Arrows Shot at Random

*’ Cojitimied meditation brings great profit to the soul. Passant and tra7isient thoughts are more ;pleasa7it, but not so profitable. Deliberate meditatiofi is of most use because it secures the return of the thoughts. Suddefi thoughts pass away fro7n us, a?td, as a rule they do not retztrn to be7tefit us; as childre7t shoot away their arrows at rovers, a7id do 7iot look after tJie77ij or as a ball stricke7i 17t the open field goes out fro7Ji us, whereas a ball struck agai7ist a wall doth retur7i to our hand again:’ We need more meditation, more of this shooting of thought-arrows at a mark on which they will strike and stick, more of this throwing the thought-ball at the wall that we may catch it again. This would create for us a better style of teachers and preachers, and train a more solid race of Christian men and women. People do not think, and yet thinking is living, and one of the nearest approaches to death is to be without thought. Gentle reader, do you never think? Are you too busy to meditate? Is your time occupied from morning to night? Then stay a moment while we whisper in your ear: if you are very busy, think and pray all the more, or your work will wear and weary you, and drag you away from God. For your work’s sake, break away from it, and give the soul a breathing time. Get a holy subject and keep to it till you have drawn somewhat from it to feed your soul upon, and then you will do your life-work with less fatigue because you will have more strength to spend upon it.