January 8

“What is the will of God? Every morning and evening we pray, ‘Thy Will be done;’ and it would seem to be little to pray for that the meaning of which we have no conception . . . The will of God is righteous dealing, and love, and forbearance, and hope, - forward-looking, - and joy. You know what these words mean. They are not shadows. You know that, in proportion as you follow after these things, the sky is brighter above you, and in your dwellings is fulness of joy. You know that the common day-light is transfigured, that the daily task is hallowed, that the familiar faces of those with whom you live shine with a lustre of beauty and of peace; and why? Because you have entered into the will of God. Try it; try it only for a week.
“For, as you try it, you will realise this fact above all others, that not only is every single act of self-sacrifice, of love, of kindliness, blessed in itself, in its immediate result, - not only on others, but on yourself – but that every single act, however trivial and small, is not isolated and alone, but is part of a higher life, of a more perfect existence, of a loftier intellect, and a diviner love. Every single act of sacrifice is part of the great sacrifice that

‘Hallowed earth and fills the skies.’

Every act of love and kindliness is only possible because it is part of the divine love; nothing can exist save as the result of the existence of its perfect ideal, and the ideal of perfect existence is God . . .
“The will of God is an emerging power in every heart that submits to the guidance of its gentle influences.”

SHORTHOUSE