Trials awaken us to a sense of our self- pleasing ways, and our indifference to the con- dition of the world we live in, not only as being a world of sin, but thoroughly, and all over a 12
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world of misery. They bring us into con- tact with solid certainties, and that produces thoughtfulness. Th«y make us " acquainted with grief," and that drives off all levity. Sor _ow and levity keep no companionship.
It is through tears that truth is best seen. When looked at through this medium, objects assume their right proportions, and take their proper level. Shadows then evaporate. Reali- ties compass us about; and these make us solemn. Shadows only make us light and vain. They never stir the depths of our being, bu t merely flit around its surface.
Thus God solemnizes his saints, and brings them, in this respect, into closer sympathy with the mind of Christ. All was solemnity with him. There was no levity ever found on him. Everything about him was serene, yet every- thing was solemn. And the nearer we are brought to resemble him, the more will this calm, happy solemnity possess us. We shall live not only wakeful but solemn lives. Our whole deportment will speak the depth of the serenity that dwells within. Our looks and tones will all be solemn, and will of themselves testify for God, and condemn the world. We shall be men awake and alive ; men zealous
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and in earnest; men who have no relish for levity, because it is incompatible with the deep peace which is their better portion ; and who feel that they have no time for it, because eternity is so near.
Yes, a near eternity rebukes and banishes frivolity. Even apart from positive trial this is its tendency. It is the eternal lifetime that makes the lifetime of earth such a solemn thing. Sever the living here from the living hereafter, and man's longest being on earth is little more in importance than the flutter of a leaf; his death no more than the falling of a blossom. But fasten on the infinite and the eternal to our present existence, and every- thing in life becomes mighty, momentous, solemn. The briefest moment that comes and goes is the meeting-place of two eternities. Traversing this narrow pass, with rocks on either side of infinite ascent and lost in impene- trable midnight, how can we fail to be solem- nized unless our eyes be closed or our reason gone.
The pang that shoots through our frame and makes each fibre quiver, would be quite en- durable, were it but for a moment ; were it to die and be buried with us in the same tomb ;
136 THE SOLEMNIZING.
were there no capacity of eternal anguish in our nature, or no eternity in which that capa^ city must develope itself. The sting of a mo- ment is a trifle, but the eternal stinging of the undying worm is terrific beyond all utterance. In like manner, the thrill of fresh joy which makes the whole man throb with delight, would scarce be worth the having or the losing, were it only like the lightning, flashing out in its brightness, afld then quenched for ever. But a nature gifted with faculties for infinite enjoy- ment, and with a whole eternity in which these joyous buds shall expand themselves, turns all our life into a deep and awful reality. A flower that folds up its leaves, and withers down at sunset, may be carelessly trodden under foot ; but a star that shall roll round for ever in its orbit, either effulgent in beauty, or dark in the gloom of its own chaos, is an object of wonder and awe.
Such is the life of man ! Not the life of one man or some men, but of every man. By itself it may seem a play-thing, a mere insect's life ; but in connection with the everlasting future, it becomes awfully real and solemn in its aspect. We may be noble and famed upon the earth ; or we may be poor, unlettered, hard-
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toiling men, still our life is a vast reality. It is no mere shadow, or rainbow, or vision of the night, but an unconceivable reality in all its parts, great or small.
Such especially is the life of the saint ! He not only knows that there is an eternity, bat he has seen and felt it. Each hour he is look- ing out upon it like a traveller looking over a dark and infinite precipice which flanks the road on which lie is passing along. He not only knows that there is such a thing as for- giveness and eternal life ; but he has found them ; he has tasted them ; his eyes have been opened, and he has now come into the very midst of realities. They compass him about on every side. And especially as he " looks for that blessed hope, even the glorious appear- ing " of the Lord, he feels what a solemn life he is called upon to lead, and that levity and mirth as ill become him as they would have done the High Priest, when standing within the veil under the immediate vision of the glory.