October 5, 2009

"But I Hate to Give up Those Things!"

Part 4 on "The Fear of the Lord is a Treasure"

We have to understand the importance of hating sin in order to please God and fulfill His command to fear Him, but the reward is great!

• "The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil: pride, and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate."  Proverbs 8:13

That means having God's attitude toward sin at all times.  The more we study the holiness of God from His perspective and His Word, the more we will understand the extent of His hatred of sin.  He knows it will destroy us.  He created us for His pleasure and to have intimacy with us.  He does not want us to be destroyed, but fulfilled with abundant life.  Therefore He has no tolerance for sin.  He says, "You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2). 

• "The fe ar of the Lord is a fountain of life." Proverbs 14:27

What a paradox!  Fearing the Lord feels like a dead-end street.  There seems to be no connection to abundant life.  In our pride we feel we know what is best, and what is certainly more fun.  Even though we are created in God's image, left to ourselves our own "fountains" run dry or become stagnant and polluted.  Without the fear of the Lord we remain true to our fallen Adamic nature and never know the only Source of "Living Waters."

Now He would never command us to do anything that He does not make full provision for us to attain.  If we CHOOSE to walk in obedience to the next thing He tells us to do, His holy life will start to be seen in us.  And it can start now.  So is there a reward?

• "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." that he might fear; and he feared me, he stood in awe of my name."  Malachi 2:5

July 6, 2009 

"The Amethyst Ring"
Part 1

It was 1983.  My mother was dying of breast cancer.  A few weeks before Mother went into a coma she had a wonderful day.  Her mind was clearer than it had been in a while.  She decided that she wanted to give to my sister, Andrea, and me her jewelry before she died.  But along with that, she wanted to tell us the story that was behind each piece.  Some had been given to her in China or some other country, some from grateful friends, and others by daddy on special occasions. 

With pen and notebook I began recording the stories.  We propped mother up with mounds of pillows and then we cuddled up beside her on the king-sized bed, laying each piece out, one at a time.  It wasn't that they were so terribly valuable.  They were sentimental.  Soon she had rings on all her fingers and she started giggling.  Andrea and I chuckled to see mother in such array, (and so out of character!) displaying her jewels.  Daddy came in to see what it was all about. "Girls!  You all need to get some sleep now!"  But then he settled in beside mother, pulling the pillow over his head, pretending to get some sleep.  We just kept right on -- mother telling her stories, Andrea picking out another piece, and I. . .writing down the stories.  Soon daddy lifted his pillow and said, "No, that isn't how it happened!  Let ME tell the story!"  And so daddy was in on the fun as well. 

Late that night we tucked into bed.   I buried my head in the pillow and tears flowed.  I knew that I was to get her amethyst ring but I didn't want mother's amethyst ring.  I wanted HER.   And then the Lord spoke into my heart so plainly.  "What DO you want of your mother's?"  I sensed the presence of the Lord.  The question reminded me of the one God asked Solomon.  I felt as though God would really give to me what I asked for.  I stopped weeping and began to think deeply.  The sun rose behind the great oak tree outside my sliding glass doors before I knew what I would ask for.  I knew now.  JOY.  The kind of joy that enabled Mother to go through days and nights with bombs falling and still remaining steady.  The kind of joy that patiently cared for six children while war moved them from one country to the next.  The joy that became exultant in the face of the Communist take-over of Shanghai, giving birth to her sixth child and enduring a horrendous typhoon all about the same time.  Yes, that's what I wanted from my mother.

I reached for my Bible, knowing that mother would be waking soon, asking for her hot Ovaltine.  I needed to get my day underway.  I turned to the book of Hebrews where I had been reading.  And there it was.  The KEY to my inheritance of JOY from Mother!  It described her precisely.  In amazement I read:   

Heb. 1:9 "You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions."  (ESV)

How does one love righteousness and hate wickedness?    Especially since some "wickedness" doesn't seem all that "wicked."  Mother did.  Yet she always identified with me in my bad bits.  She would frequently say, shaking her head, "Oh, sweetheart, you got that from me!"

Immediately a verse I had memorized as a child came to my rescue, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil."  Just a verse memorized.  Oh, how many of those I had learned.  But today this one stood out like pure gold.  Hating evil, loving righteousness resulted in gladness and joy!  My heart cried out to God, "Teach me the fear of the Lord!" 

Again memorized Scripture answered me, "Come O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.  What man is there that desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?  Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.  Turn away from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it.  The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry. . ."  (Psa. 34:11-15 ESV)

The question facing me now was HOW do I actually get my inheritance of JOY?

June 8, 2009

"Be Patient!  Be Vigilante!"

Part 7

When I make a garden I want it done yesterday!  It is very difficult for me to hold steady and patiently plan.  I want to see the fruit of contentment now.  I can hardly stand to feel this restlessness inside of me.

I don't know of a gardener that doesn't feel the same way.  But they will all tell you that patience is needed for fruitfulness.  Patience and weeding.  That takes vigilance!  It means checking my spirit daily, even hourly to see what else is growing up in the fertile ground of my mind.   It means looking inside to see if I have really relinquished my own natural ways, strengths and tendencies.  It means accepting God's agenda.  Do I really believe that God's agenda is better for me than my own?

I would like to do NOTHING but what I was created to do.

             To love and adore Him.
                      To go and bear His fruit that will remain!
                                 Now that's contentment. 

I ask myself each morning when I wake up, "Is Jesus Christ enough for you, Arlita?"  Deep inside our heart can we trust the Husbandman or the Vinedresser of our life?  What grace do we need next for our soul?  Can we believe for its supply?  Can we trust Him not only for our difficulties but for our barrenness as well?

"Is anything too hard for Him?"  God said this to Sarah when she laughed at the outrageous statement she had just heard.  She was barren and the angel was telling her that she would conceive and have a son in her old age.

Let me tell you about the Gorse Bush:

In the springtime these bushes burst into golden blooms.  7,000 feet high in the mountains near Big Bear Lake, California, all the way down the switchbacks and winding highway to San Bernardino they cheer the weary traveler. 

The Gorse has strong, sharp thorns and all year long the thorn has been hardening and sharpening.  Then spring comes!  The thorn does NOT drop off and it does NOT soften.  There it is.  Uncompromising as ever.  BUT halfway up the actual thorn appear two furry balls that are mere specks at first.  These furry balls break straight out of last year's thorn into a blaze of golden glory!

There is a line in F. W. H. Meyers' poem, St. Paul that says, "(He) Setteth in pain the jewel of His Joy!"

Take the very hardest, sharpest thing in your life -

            the place of difficulty,
                        outward or inward,
                                    and expect God to triumph gloriously in that spot!

It is a principle God uses over and over.  It is part of His character to want to transform every form of suffering into something glorious!  Our garden is going to be glorious.

Sometimes we are tempted severely to run from the process - or even take our life to escape the brutal stripping.  But then His purposes wouldn't be fulfilled in you. True, you aren't seeing your purposes fulfilled, but then, are yours greater than His?

"Death is the gateway to Life." said Lillias Trotter in her "Parables of the Cross."  In her beautifully illustrated book Lillias Trotter talks about dying to one's self; and has illustrated the Gorse Bush in watercolors.  My mother-in-law gave me this treasure of an old book years ago and I have often gone to it for strength and comfort.

"Without a true death there can be no resurrection," my own mother once told me.

Jim Elliot, the martyred missionary to Ecuador said, "He is no fool who gives what He cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose!"

If we want our gardens to be filled with contentment, if we want resurrection life, we must be willing to abide by the rules of the garden.  Only then will fruit result!  We let ourselves "die," trusting God for the "resurrection" and for the life that is going to pour into us.  We cover it over with "topsoil," that is, blessings - for others, particularly the ones who have hurt us.  Next comes the watering with prayers of thanksgiving regularly for the fruit that is going to come.  He promised  that it will come.  He promised that it will remain!  Eternal fruit.

Let's read our text again from John 15:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener . . .(vs. 4,5)  Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.    I am the vine, you are the branches.  If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. . . (vs. 9-11) As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in My love.  If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love.  I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  (Vs. 16) You did not chose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last . . ."  (NIV)

In other words: "I am the source of your life, your joy, your ability to bear fruit, your fulfillment!

Apart from me you can do nothing.  Even I can do nothing of my own initiative and I do nothing of myself.  It is the life of the Father."  (John 5:30)  Picture an empty well.  We are the empty wells and we need water for our garden.  Where and Who is the Source of your water?

May 18, 2009

"From Hatred to Healing"
Part 5

One Christmas Eve our family was gathering all together. Snow had fallen days before and the walks and steps were terribly icy. Our daughter Sarah and her family arrived. She gathered up presents out of the car and hurried through the snow to the door. As she gripped the door handle she slipped and crashed through the French doors. Her arm was slashed from the wrist all the way up her arm. Three doctors in our household sprang into action. That evening was spent in the emergency room while the rest of us painfully carried on with the celebration for the sake of the rest of the family. Hours were spent in the emergency room where they painstakingly removed every shard of glass. At last they were able to flush it clean and stitch her up. Many months passed before she had full use of that arm.

You see, when we have been hurt, obstacles to healing are automatically present and need to be removed. Here is where forgiveness comes into action.

If the injury is not forgiven, or accepted as being one of those things that God has actually permitted into our lives for our spiritual maturing, it will fester and move into self-pity. “But” you say, “I didn’t deserve it! Tell me! What did I do to deserve that kind of treatment? They are the ones who need to confess their sin!”

Let me ask you a question: Do we deserve ANY of the good that God showers onto us? The Bible tells us “No.” We deserve nothing. Nothing but hell because of our rebellion. We have been GIFTED with life, but not because we deserve it. So the minute my heart cries “I did not deserve this treatment from them!” I need to stop right there and say, “Father, forgive my arrogance. I was thinking I deserved far better because of all the things I have done for them.” That self-centered arrogance, in itself, puts me on the same level with the one who hurt me. We BOTH need the cross and His cleansing.

Now, suppose we want to feel the comfort of self-pity for just a little while, and our mind rehearses over and over again, while we are folding clothes, driving the car pool, or making the salad. It feels good. We really have said and done so many right things to that person. What’s more, they seem to have no idea how much we love them!

A few rounds of this can easily turn into resentment and the next time we see them in the grocery store, we find a different aisle to walk down, looking earnestly at all the soups and noodles. Or we simply don’t invite them to our home. Or we refuse their invitation to the family dinner. The resentment becomes anger. It swiftly goes rancid and turns into bitterness.

I MIGHT forgive them IF they say they are sorry. But if not, forget it! And them!

Suppose they DO say that they are sorry, it does not get rid of my bitterness. I still have to make a choice to forgive them. I can get free of my bitterness unilaterally, whether they say they are sorry or not.

The only thing that gets rid of my bitterness is confessing my self-pity, anger and bitterness to God as SIN. Because “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” But first we have to see our reaction as sin.

Now suppose we hold on to that bitterness. It will eventually turn into hatred. What does Jesus say about that? He says that if we hate our brother we have already committed murder. “WHAT? That’s going a bit too far, Arlita. You are saying that because someone else hurt me, I can end up at the end of this cycle? MURDER?” Yes, if you don’t allow the cleansing process of the blood of Jesus into your heart and thought life.

That’s why it says, “Beware lest any root of bitterness spring up, cause trouble, and defile many.” Have you ever seen bitterness go through a family? It can go through a congregation like a prairie fire.

Jim Wilson, in his book, How to Be Free From Bitterness* says, “The world has two solutions:
Keep the bitterness in and make yourself sick or let it all out and make everyone else sick! God’s solution: Dig up the root. Get rid of it.”

This takes our humbling and the grace of God.

The Bible says to get rid of all bitterness. Surrender it to the Father. Dig it up, break up the hard clods, and take out the big roots. Amend the soil, submit to God’s solution, and be set free.

Ephesians 4:31,32 “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

The last six words are the only basis we can forgive others. Not for their sakes. Not for our sakes. “Even as God for Christ’s sake.” This is our hope for healing.

* How to Be Free From Bitterness by Jim Wilson, Community Christian Ministries, P.O. Box 9754, Moscow, ID 83843-0180

 

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May 4, 2009

"I Didn’t Deserve That!"
Part 3

So! Suppose we have decided we ARE going to have a “garden” with the “Plant of Contentment.” We begin to evaluate the place for the garden, that is, our hearts. The more we look, the more clutter we see.

Take a deep breath, and let’s roll up our sleeves! Dig it up. Break up the hard clods. Take out the roots.

Now Paul says to get rid of all bitterness and to be kind and compassionate one to another, BUT before the bitterness can be removed, we need to recognize it and yank it up by the roots!

It’s fairly easy to see when other people are bitter. You can see it in their eyes and in the lines of their face. You can see it in their mouth when they’re smiling or laughing. You can even hear it when they protest that they are not bitter. The last person to recognize that he is bitter is the person himself.

Guilt is what we feel when we sin.  Bitterness is what we feel when others sin against us. My friend, Jim Wilson*, has said that a good rule of thumb is this – bitterness remembers details. You have had thousands of conversations in your life, most of which you have forgotten. But this one took place 5 years ago, and you can remember every single word, and the inflection in their voice. You can remember what they were wearing. You know exactly what happened – which means, you are probably bitter.

You say, “No, I just have a very good and accurate memory!” Memory is helped by REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Usually we don’t mull over the wonderful things as much as those things which hurt us. We generally think about how right we are and how wrong they are. This starts up a cycle of hurts, which leads to being critical and putting up walls to protect ourselves. The cycle is one of resisting and trying to change the other person, or withdrawing.

Let me tell you about my own bitterness.

I married into a wonderful family, a missionary family very committed to serving the Lord. When Mama and Papa retired -- in their 70's -- they returned to the States and came to be near us. Nothing could have pleased us more! I was longing for my children to be near grandparents, and I hardly knew Joe’s parents because they had been away all those years in Europe. I wanted to be a wonderful daughter-in-law, and besides, I missed my own parents greatly. It was May, and all the flowers in Moorestown seemed to welcome them “home.” Our home would be their home until they found their own place.

Papa wanted to be in charge. My best kitchen knife was found in the garage where he used it for cutting up cardboard boxes. My largest spoons were measuring out fertilizers. These irritations turned quickly into hurts. And he had no intention of moving to his own place. We had definitely succeeded in making them comfortable!

Picture a child’s toy which nests one block into another. When I would experience the “Hurts” I would feel sorry for myself and start nesting it into a larger block called “Self-pity,” and that block slipped easily into a larger block called “Anger.”

One day Papa opened our mail, flashing the phone bill in front of me and saying, “You’re going to put my son into the poor house!” My hurt, self-pity and anger slipped easily into a bigger block called “Bitterness.” Every so often I would “play” blocks by taking them all apart in my mind and building large towers. Before long, I didn’t like having Papa around. Could “Hatred?” be the next block? Surely not! But was that possible?? Now I had five different blocks to “build” and “play” with!

One day I drove into our driveway and I was astonished to see Papa teetering on the very top of the roof of our three-story home. He was brandishing a long black broom dripping with tar. He stopped long enough to wave to me with it. “I’m saving Joe money by tarring the roof! He doesn’t have to put a new one on!” he shouted jubilantly. He had also managed to line the gutters with plastic Sunbeam bread wrappers, tarring them down, so that we didn’t need new gutters either! Fortunately he was way up high, on top of that roof, and I didn’t need to see him for a while.

I calmed down enough, BUT it never occurred to me to consider MY reactions. I deserved to feel all the anger boiling up inside of me. When were they going to get their own home?! If he could scramble up onto the roof of a third-floor house, then surely he wasn’t too old to care for his own place! Besides, he could have fallen from there and killed himself! But it never occurred to me, even then, that I was getting dangerously close to murder in my own heart which would have been the SIXTH Block that I was playing with.

Not until one afternoon. I had recently finished decorating the entire house. The old steam radiators were painted discreetly to blend in with the color of the walls. I opened the front door, carrying my bundles, to be greeted by a beaming Papa! “I have been painting ALL the radiators shiny black so that the heat can radiate into the rooms!” I swept past him, put my packages down and headed up to my bedroom. I didn’t dare to shout at him, so I cried alone. Still I didn’t talk to God about it. I DID talk to Joe about it.  You never could have convinced me that MY attitude was wrong.

Somehow Joe soothed my feelings, and life went on. My hurts, self-pity, anger, bitterness, and my hatred were certainly not MY fault. Look at all we were doing for them! Strange that I didn’t talk to God about my own attitude. I cried out in self-pity to Him, but never dreamed that I was as culpable as Papa because now I could say I hated having him around. Jesus would say that I hated him

I played my gracious role on the outside, but the despair and resentment had to spill out somewhere. It took 4 years for God to sort us all out. Keep on your old jeans and rolled up sleeves because there IS going to be a garden with the “plant of contentment!”  Do not grow weary.

“Therefore lift up your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” Hebrews 12:12, 13.

* How to Be Free From Bitterness by Jim Wilson, Community Christian Ministries, P.O. Box 9754, Moscow, ID 83843-0180
 

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"Of Gardens and Contentment"
Part 1

The move was sudden. It was a difficult decision. We chose a small condominium where we could plant our own tiny garden if the Condominium Board passed on the plans. A garden had been taking shape in my mind all winter long. The ground began to thaw, the mourning doves began cooing, and I knew exactly what I wanted. I bought the plants, got out my garden tools and knew I had a day of bliss ahead of me. It didn’t take five minutes for me to find out that there was exactly 1 inch of topsoil and underneath was solid clay. It is the only time gardening when I sat down and actually cried.

Wouldn’t it be sheer joy to simply plunk in seeds of “Contentment” and watch them grow? But it just doesn’t happen that way. I was anything but content that day. Then God started speaking into my heart. “Arlita, your heart right now is like your garden. You’ve found there is work to be done in breaking up the hard clay. Only then will you have your garden. And contentment is the same way.”

“Lord, how do I go about it? This ground is simply too hard. I don’t know where to begin, and I certainly am not strong enough to break it up.”

“Arlita, you’ve just taken the first step. You’ve recognized that you can’t have the garden that you long for. Now, recognize and admit that you don’t have the plant of contentment either.”

That night I did a lot of soul-searching. Paul says in I Timothy 6:6 “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

It sounds as though Paul is saying that we might be “godly” but have no fruit of contentment in our garden. Perhaps we have other fruits and flowers, but no contentment.

What does contentment look like? Webster’s dictionary says it is “a state of peaceful happiness or satisfaction to the full extent of one’s desires.”

The Lord continued to speak into my heart.

“Arlita, do you really want the “Contentment” plant? It’s costly.”

I thought of this plant in tandem with my own little garden.

Little did I know what it would eventually take in my condo garden! My husband had to use a pick axe and crow bar to loosen the clay. He remembers the pain of it to this day. It was unusable and we had to load it up in a wheel barrow and simply dump it. New top soil and manure was brought in and year after year it has gradually been amended. A Japanese Plum tree stands there now, graceful and tall, overshadowing the seasonal plantings.

To garden is to take part in mystery. To place seeds on the waiting earth, cover them with soil, moisten them, and wait in hope and expectation is a statement of faith. The people of the Bible understood this, so it is not surprising that Israel’s prophets and poets made use of garden images in their proverbs, psalms, allegories, parables, and prophetic utterances. What could I learn from them?

First I had to commit to paying the price. I must stop crying and do something. I decided right then and there I would pay the price of changing the ground. It would take time, patience, money, blood, sweat and tears.

Secondly I had to evaluate the place for the garden. For the plant of Contentment, that meant my heart. Contentment is a matter of the heart. Does it have heavy roots, rocks, sandy soil, rocky soil, clutter?

I decided that I had work to do!

“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and reign in righteousness upon you.” Hosea 10:12

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"Of Ugly Stubbs, Branches, and Fruit"

The storm stopped (see previous devotional). I came out freezing. But coming down the mountain hope itself was planted in my soul. It would be two years though before the sun would begin to thaw me out.

My godly mother came to visit. She didn’t condemn me. She didn’t “preach” to me. She poured herself out in love, serving our family. She mopped the floors, gathered seashells with the children, made moss gardens, and simply loved us all. As she was packing her bags to leave on the plane she looked into my eyes and said, “Sweetheart, without a true death, there can be no resurrection.” That’s all she said. I knew what she meant. I had to repent completely and not be defensive. I had to give the past to my loving Lord who had died to pay for my sins.

I felt “sap” rising inside me. It was hope, reminding me that I was connected into the Vine. My thinking became clearer as depression lifted.

Jesus said , “I am the Vine, and you are the branches. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain . . .” (John 15:16)

You and I live and grow drawing life from that central vine. We are branches of that immortal divine stem!

The vine itself is not used to make anything – furniture or tools. (Unless it is used for wreaths on which to hang artificial fruits and flowers!) Its sole purpose is to carry life to the branches and to produce fruit.

Why did Jesus use that metaphor? A vine’s natural habit is to grow quickly and luxuriantly wild, trailing here and there, wherever it wills. But since the vine-dresser wants quality fruit, he will not permit the branches to trail wherever they choose. Each branch is carefully tied to a stake. Its arms are stretched out and bound crosswise.

My husband and I have been in the south of France in different growing seasons and have watched the grapes at their different stages of growth. I can still picture those vineyards with the branches bound to their stakes – not free to flow – their arms stretched out crosswise – bound, drawing their life from the vine.

We spoke with a vine-dresser. He said, “Oui! The vine must suffer much and be properly cared for by cutting. The best vintage comes from good stock, from suffering cold winters, hot summers, periods of wet, periods of dry, and much pruning!”

I had to make a choice. What would that look like in my life? Let’s take another look at our grapevine.

Soon the branches break into bud, joyous with green tendrils and leaf. They grow quickly and lush, lavish in their life – gloriously free! But someone has been watching. Someone who has a vested interest. The vine-dresser comes with pruning hooks and shears. He strips the branches bare of all their innocent pride. He cuts deep and sure. The bleeding limbs harden into wood. On pruned branches the fruit ripens – more full, more precious. The longer they grow, the heavier they become. They are bound tighter to carry the weight. The fruit turns crimson. The leaves droop and wither in the sun. BUT still the life-blood flows into fruitfulness.

Then comes the vintage. The fruit is ripe. Surely now the vine can glory and rejoice a little in its crowning glory; even though it is bending low under the weight of its fruit. But ah! Hands are ready to tear down the treasures of grapes. Feet are near to tread them in the winepress. And the land will be full of joy!

Now, the vine stands stripped and desolate, having given all. Its own dark time has come. No one gives it comfort, or thanks for its gift. Now the branches are cut back and piled into heaps – cut back to the very stem – disfigured. Alone – through dark days to come. The vine stands alone out in the fields – in the frost and snow. It stands alone and steadfast through all the winter winds.

And next year...BLOOMS AGAIN!

The branches are not bitter for the torment.
They are not barren because of the fruit they gave up.
They are fulfilled.

I chose to relinquish my “natural” ways and “rights.” I chose to submit to the spiritual fruit-producing process. We have to place even our “fruit” on the altar. As we hold out our arms relinquishing our way of doing things, we then accept something far greater than what we gave up.

Secondly, I chose to accept God’s purposes in my life. I had hope that I would “bloom” again.

This is the picture of Christ’s disciple.

Ugo Bassi, back in the 1800's, said in a sermon to people dying in a hospital:

“The vine from every living limb bleeds wine.
Is it poorer for that spirit shed?
Measure thy life by loss instead of gain;
Not by the wine drunk, but the wine poured forth
For love’s strength standeth in love’s sacrifice,
And whoso suffers most hath most to give.”