My Prayer Book_LASANCE - the Catholic Kingdom!

happiness follows close upon kind words, and is their
legitimate result. But, independently of this, kind
words make us happy in ourselves. They soothe our
own irritation, they charm our cares away, they draw
us nearer to God, they raise the temperature of our
Love. They produce in us a sense of quiet restfulness
like that which accompanies the consciousness of forgiven
sin. They shed abroad the peace of God within
our hearts.
G
*
HERE is always one bright thought in our minds
when all the rest is dark. There is one thought
out of which a moderately cheerful man can always
make some satisfactory sunshine, if not'a sufficiency of
it. It is the thought of the bright populous heaven.
There is a joy there at least, if there is a joy nowhere
~lse. There is true service of God there, however poor
and interested the love of Him may be on earth. Multitudes
are abounding in the golden light there, even
if they that rejoice on earth be few. At this hour it is
all going on so near us that we can not be hopelessly
unhappy with so much happiness so near. Yet its
nearness makes us wistful. Then let us think that there
are multitudes in heaven to-day who are there because
of kind actions; many are there for doing them, many
for having had them done to them.
a
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E MUST say something about kind suffering.
Kind suffering is, in fact, a form of kind action.
With the Christian, kind suffering must be almost wholly
supernatural. There is a hannonioue fusion of suffering
and gentleness effected by grace, which is one of the
most attractive features of holiness. What is more
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