Thy purposes or step beyond
Thy perfect will.

Have mercy on us for our foolish boast and
trusted might, and leave us not to the disaster
of the abyss or the shame of declining power.
We repent for the poison we have poured into
our blood, for the despite done to our fair land
by lust of gold and greed of possession; for the
toll taken of human souls, and for the contempt
shown to Christ in the persons of little children,
the needy, the sick, and those in prison. We
think with penitence of the foulness of our cities,
the shame of our streets, the misery of the poor,
the unconcern of the rich. We recall the treach-
eries of our statesmanship, the aggression and
injustice of our arms, the severity and partiality
of our laws, and we cry:

Spare us, good Lord, for our sins are sore.
Preserve us of Thy mercy, lest our destruction be
determined, and we go the way of the nations that
have forgotten God. Amen.

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THE HOLY PLACE

Let us draw near with a true heart,
in full assurance of faith.

— Hebrews x. 22.

THE HOLY PLACE

A LMIGHTY God, seeing that it is high time
"^^ to awake out of sleep, since the night is far
spent and the day is at hand: help us to put off
the works of darkness and put on the armour of
light.

May our loins be girt and our lamps burning,
and ourselves as men who watch for the coming
of their Lord. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

4^ GOD, who art to be found by those who
^^ truly seek Thee, known by those who love,
seen by those whose heart is pure; Thy Spirit
possesses all things, speaks in the holy dawn,
calls in the quiet even, broods on the deep, and
dwells in the heart of man.

Forgive us if we, made to commune with Thee,
whose lives were ordered to walk with Thee,
have grown insensible to Thy presence, have
rested in the things that appear, grown careless
of the eternal and the holy. Send now some
word of Thine to make a highway to our hearts,
and Thyself draw near. Shut us in gathered
here, in with Thyself, alone, until every heart
burns and each spirit moves toward Thee. May
the Spirit of Jesus cOme upon us and make us at
home with Thee, Amen.

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THE HOLY PLACE

/^ THOU who transcendest all thought of
^-^ Thee as the heavens are higher than the
earth; we acknowledge that we cannot search
Thee out to perfection, but we thank Thee that
Thou, the Invisible, comest to us in the things
that are seen; that Thy exceeding glory is
shadowed in the flower that blooms for a day,
in the light that fades; that Thine infinite love
has been incarnate in lowly human life ; and that
Thy presence surrounds all our ignorance. Thy
holiness our sin, Thy peace our unrest.

Give us that lowly heart which is the only
temple that can contain the infinite. Save us
from the presumption that prides itself on a
knowledge which is not ours, and from the
hypocrisy and carelessness which professes an
ignorance which Thy manifestation has made for
ever impossible. Save us from calling ourselves
by a name that Thou alone canst wear, and from
despising the image of Thyself Thou hast formed
us to bear, and grant that knowledge of Thee
revealed in Jesus Christ which is our eternal
life. Amen,

H5

THE TEMPLE

T)REATHE on us, breath of God; not as the
'■-' mighty rushing wind, lest the dimly burn-
ing flax be quenched; but with the quiet breath
that shall fan to flame our smouldering faith.
Inward Presence of our God, we cannot do with-
out Thee! Unless first we hear the gentle
whisper of Thy voice, the majesty of fire and
storm, the glories of earth and heaven will pass
in meaningless pageantry before us. The sacred
page of the past and* the slowly-traced bible of
to-day will alike be closed to us. As we address
ourselves to seek our God, light Thou our hearts
with His presence As we turn to think of
Jesus, make our hearts to burn with love. Spirit
of the Living God, Spirit of Jesus, Spirit who
choosest man's mind for Thy dwelling; make
Thyself known to us now. Amen.

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THE HOLY PLACE

MOST Holy Father may the hush of Thy
presence move us now to • adoration, and
may all voices be stilled that Thine may be
heard. Quiet our minds of their fretting, hide
from us the false glamour of things, and may the
truth dawn upon all our souls. We bring to
Thee the unsatisfied desire of our seeking hearts,
for naught sa^je Thyself can give us rest.

Shew to us fhe great secret of Thyself, give
us some image of Thee in our thought that we
may know who and what Thou art. We want
to stand before the awful purity of Thy throne,
yea, even though it destroy us; we would see
Thy face though we may never after see aught
else. We want to know the measure of Thy
love, even though it break our hearts. We want
to see the hidden purposes of Thy will, even
though the vision change our little plans and
flood our lives beyond our power to hold.

We want not only to see Thee thus in the
mystic hour of revelation, but in broadening
purposes in the history of our time; not only
in the Shekinah of the Holy Place, but at work
in our common days, inhabiting our narrow
hearts.

Incarnate Thyself, O Invisible, that these eyes
may be for ever satisfied ; may Thy word be-
come flesh and the unutterable take voice. O
come. O come, Immanuel. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

T OVE Divine, Love lowly hearted, our city's
^-^ gates stand widely open to Thy welcome.
Without Thee the people is uncrowned, tumult
and rebellion break forth, truth is perished in
the streets, and justice fallen at our gates. Come
and establish Thy kingdom in our midst, send-
ing peace on the earth, peace in the hearts of
men.

Apart from Thee all temples stand desolate,
unblessed by sacrifice, unsanctified by altar fires,
unhallowed by thankful song. Though they
have been desecrated by unholy traffic, polluted
by sin, deserted for an easier worship of the
world, come Thou, and by Thy presence cleanse,
inhabit, and restore.

God unimaginable. God most near, God of
the tender Jesus, God of His bitter cross; hear
us, Thy little ones, as we cry "Hosanna in
the highest; blessed is He that cometh in the
name of the Lord." Lift up your heads, O ye
gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. Amen.

148

THE HOLY PLACE

T IKE summer seas that lave with silent tides
^-^ a lonely shore, like whispering winds that
stir the tops of forest trees, like a still small
voice that calls us in the watches of the night,
like a child's hand that feels about a fast-closed
door; gentle, unnoticed, and oft in vain; so is
Thy coming unto us, O God.

Like ships storm-driven into port, like starv-
ing souls that seek the bread they once despised,
like wanderers begging refuge from the whelm-
ing night, like prodigals that seek the father's
home when all is spent; yet welcomed at the
open door, arms outstretched and kisses for our
shame; so is our coming unto Thee, O God.

Like flowers uplifted to the sun, like trees
that bend before the storm, like sleeping seas
that mirror cloudless skies, like a harp to the
hand, like an echo to a cry, like a song to the
heart; for all our stubbornness, our failure and
our sin; so would we have been to Thee, O God.
Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

PTERNAL God. before whose eyes the ages
^-^ pass, who knowest all the changing thoughts
of man; help us to remember that Thou art
throned above all time and bringest every thought
into captivity unto Thyself.

May we not turn back to bygone centuries to
hear Thy voice, as if Thou spakest no longer to
us now. May we not imagine that the judge-
ment is postponed to some far-ofi future day.
Give us to know that upon the slopes of Sinai
still our feet may stand, and even now the books
are opened, and the thrones are set.

Enable us to remember that all souls are Thine,
that their innermost secrets are naked and open
to Thee, and that none can ever fall beyond Thy
reach or wander outside Thy concern.

So help us all in this hour to realize the pres-
ence of eternity that we trifle not our time away ;
the nearness of Thine awful judgement, lest we
forget what manner of men we are; the long-
suflFering of Thy love, lest at thought of Thee
we grow afraid Amen.

ISO

THE HOLY PLACE

/^ GODjt who so fillest all things that they
^-^ only thinly veil Thy presence; we adore
Thee in the beauty of the world, in the good-
ness of human hearts and in Thy thought with-
in the mind. We praise Thee for the channels
through which Thy grace can come to us; sick-
ness and health, joy and pain, freedom and
necessity, sunshine and rain, life and death.

We thank Thee for all the gentle and healing
ministries of life; the gladness of the morning,
the freedom of the wind, the music of the rain,
the joy of the sunshine and the deep calm of the
night; for trees, and flowers, and clouds, and
skies; for the tender ministries of human love,
the unselfishness of parents, the love that binds
man and woman, the confidence of little children;
for the patience of teachers and the encourage-
ment of friends.

We bless Thee for the stirring ministry of the
past, for the story of noble deeds, the memory of
holy men, the printed book, the painter's art, the
poet's craft; most of all for the ministry of the
Son of Man who taught us the eternal beauty
of earthly things, who by His life set us free
from fear, and by His death won us from our
sins to Tliee; for His cradle. His cross, and His
crown.

May His Spirit live within us, conquer all the
selfishness of man, and take away the sin of the
world. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

"l^E praise Thee, O our Father, for this world
^^ and its witness of Thee: for sun-
shine, wind and rain, and all weathers; for the
wide-bosomed sea and the everlasting hills; for
high sailing clouds and clear shining stars; for
springing grass and flowers and tall stately trees ;
for lakes and streams and all waters. Help us to
drink to the full of the beauty and strength of
the world and to know that they come from Thee
as gifts of love to us.

We praise Thee for man and for his making
in Thine image: for the strange light in his eyes,
for his wonderful face, his mighty mind and his
deathless soul; for his lordship of creation, his
power to conquer nature, his skill to plant and
build, to fashion and create, to paint and sing;
for the memories of greatness that abide his fall,
for the grace of forgiveness that restores his soul,
for the cords of love that bind him to Thy will.
Hasten the day of redemption, when our last
enemy shall be trodden under foot and Thou
shalt call the son of man to share Thine everlast-
ing throne.

We praise Thee for the sacrament of Life:
for its great adventure, its glorious opportunities,
its zeal, its triumph, its desire; for the things
that point beyond themselves to a spiritual realm
from which they take their rise; for the failures
that quicken better hopes, the pains and sorrows
and sins that spur us on to search for health and

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THE HOLY PLACE

comfort and redemption; for death that wakens
thoughts of immortality, for unfulfilled desire
that anchors us to Thee ; for all ministries of the
infinite: the beauty of common things, the light
of heaven upon our daily path, Thy glory in the
face of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit's witness
in the soul of man.

Now we know that all things are through and
for and unto Christ, and in Him all things are
ours. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.
Glory be to Thee, O Lord most High. Amen.

153

THE TEMPLE

/^ GOD above all, yet in all; holy beyond
^^ all imagination, yet friend of sinners; who
inhabitest the realms of unfading light, yet lead-
est us through the shadows of mortal life; how
solemn and uplifting it is even to think upon
Thee. Like sight of sea to wearied eyes, like a
walled-in garden to the troubled mind, like home
to wanderer, like a strong tower to a soul pur-
sued ; so to us is the sound of Thy name.

But greater still to feel Thee in our heart;
like a river glorious, cleansing, healing, bringing
life; like a song victorious, comforting our sad-
ness, banishing our care; like a voice calling us
to battle, urging us beyond ourselves.

But greater far to know Thee as our Father,
as dear as Thou art near ; and ourselves begotten
of Thy love, made in Thy image, cared for
through all our days, never beyond Thy sight,
never out of Thy thought.

To think of Thee is rest: to know Thee is
eternal life; to see Thee is t»end of all desire;
to serve Thee is perfect freedom and everlasting
joy. Amen.

154

THE HOLY PLACE

/^ GOD, we thank Thee for the world in
^-^ which Thou hast placed us, for the uni-
verse whose vastness is revealed in the blue
depths of the sky, whose immensities are lit by
shining stars beyond the strength of mind to
follow. We thank Thee for every sacrament of
beauty; for the sweetness of flowers, the solem-
nity of the stars, the sound of streams and swell-
ing seas; for far-stretching lands and mighty
mountains which rest and satisfy the soul, the
purity of dawn which calls to holy dedication,
the peace of evening which speaks of everlasting
rest. May we not fear to make this world for
a little while our home, since it is Thy creation
and we ourselves are part of it. Help us humbly
to learn its laws and trust its mighty powers.

We thank Thee for the w^orld within, deeper
than we dare to look, higher than we care to
climb; for the great kingdom of the mind and
the silent spaces of the soul. Help us not to
be afraid of ourselves, since we were made in
Thy image, loved by Thee before the worlds
began, and fashionel for Thy eternal habitation.
May we be brave enough to bear the truth,
strong enough to live in the light, glad to yield
ourselves to Thee.

We thank Thee for that world brighter and
better than all, opened for us in the broken
heart of the Saviour ; for the universe of love and
purity in Him, for the golden sunshine of His

155

THE TEMPLE

smile, the tender grace of His forgiveness, the
red renewing rain and crimson flood of His great
sacrifice. May we not shrink from its search-
ing and surpassing glory, nor, when this world
fades away, fear to commit ourselves to that
world which shall be our everlasting home.
Amen.

^

156

THE HOLY PLACE

/^ THOU who hast visited us with the Day-
^-^ spring from on high, who hast made light
to shine in the darkness, we praise Thy holy
name and proclaim Thy wonderful goodness.

We bless Thee for the dawning of the light
in far-off ages so soon as hum.an eyes could bear
its rays. We remember those who bore aloft
the torch of truth when all was false and full of
shame; those far-sighted souls who from the
mountain tops of vision heralded the coming day;
those who laboured in the darkened valleys to
lift men's eyes to the hills.

We thank Thee that in the fullness of the
times Thou didst gather Thy light into life, so
that even simple folk could see; for Jesus the
Star of the morning and the Light of the world.

We commemorate His holy nativity, His lowly
toil. His lonely way; the gracious words of His
lips, the deep compassion of His heart. His friend-
ship for the fallen, His love for the outcast; the
crown of thorns, the cruel cross, the open shame.
And we rejoice to know as He was here on
earth, so Thou art eternally. Thou dost not
abhor our flesh, nor shrink from our earthly toil.
Thou rememberest our frailty, bearest with our
sin, and tastest even our bitter cup of death.

And now we rejoice for the light that shines
about our daily path from the cradle to the
grave, and for the light that illumines its circuit
beyond these spheres from our conception in Thy

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THE TEMPLE

mind to the day when we wake in Thy image;
for the breathing of Thy spirit into burs till we
see Thee face to face: in God; from God; to
God at last.

Hallelujah.
Amen.

S»>

158

THE HOLY PLACE

/^ THOU that turnest the shadow of death
^-^ into the morning, on this day of days our
hearts exult with heavenly joy. AH things con-
spire to make us sure of Thee: the gracious
sunshine, the stir of springtime, the morning
rapture of the birds; but greater far, a secret
thrill runs through the air from far-off days.

Easter day breaks! Christ rises! Mercy
every way is infinite.

The clouds are vanished from the sky, doubts
are driven from the mind, Thou hast conquered
our last enemy, and our tongues are filled with
singing. Pain has been our portion here, but
now we know that in all pain there lies the
promise of redemption. Thou dost plan our
lives to cross the valley of Humiliation, to climb
the hill Difficulty, and then at last descend where
waits the shadow feared by man. But now we
know it is a shadow only. The grim-barred
gates of death swing back, and the glory from
an endless world shine through, beyond the
mind's imagining, beyond our hearts' desire.
Our Jesus now is crowned with glory, clothed
in victory, and vested with the keys of death
and hell.

Praise be unto Thee, O Lord most high.
Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

■p ATHER of life, and God of the living,
Fountain of our being and Light of all our
day; we thank Thee for that knowledge of
Thyself which lights our life with eternal splen-
dour, for that giving of Thyself which has made
us partakers of Thy divine nature. We bless
Thee for everything around us which ministers
Thee to our minds; for the greatness and glory
of nature, for the history of our race, and the
lives of noble men; for the thoughts of Thee
expressed in human words, in the art of painters
and musicians, in the work of builders and crafts-
men. We bless Thee for the constant memories
of what we are that rise within ourselves ; for the
pressure of duty, the hush of solemn thoughts,
for moments of insight when the veil on the
face of all things falls away, for hours of high
resolve when life is quickened within, for seasons
of communion when, earth and sense forgotten,
heaven holds our silent spirits raptured and
aflame.

We have learned to praise Thee for the darker
days when we had to walk by faith, for weary
hours that strengthened patience and endeavour,
for moments of gloom and times of depression
which taught us to trust, not to changing tides
of feeling, but to Thee who changest not. And
now since Christ has won His throne by His
cross of shame, risen from His tomb to reign for
ever in the hearts of men, we know that nothing

1 60

THE HOLY PLACE

can ever separate us from Thee; that in all
conflicts we may be more than conquerors; that
all dark and hostile things shall be transformed
and work for good to those who know the secret
of Thy love.

Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
Amen.

^

i6i

THE TEMPLE

/^ GOD, there are sounds on the earth and
^^ signs in the heaven that quicken all hearts
with expectation: nations that long have sat in
darkness and the shadow of death, turning to
the light; peoples that long have worn the yoke
of t5Tanny rising to shake themselves free;
murmurs of the masses too long content with
slaver}^; thoughts that threaten the order of all
things and predict the shaking of the foundations
of the world. We listen to hear if these are
the sounds of Thy chariot wheels; we lift our
heads to see if the dawn is reddening in the sky.

We dare to watch for Thy fuller coming to
us. For the complete manifestation of Thyself,
for the emancipation of humanity from fear, sin,
doubt and despair.

We dare to pray that Thou shouldest make
Thy entrance through our hearts. Even so,
Lord Jesus; come quickly. Amen.

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THE HOLY PLACE

rj^TERNAL and Gracious Father, whose pres-
"*— ' ence comforteth like sunshine after rain;
we thank Thee for Thyself and for all Thy
revelation to us. Our hearts are burdened with
thanksgiving at the thought of all Thy mercies;
for all the blessings of this mortal life, for health,
for reason, for learning and for love; but far
beyond all thought and thankfulness, for Thy
great redemption. It w'as no painless travail
that brought us to the birth, it has been no
common patience that has borne with us all this
while; long-suffering love, and the breaking of
the eternal heart alone could reconcile us to the
life to which Thou hast ordained us. We have
seen the Son of Man sharing our sickness and
shrinking not from our shame, we have beheld
the Lamb of God bearing the sins of the world,
we have mourned at the mysterious passion and
stood astonished at the cross of Jesus Christ;
and behind all we have had the yision of an
altar-throne and one thereon slain from' the
foundation of the world; heard a voice calling
us that was full of tears; seen beyond the veil
that was rent, the agony of God.

O for a thousand tongues to sing the love that
has redeemed us. O for a thousand lives that
we might yield them all to Thee. Amen.

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THE TEMPLE

/^ FATHER of mankind, whose mind em-
^^ braces our multitudinous humanity, whose
heart is wide to harbour all our race, who knowest
all as a shepherd knows his sheep; let the know-
ledge of Thyself enter every mind, bringing free-
dom, forgiveness and faith to all the sons of men.

Though the ages stretch beyond our grasp and
burden our imagination, Thou boldest them all
in Thy mind as a moment. Though the worlds
are scattered like dust through endless space,
Thou bringest out their host by number and
callest them all by name. Though life puts forth
her myriad forms and wastes herself on vain
designs, Thou boldest all in the hollow of Thy
hand, so that not one falls forgotten or perishes
purposeless in pain. Though the march of man
reaches from the dust to the dawn, from the slime
to the soul, from the abyss to the throne, and
though the generations rise and pass away. Thou
leadest everyone; from the womb to the tomb,
from the mother's breast to the breast of God;
guiding little feet, guarding youth's glad steps,
giving strength to the weary, and gathering all
souls to Thyself at the last.

Though we wrest ourselves from Thy will,
lose ourselves in our selfishness, run riot in re-
bellion, and make sin our shame; though we
make seven hells for our souls, Thou still dost
hold us and canst draw us back to Thee.

Therefore we bless Thee that Thou didst give

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THE HOLY PLACE

us being; praise Thee Thou didst form us of
Thy substance; thank Thee Thou dost destine
us to know Thy love, share Thy name, and live
for evermore in the blessedness of Thy being
and the glory of Thy Godhead. Amen.

Sjj,

i6s

THE TEMPLE

O FATHER Eternal, we thank Thee for the
new and living way into Thy presence
made for us in Christ ; the way of trust, sincerity
and sacrifice. Beneath His cross we would take
our stand, in communion with His Spirit would
we pray, in fellowship with the whole Church
of Christ we would seek to know Thy mind
and will.

We desire to know all the fullness of Christ,
to appropriate His unsearchable riches, to feed
on His humanity whereby Thou hast become to
us the bread of our inmost souls and the wine of
life, to become partakers of Thy nature, share
Thy glory and become one with Thee through
Him.

Give unto us fellowship with His sufferings
and insight into the mystery of His cross, so that
we may be indeed crucified with Him, be raised
to newness of life, and be hidden with Christ in
Thee.

We desire to make thankful offering of our-
selves as members of the body of Christ ; in union
with all the members may we obey our unseen
Head, so that the Body may be undivided, and
Thy love, and healing power, and very Self may
be incarnate on the earth in one Holy Universal
Church. Amen,

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THE HOLY PLACE

INTERNAL God, who art above all change and
^-^ darkness, whose will begat us, and whose all
present love doth enfold and continually re-
deem us, Holy Guest who indwellest, and dost
comfort us; we have gathered to worship Thee,
and in communion with Thee to find ourselves
raised to the Light of our life, and the Heaven
of our desires.

Pour upon our consciousness the sense of Thy
wonderful nearness to us. Reveal to our weak-
ness and distress the power and the grace that
are more than suffici.ent for us. May we see
what we are, Thy Spirit-born children linked by
nature, love and choice to Thy mighty being;
and may the vision make all fears to fade, and a
Divine strength to pulse within.

Enable us to carry out from this place the peace
and strength that here we gain, to take into our
homes a kinder spirit, a new thoughtf ulness ; that
we may brighten sadness, heal the sick, and make
happiness to abound. May we take into our daily
tasks and life of labour, a sense of righteousness
that shall be as salt to every evil and corrupting
influence.

Because we have walked here awhile with
Thee, may we be able to walk more patiently
with man. Send us forth with love to the fallen,
hope for the despairing, strength to impart to the
weak and wayward; and carry on through us
the work Thou didst commence in Thy Son
our Brother Man and Saviour God. Amen.

167

The Lord bless thee and keep thee:

The Lord make His face to shine upon thee:

The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee,

and give thee peace.

Numbers, vi. 24-26.