October 15

“We are apt to feel as if nothing we could do on earth bears a relation to what the good are doing in a higher world; but it is not so. Heaven and earth are not so far apart. Every disinterested act, every sacrifice to duty, every exertion for the good of ‘one of the least of Christ’s brethren’, every new insight into God’s works, every new impulse given to the love of truth and goodness, associates us with the departed, brings us nearer to them, and is truly heavenly as if we were acting, not on earth, but in Heaven. The spiritual tie between us and the departed is not felt as it should be. Our union with them daily grows stronger, if we make daily progress in what they are growing in.”

CHANNING

. . . “After Christ, work turns to privilege,
And henceforth one with our humanity
The six-day Worker, working still in us,
Has called us freely to work on with Him
In high companionship. So, happiest!
I count that Heaven itself is only work
To a surer issue. Let us work indeed.”

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING