Chapter VI - Marriage
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make good husbands or wives, mind will at length
make good husbands or wives, mind will at length
demand a higher affection, and ferment on this and
many other subjects, until it settles down on an im-
proved understanding. But the fermentation of fluids
is not pleasant, during this nondescript stage, and matri-
mony that was once a fixed fact, is not so desirable on
a slippery foundation.
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The mental chemicalization that has brought infi-
The mental chemicalization that has brought infi-
delity to the surface, will as surely throw it off, and
marriage will settle down purer after the scum is ex-
pelled. "Sweet are the uses of adversity, which like
the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious
jewel in his head." They teach us not to lean upon
earth, it is a broken reed, that pierces to the heart. We
do not half remember this in the sunshine of joy and
prosperity. But sorrow is more salutary, and points
us from the cross to the crown prepared for those who
pass to their reward through much tribulation. Trials
are but proofs of God's care for his children. When
spiritual development takes place it germinates not
from seed sown in the soil of earthly hopes; rather do
these decay to propagate anew in Spirit those higher
joys that have no taint of earth, and thus our experi-
ences go up higher, and a point is won in progress.
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In conjugal felicity, it is well to remember how fleet-
In conjugal felicity, it is well to remember how fleet-
ing are the joys of earth, and be grateful for them. In
conjugal infelicity, separate not if there is no moral
demand for this; far better await the logic of events,
than for a wife precipitately to leave a husband, or a
husband his wife, for if one is better than the other,
this other pre-eminently needs good company. Socrates
considered patience salutary under such circumstances,
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making his Xanthippe a discipline for his philosophy.
making his Xanthippe a discipline for his philosophy.
Sorrow has its reward, and never leaves man where it
found him; it is the furnace that separates the gold
from the dross, and gives back the image of God. The
cup our Father hath given, shall we not drink it? and
learn the lesson He inculcates.
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When the ocean is stirred by a storm, the clouds
When the ocean is stirred by a storm, the clouds
lower, the wind screams through the straitened canvas,
and waves lift themselves to mountains, we ask the
helmsman, "Do you know your course, and can you
steer your vessel amid the storm?" Even the daunt-
less seaman is not sure of his fate, well knowing the
science of navigation is not equal to the Science of God;
but acting up to his highest understanding, firm at the
post of duty, awaits the issue. Thus should we de-
port ourself in the seething ocean of sorrow, hoping
and working, stick to the wreck, until the logic of
events precipitates the doom, or sunshine gladdens the
wave.
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The possibility that animal natures give more force
The possibility that animal natures give more force
to character than the spiritual, is too absurd to con-
sider, when we remember the exemplar of man healed
the sick, raised the dead, and commanded even the
winds and waves to obey him, through the ascendency
of the spiritual over the material. What we avail our-
selves of God, is as potent with us as it was with Jesus,
and our want of spiritual strength speaks the rebuke
it deserves; and our limited demonstration puts to
shame the labor of centuries. We should hold our
body not so much in personal, as spiritual conscious-
ness, even as the orange we have just eaten, and of
which only the idea is left, then would there be neither