To be near unto God - pagina 175

moves him along, so he goes, and so turns the rudder in his inner purpose, and the tiller, and the hand that is upon it, i. e., his will. He This is altogether difis a man without a will. ferent when there is direction in the ship. Then the man at the helm directs the course. He knows where he wants to go. And when wind and waves take him out of his course, he resists them. Then the hand takes firm hold on the tiller, turns it, and with it the helm, directly against v.'ind and wave, and the ship that obeys the helm cuts the waves, not as tide and wind should will, but as the helmsman wills it. Such is the man of character, the man of will-perception and will-power, who does not drift, but steers. But there is still a third. On the bridge of the ship, far away from the helm, stands the captain. He knows the intended course, and as on the bridge he stands much higher, he can see far better whether the ship should turn to the right or to the left. Then all the man at the helm has to do is to listen for orders from the captain on the bridge and to obey them. Applied to the soul, God is the captain on the bridge, and the man at the helm is ourselves. When with the tiller of he boat of our soul in hand we but will what God wills, and turn the helm to the right or to the left as God orders, then there is no danger to be feared, and presently throui^h ..icd and wiives. tha boai sai'eiy reaches poit. If this goes on for life, we become accustomed to it; in the end we learn to know ahead whether the captain on the bridge shall order right or left; we come to know God's will more and more as of ourselves; and so the knowllife

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