“O pilgrim, as you journey, do you ever gladly say,
In spite of heavy burdens and the roughness of the way,
That it does not surely matter–all the strange and bitter stress;
Heat and cold, and toil and sorrow–’will be healed with blessedness,
For the road leads home?”
“Is it raining, little flower?
Be glad of rain.
Too much sun would wither thee;
‘Twill shine again.
The sky is very black, ‘tis true;
But just behind it shines the blue.
“Art thou weary, tender heart?
Be glad of pain!
In sorrow sweetest things will grow,
As flowers in rain.
God watches; and thou wilt have the sun,
When clouds their perfect work have done.”
The Bible takes especial pains to assure us of the everlastingness of God’s love. In one passage, for example, it is declared that while even the mountains shall depart, God’s loving-kindness shall never depart from his people. The word loving-kindness suggests all that is sweet, tender, and comforting in love. There are men who love and are not kind. They would give all they have to help a friend, and yet they lack gentleness. They are stern, severe, and brusque. They have not a gracious manner. They are not kind. Kindness is love’s best. It not only gives, but gives in a way that adds a hundredfold to the value of the gift.
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