What is God’s Purpose for You?
Each of us has some intended niche to occupy, some one particular work to do. It may be a task of many years. It may be a single action, a single witness to truth, a single act of duty, done in one particular day, at one hour—nay, in the compass of a few minutes, yet carrying in it all the moral power of a lifetime—and exhausting, by being done, the reasons for which, in the Eternal Mind, life was given to the agent. A martyr may compress into a few minutes of agony all the moral and spiritual work on which a philanthropist expends his time during his fourscore years. A mother may, by bringing up a child in the fear of God, do as much in the eyes of Providence as a great teacher or statesman. The question is, What are we each of us meant to do? And this question can only be answered by a survey of our capacities and our circumstances, which do practically interpret the will of God to each of us.
—Henry P. Liddon.
The Need of Men
God give us men! The time demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and willing hands.
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking.
For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, Lo! Freedom weeps!
Wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps!
—J. G. Holland.
Alternate Reading: Hebrews 12: 1-13.