AT THE STILE
set the sun and the moon in the sky not to give light merely, but to mark V?T> times and seasons. (Gen, 1;4) Without these - chronometers, or time meters, neither history nor civilization would be possible. God's wisdom is displayed, not so much in the intricate and accurate movements of those heavenly bodies, as in their adaptation to man's moral and intellectual nature. It is not without reason that we pause at the stile betwen the ways of 1911 and 1912. He who teaches us to so number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom, stays us there, to "Con- sider our ways." Every wiseman is at this season a "Mr. Facing-both-ways." He looks back in grateful adoration on the wisdom and mercy which led him safe through the once untrodden path. He looks forth hopefully, prayerfully, resolutely, on the untried year, trusting the God of yesterday that He will be the God of tomor-
morrow.
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light we are in to- tal darkness. We c a n n o t go, we dare not move. God has given to natural men eyes to see but they have no. li g h t, they "Walk in darkness" there- fore do' 'they stum- ble on the dark mountains." They are f r e q u e n t l y bruised, and be- s m i r c h e d , and make no progress, or see any out- come. They do not know at what mo- ment they may stumble into some "bottomless pit."
Nowh e r e does man's dependence stand confessed as at the parting of the ways." What shall be on the morrow" he does not k n o w , n o not even what in the next moment. Some great catas- trophy may over- whelm him; some trifling inci d e n t may change the course of the whole year, the whole life for time and eternity. Divine w i s d o m , a n d k n ow l e d g e, and guidance, a l o n e suffice him. God has given us phys- ical sight, we have eyes to see. But we must h a v e light or there is no vision. Without they cannot wonder.
LEAD ON. My Lord, my Light, how clear I in Thy light can see! Lead on, I do not fear To trust my way to Thee. Athwart my reckless path Till Thy kind beacon shone, My steps took hold on death, My feet were almost gone. How dim the light I bore, Its faint and fitful flame Could ne'er my'feet restore— Yet to this rest I came! I dread, when I survey The past, no future ill, For Thou Benignant ray, Shalt' guilt my footsteps still. Oh, Holy Light, how clear The crowned heights I see! Lead on, I do not fear To trust my way to Thee.
J. H. SAMMIS. At their strange laughter "the chil- dren of light'' can- not but deem them mad, but at their frequent outcries and lamentations At this season, stepping into the dark unknown, does any "ask
for the old paths, where is the good way?" (Jer. 6:16); does any like the Philippian "call for alight?" Let him "rise from the dead and Christ shall give him light." "I am the light of the world," said He, "He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." In His light we shall see light. "Commit thy ways unto Him and He shall direct thy paths." His "ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace." "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod &nd thy staff they comfort me ." With such a guide we need not fear to walk the untried way. Only good can befall us. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." May my reader say at the year's end, "There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken"—Joshua 21;45.
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