“Blessings on sorrow, whether past or to come! for in the clear shining of heavenly love, every tear-drop becomes a pearl.  The storm of affliction crushes weak human nature to the dust; the glory of the eternal light overpowers it; but, in the softened union of both, the stricken spirit beholds the bow of promise, and knows that it shall not utterly be destroyed.  When we say that for us there is nothing but darkness and tears, it is because we are weakly brooding over the shadows within us.  If we dared look up, and face our sorrow, we should see upon it the seal of God’s love, and be calm.

“Grant me, Father of Light, whenever my eyes droop heavily with the rain of grief, at least to see the reflection of thy signet-bow upon the waves over which I am sailing unto thee.  And through the steady toiling of the voyage, through the smiles and tears of every day’s progress, let the iris-flash appear, even as now it brightens the spray that rebounds from the labouring wheels.”

The voice died away into darkness which returned no answer to its murmurings.  The face vanished from the boat’s side, but a flood of light was pouring into the serene depths of a trusting soul.

THE END.  The Project Gutenberg Etext of Friends and Neighbors, or Two Ways of Living in the World by T. S. Arthur ******This file should be named fntwl10.txt or fntwl10.zip******

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