hou seest from afar every pulsation of my praying
heart. Thou knowest well my earnest desire for truth. Heavy doubt often
veils my soul in night; thou knowest how anxious my heart is within me,
and how it goes out for heavenly light. Oh yes! A friendly ray has often
fallen from thee upon my shadowed soul. I saw the awful abyss on whose
brink I was trembling, and I have thanked the kind hand that drew me
back in safety. Still be with me, my God and Father, for these are days
when fools stalk about and say, 'there is no God.' Thou hast given me my
birth, O my Creator, in these days when superstition rages at my right
hand and skepticism scoffs at my left. So I often stand and quake in the
storm; and oh, how often would the bending reed break if thou didst not
prevent it; thou, the mighty Preserver of all thy creatures and Father
of all who seek thee.

"What am I without truth, without her leadership through life's
labyrinths? A wanderer through the wilderness, overtaken by the night,
with no friendly hand to lead me and no guiding star to show me the
path. Doubt, uncertainty, skepticism! You begin with anguish and you end
with despair. But Truth, thou leadest us safely through life, bearest
the torch before us in the dark vale of death, and bringest us home to
heaven, where thou wast born. O my God, keep my heart in peace, in that
holy rest during which Truth loves best to visit us. The sun refuses to
reflect itself in the stormy sea, but it is down into its calm
mirror-like flood that it beams its face. Even thus keep my heart at
peace, O God, that it may be fit to know thee and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent; for this alone is the truth which strengthens the heart and
elevates the soul. If I have truth then I have Christ; if I have Christ,
then have I God; and if I have God, then I have everything. And could I
ever permit myself to be robbed of this precious gem, this
heaven-reaching blessing by the wisdom of this world, which is
foolishness in thy sight? No. He who hates truth I will call my enemy,
but he who seeks it with simple heart I will embrace as my brother and
my friend.

"The bell rings that calls me to the sanctuary. I hasten thither to make
good my confession, to strengthen myself in the truth, and to prepare
myself for death and eternity. O lead me in such a path, my Father, and
so open my heart to the impressions of truth that I may be strong enough
to make it known to my fellow men. They know that thou