They saw that scholarship was not
wanted, leisure was not wanted, but only the humble heart which
hungers and thirsts after righteousness. About their daily work, by
their cottage firesides, among their poor neighbours, the Spirit of
Almighty God gave them strength to live as Jesus their pattern lived;
He filled them with all holy, pure, noble, brave, loving thoughts and
feelings, fit for angels and archangels. He enabled them to rise out
of their sins, to trample their temptations under foot, to leave
their old low brutish sinful way of life behind them, and become new
men, and persevere in every word, and thought, and action, in virtues
such as the greatest heathen sages could not copy; ay, even to shed
their life-blood freely and boldly in martyrdom, for the sake of God
and the truth of God. They, these plain simple people, living in the
world, could still live the life of God, and die like heroes for the
sake of God.
And this again brings us to the last puzzle of which I spoke: "But
what became of those holy and godlike people when they died? What
reward did they receive for all they had done, and given up, and
suffered? What will become of us after we die? What will the next
world be like? What is heaven like? Shall I be able to enjoy it?
Shall I be a man there, or only a ghost, a spirit without a body?"
To this St.
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