[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":4},["ShallowReactive",2],{"reading-1204":3},"DECEMBER 4\r\nHe went up into a mountain apart (Matt. 14:23).\r\nOne of the blessings of the old-time Sabbath was its calm, its\r\nrestfulness, its holy peace. There is a strange strength conceived in solitude. Crows go in flocks and wolve in packs, but the lion\r\nand the eagle are solitaires.\r\nStrength is not in bluster and noise. Strength is in quietness. The lake must be calm if the heavens are to be reflected on its\r\nsurface. Our Lord loved the people, but how often we read of His going away from them for a brief season. He tried every little\r\nwhile to withdraw from the crowd. He was always stealing away at evening to the hills. Most of His ministry was carried on in the\r\ntowns and cities by the seashore, but He loved the hills the best,   and oftentimes when night fell He would plunge into their peaceful depths.\r\nThe one thing needed above all others today is that we shall go blessed presence. Oh, for the lost art of meditation! Oh, for the\r\nculture of the secret place! Oh, for the tonic of waiting upon God! --Selected.\r\nIt is well to live in the valley sweet,\r\nWhere the work of the world is done,\r\nWhere the reapers sing in the fields of wheat, As they toil till the set of sun.\r\nBut beyond the meadows, the hills I see\r\nWhere the noises of traffic cease,\r\nAnd I follow a Voice that calleth to me From the hilltop regions of peace.\r\nAye, to live is sweet in the valley fair, And to toil till the set of sun;\r\nBut my spirit yearns for the hilltop's air When the day and its work are done.\r\nFor a Presence breathes o'er the silent hills, And its sweetness is living yet;\r\nThe same deep calm all the hillside fills, As breathed over Olivet.\r\nEvery life that would be strong must have its Holy of Holies into which only God enters.",1783499794090]