^ " Eisen with him." Seated with Him ! Then our outlook in life is not an upward, but a downward one ! Here is the demand for Christian imagination. How does life look from Heaven ? Think of our discontent in lowly places, our feverish longing for great work, our love of tinsel, our chafing under discipline, our hard judgments, our cherished grievances. How would they appear to us, seen from above ? How do they look to Jesus ? Put yourself in your true place, and judge accord- ingly. Our citizenship is in Heaven ; let our conversation be heavenly.^
^ I have done little more than desire the good thing, and seek to know nothing about the mysteries of our being, but I like to think that even unuttered aspirations may have a material force.^
2. The very fact of being raised with Christ is an inspiration and incitement to reach up to higher levels of attainment. " Seek things above," says St. Paul, " because of what has been granted you, not that you may have something granted to you." There is nothing more to be procured ; the utmost is yours in the ascension of Christ, for you are risen with Him ; therefore give yourselves to excel. Virtue was the end — the end for which they were dignified with immortality. They were summoned to reach after it on the ground of their investiture. The inducement presented is the claim of high position, the responsibility of rich possession. It was as though the writer had said, " Eemember your rank and standing, and act in accordance with it ; labour to be worthy of it."
', *[[ There is in a little churchyard in Switzerland a simple in- scription on the tomb of one who perished in an Alpine accident,
^ W. L. Watkinson, The Bane and the Antidote, 96. ^ M, D. Babcock, Thoughts for Every-Day Living, 28. ^ George Frederic Watts, i. 312.
COLOSSIANS III. I 493
which has always appealed to me with singular force : " He died climbing." He had heard the call of the mountains and lost his life in endeavouring to respond. We have heard the call of the risen Christ, but unlike the climber, we gain our lives in our sustained attempt to respond worthily. " Seek those things that are above " is a call to enjoy the largest possible life, for the very struggle develops latent possibilities and capacities, and each step upward is into fuller liberty and more perfect manhood.*
Higher still, and higlier! O to leave the clouds below, And the creeping mists that throw Doubt on all the way we go
As we would aspire
Higher still, and higher !
Higher still, and higher ! Ah ! how little way I make. Plunging where the black bogs quake, Slowly hewing through the brake
Tangled with old briar ! —
Higher still, and higher!
Higher still, and higher ! Courage ! look not down to see How high thy footing now may be, Upward set thy face where He Calls thee to come nigher, Higher still, and higher. ''
Higher still, and higher ! Lo ! the sun is sinking fast, And lengthening shades are round thee cast, Let not thy heart fail at the last;
'Tis no time to tire —
Higher still, and higher !
Higher still, and higher ! Sweet the air is, pure and clear, And thy Lord is ever near Yonder where the songs I hear
And the golden lyre —
Higher still, and higher. * J. Stuart Holden, Redeeming Vision, 53.
494 RISEN WITH CHRIST
Higher still, and higher ! "What, if Death be standing right In thy way, and dreadful night ? All beyond is life and light,
And thy soul's desire —
Higher still, and higher ! ^
3. To seek the things which are above is to show that our life is really hid with Christ in God. Little or nothing may be said ; a look or whisper is often enough. Sometimes the change may be marked by self-restraint, by the absence of chatter about self and our petty likes and dislikes. Or it may be expressed in acts of self-denial which involve delicate consideration for the feelings as well as the tastes of others — that " sweet and innocent compliance which is the great cement of love." Sometimes it may be seen in a quiet silent prayer in the bedroom a little longer than usual, a determination to have a few minutes in church before or after service, a posture of unaffected reverence, or a hushed tone in using Scripture words and in saying the name of God — all these are often eloquent signs.
^ ^ The best motto is not an inscription for your tombstone : " Resurgam, I shall arise, when earthly life is over, when the graves unclose." It is a watchword for your hearts : " Besurgo, I arise, I am delivered, I am quickened, I begin to live upward, through Christ, for Christ, imto Christ." ^
^ Myers said in most deliberate words that his own history had iDcen that of a soul struggling into the conviction of its own existence, and that he had postponed all else to the one question whether life and love survive the tomb. To give and to receive joy, companionship with nobler spirits — these seemed to him the real aims of life ; and while doubt remained as to the permanence of the human soul, even these aims appeared to be futile and fruitless. But when the conviction of immortality dawned upon him, as it did, he said that it gave him a creed which encouraged him to live at his best, and inspired the very strongest hopes that can incite to exertion.^