August 3

Thou hast made him exceeding glad with Thy countenance.--PS. xxi. 6.

  MY heart for gladness springs,
    It cannot more be sad,
  For very joy it laughs and sings,
    Sees nought but sunshine glad.
P. GERHARDT.

A new day rose upon me. It was as if another sun had risen into the sky;
the heavens were indescribably brighter, and the earth fairer; and that day
has gone on brightening to the present hour. I have known the other joys of
life, I suppose, as much as most men; I have known art and beauty, music
and gladness; I have known friendship and love and family ties; but it is
certain that till we see GOD in the world--GOD in the bright and boundless
universe--we never know the highest joy. It is far more than if one were
translated to a world a thousand times fairer than this; for that supreme
and central Light of Infinite Love and Wisdom, shining over this world
and all worlds, alone can show us how noble and beautiful, how fair and
glorious they are.
ORVILLE DEWEY.

When I look like this into the blue sky, it seems so deep, so peaceful, so
full of a mysterious tenderness, that I could lie for centuries and wait
for the dawning of the face of God out of the awful loving-kindness.
G. MACDONALD.