[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":4},["ShallowReactive",2],{"reading-1210":3},"DECEMBER 10\r\nIf I am in distress, it is in the interests of your comfort, which\r\nis effective as It nerves you to endure the some sufferings as I\r\nsuffered myself. Hence my hope for you is well-founded, since I   know that as you shore the sufferings you share the comfort also (2Cor. 1:6, 7).\r\nAre there not some in your circle to whom you naturally betake\r\nyourself in times of trial and sorrow? They always seem to speak\r\nthe right word, to give the very counsel you are longing for, you\r\ndo not realized, however, the cost which they had to pay ere they\r\nbecame so skillful in binding up the gaping wounds and drying\r\ntears. But if you were to investigate their past history you would\r\nfind that they have suffered more than most They have watched the slow untwisting of some silver cord on which the lamp of life hung.    They have seen the golden bowl of joy dashed to their feet and its    contents spilt They have stood by ebbing tides, and drooping\r\ngourds, and noon sunsets; but all this has been necessary to make\r\nthem the nurses, the physicians, the priests of men. The boxes that\r\ncome from foreign climes are clumsy enough; but they contain spices which scent the air with the fragrance of the Orient. So suffering\r\nis rough and hard to bear, but it hides beneath it discipline,\r\neducation, possibilities, which not only leave us nobler, but\r\n\r\nperfect us to help others. Do not fret, or set your teeth, or wait doggedly for the suffering to pass; but get out of it all you can, both for yourself and for your service to your generation,\r\naccording to the will of God. --Selected.\r\nOnce I heard a song of sweetness, As it cleft the morning air,\r\nSounding in its blest completeness, Like a tender, pleading prayer;\r\nAnd I sought to find the singer,\r\nWhence the wondrous song was borne; And I found a bird, sore wounded,\r\nPinioned by a cruel thorn.\r\nI have seen a soul in sadness,\r\nWhile its wings with pain were furl'd.   Giving hope, and cheer and gladness That should bless a weeping world\r\nAnd I knew that life of sweetness,\r\nWas of pain and sorrow borne,   And a stricken soul was singing, With its heart against a thorn.\r\nYe are told of One who loved you, Of a Saviour crucified,\r\nYe are told of nails that pinioned,   And a spear that pierced His side;\r\nYe are told of cruel scourging, Of a Saviour bearing scorn,\r\nAnd He died for your salvation, With His brow against a thorn.\r\nYe \"are not above the Master.\"\r\nWill you breathe a sweet refrain?\r\nAnd His grace will be sufficient,\r\nWhen your heart is pierced with pain. Will you live to bless His loved ones,  Tho' your life be bruised and torn,\r\nLike the bird that sang so sweetly,\r\nWith its heart against a thorn? --Selected.",1783499794106]