their duty. That would be as much as to
say that it was a just home, but a severe one; decorous, but unloving;
a home where there was fair dealing, but where there was little of the
grace of Jesus Christ.

Thus it is that the grace of Jesus Christ sums up the finest beauty of
the Christian spirit, and offers the best benediction with which
Christians should desire to part. As we separate for a time from our
worship, I do not then ask that we may be led in the coming year to do
our duty, I ask for more. I pray for the grace of Jesus Christ; that
in our homes there may be more of considerateness, that in our college
there may be a natural and spontaneous self-forgetfulness, a free and
generous offering of uncalled-for kindness. Some of us are able to do
much for others, to give, to teach, to govern, to employ. There is a
way of doing this which doubles its effect. It is the way of grace.
Some of us must be for the most part receivers of instruction or {82}
kindness. There is a way of receiving kindness which is among the most
beautiful traits of life. It is the way of grace. No one of us, if he
be permitted to live on in this coming year, can escape this choice
between obligation and opportunity, between the way of life which is
discreet and prudent and the way of life which is simply beautiful.
When these inevitable issues come, then the prayer, which may lead us
to the higher choice, must be the prayer with which the Bible ends; the
benediction of the Christian spirit; even this,--that the grace of
Jesus Christ may be with us all.

{83}

XXXIII

THE EVERLASTING ARMS

_Deuteronomy_ xxxiii. 27.

"Underneath are the everlasting arms,"--that was the repeated burden of
the great men of Israel. They lived in the midst of national
calamities and distresses. They were defeated, puzzled, baffled. The
way looked dark. Then they fall back on the one great re-establishing
thought: after all, it is God's world. It is not going to ruin.
Changes which seemed tremendous are not fatal or final. Israel dwells
in safety, for God holds us in his arms.

We need some such broad, deep confidence as we enter a new year. We
get involved in small issues and engrossed in personal problems, and
people sometimes seem so malicious, and things seem to be going so
wrong that it is as if we heard the noise of some approaching Niagara.
Then we fall back on the truth that after all it is not our world. We
can blight it o