The Things Indestructible

Abideth faith, hope, love, these three.” — i Cor. xiii. 13.

And so there are three things which are never to die, which I am to carry with me beyond the grave! Three pearls are to be saved from the wreck of time and landed on the shore! Two of the preservations surprise me. I could never wonder at the immortality of love, for heaven without love would be the world without the sun. But faith and hope — where is the place for these in heaven! I thought faith would drop her wings when she lighted on the soil of home; I thought hope would draw in her sails when she touched fruition’s shore. The men of old time told me that all mystery would vanish when the curtain of death infolded me. They told me that faith would be lost in sight, that hope would fade in fulfilment. Paul says they shall abide. How shall they abide with perfect revelation? How shall faith breathe in the cloudless sky; how shall hope flutter in the windless air? If these abide, shadow must abide and why is shadow there? Why prolong the

19 B 2 winter of my faith and the spring-time of my hope when the summer of my love has come?

In the interest of that love, O my soul. Hast thou considered the place of the shadows! Are they not the very pinions of thy love! Is not thy pity ever born of danger! It would die if it saw clearly. Perfect morning would scatter the fairest of the gems. It would destroy the need of thy charity. It would lame the feet of thy sympathy. It would clip the wings of thy compassion. It would close the gates of thy solicitude for others. It would end the days of thine unselfish prayers. Keep thy shadows, O my soul! Keep a little rim of darkness round thy sun! Keep a spot unrevealed in the dealings of thy God! Keep in the new world a place for the cross of Jesus — a place where love may see the cloud and feel a brother’s pain! Thy perfect sight would be dearly purchased by the loss of thy Lord’s passion. The cloud that covers the transfigured glory is itself a glory. If thou wouldst give rein to thy love, leave in the Paradise of God a margin for faith and hope.