Encomendero

“ If companionship with one of God’s poor servants is so precious, what shall we say to Him who exhorts us, “Go! . . . and, lo, I am with you”? Is He not saying: The good Shepherd must seek the wandering sheep until He find them. Go ye, too, and seek them, and so doing you shall find My companionship ensured? Shall we decline this fellowship with Him, and leave Him, so far as we are concerned, to seek them alone?
We next find Ruth toiling in the burning sun as a gleaner, and there she meets for the first time the lord of the harvest. ”

“ Such is by no means the case; every man and mother’s son in the country still keeps his confessor. By this epithet, it may be guessed, I mean that chief and most particular friend whom every man keeps about him—who stands his best man when he is married, and becomes his second when he [Pg 205] fights a duel—his double, in short, or second self—a creature whom you almost always find with him when you call, and who either walks under his arm in the street, or is found waiting for him while he steps into some neighbouring shop, or, as the case may happen, is waited for by him. ”

“ If the companion you choose is religious in all sincerity, she is perforce a slave to every little rule and regulation, and to her it would seem like defrauding the Deity to give affection to any one but to Him. ”

“ Again, where the purpose of the union is to live the pure life, then the union belongs to the higher plane. But the highest plane of all is where the two, at the time of marriage, consecrate themselves to each other and to the service of the Lord in His humanity, keeping their bodies, as the temples of God, pure and sacred; where both live above all lustful desires for each other, keeping the life forces for making the mind and body strong, and fitting themselves to be instruments of the Divine. ”

“ Do with them as to the world, as thou thinks fit—only, convey grace down to their posterity; let them be pleaders for thee, as I have pleaded for them at the throne of grace: this is all my desire, and would be my comfort to see. O Lord, come this day and smile upon my poor gift, and accept of them. I solemnly stand to all my former engagements, and make a solemn resignation of myself unto thee, and desire to close with thee on thine own terms. ”

“ Wherefore I pray thee, by the reverence due to that union wherein thy manhood is united to the adorable Trinity in order to our glorification, that thou wouldst deign to unite my will to thine, and so to strengthen and secure it, that it may be unable to rebel against thee. In union with thy most sinless limbs, I commend to thee all the members of my body, with all their movements, that they may throughout this day move for thy glory alone, for thy praise and thy love. ”

“ But, mysterious as that union may be, it is a mine of comfort and consolation to all who can rightly regard it. Infinite power and infinite sympathy are met together and combined in our Savior. If He had been only Man, He could not have saved us. ”

“ Such unions of natures of especial grace have been born under like conditions of fated intercourse, and they have been unions of a strange beauty, the more blest by the sense of a conquest over love's one unworthiness, its egoism. ”

“ In the offices of charity, our love is warmed and our wisdom enlightened in proportion as we disinterestedly seek the true happiness of those whose lives come within the sphere of our influence, guided, not by blind instinct, but by an enlightened Christianity. Thus the quality and quantity of what we receive from Companionship depends on the quality and quantity of what we give.
There is no surer test of Character than the Companionship we habitually seek; for we always prefer the society of those who administer to our dominant love. ”

“ He, by whom I should at least be respected as an upright fellow-creature from the workshop of God, not from the hand of the Devil; be taken into companionship because of what in me is worthily companionable? The fellow-man who will accept what of good in me is like the rest of men, nor draw away from me, as from a leper? ”

“ I wish to find the means of uniting yourself and me—in the eyes of God, not of the law—without offending the habits and prejudices of a world, in which it may suit us hereafter to live. Yes, my friend! when you know whose are the noble hands, that are to join ours together, who is to bless and glorify God in our union—a sacred union, that will leave us worthy and free—you will say, I am sure, that never purer hands could have been laid upon us. Forgive me, friend! all this is in earnest—yes, earnest as our love, earnest as our happiness. ”

“ MAIN OUTGROWTHS It would seem clear that the primal idea of a covenant union between two persons, and between those persons and their God, was found in the initial and primitive rite of marriage, with its outpoured blood, or gift of life, on the threshold of being; and that this rite contained in itself the germs of covenanting and of sacrifice, and the idea of an altar and a sacrament, where, and by which, man and God were brought into loving communion and union. ”

“ Now this confessor, and one or more of his penitents, may be the children of the same father and mother, and yet they shall be as unlike in attitude and in character as two human beings can be. In the closest alliance of blood you may thus find the opposite poles of one humanity. ”

“ Now love turns out to be consent in what pertains to reason, life, and manners, or in brief, fellowship in life, or it is the intensity of friendship and of affection, with right reason, in the enjoyment of associates. ”

“ We are, therefore, able to be pleasing to Him by the good-will and the affection of our soul. For by consecrating ourselves to Him we not only declare our open and free acknowledgment and acceptance of His authority over us, but we also testify that if what we offer as a gift were really our own, we would still offer it with our whole heart. ”

“ Duty to kings, piety to parents, gratitude to benefactors, and fidelity to friends, are different and particular ties. But the name of rival cuts ’em all asunder, and is a general acquittance. Rival is equal, and love like death an universal leveller of mankind. ”

“ Wherefore, brethren, let us confess Him by [32] our works, by loving one another, by not committing adultery, or speaking evil of one another, or cherishing envy; but being continent, compassionate, and good. We ought also to sympathize with one another, and not be avaricious. ”

“ Companion of my joys and companion of my grief,—companion in everything but in my sin,—counsel with me, with your eyes turned ahead. You are innocent and innocence is prophetic. What lies beyond this world and the life men live in it? What of good waits for him who gives up this life bravely and penitently, and trusts himself to the decisions and the certainties of the great hereafter? ”

“ Such depraved creatures as we are, need the aid of the warmest affection, to enable us to exercise that mutual forbearance, so indispensable to the peace and happiness of the domestic circle.
2. That the marriage covenant should be cemented by a principle of a peculiar kind, will appear from the superiority of the soul over the body. When two human beings unite their destinies, there must be a union of soul, or else such union is but partial. And the union of soul must be the foundation of the outward union, and of course precede it. ”

“ But for the time being it is expected that as honorable men and women, we will honestly and truly carry out our covenants in regard to these little temporal things; and let us be one, for the Lord has plainly told us, if ye are not one, ye are not mine. ”

“ It is a privilege to know such beings singly and separately; but to see their powers quickened, and their happiness rounded, by the sacred tie of marriage, is a cause for peculiar and lasting gratitude. A union so complete as theirs—in which the mind has nothing to crave, nor the heart to sigh for—is cordial to behold and cheering to remember. ”

“ Blessing replied, "would counsel me to conceal it, but my duty as your father-in-law leaves me no alternative. Our human feelings prompt us to show only the bright side of life to those whom we love; principle, however,—conscience, commands us not to suppress the shadows. ”

“ With the love of complacency which inclines us to show reverence, honour, and respect to others, we should give the preference to those who are more worthy of it on account of their closer union with God. ”

“ Father, says he, keep them in thy name, that they may be one, like as we are! Observe, I beseech you, what a wonderful union Christ requires in his followers; he does not pray that they may be of one mind, but that they may be one; nor does he mention this union in a vague manner, but says, "That they may be one, as we are," who are one and the same in a most perfect, yet unspeakable and inexplicable manner. ”

“ Should such a man seek your friendship or affection, should he seek, by any means, to confer an obligation upon you, or make you confer one on him, spurn him from you as you would a serpent; as one who aimed to lure your unsuspecting innocence to the paths of destruction. ”

“ Ye have covenanted with a prince of honour, that will not suffer your disloyalty unpunished and unrevenged; whose power and puissance, by God's grace, is and shall be sufficient against you to make you know and feel your own faults and offences. Ye have covenanted for the wealth of your mistress and the poor commons, to whose great detriment your follies and perverse fancies, if ye observe not your pacts, shall chiefly redound. ”

“ I talked with the angels respecting conjugial love, or the love between two consorts who love each other. [They said] that it is the inmost of all loves, and is such that consort sees consort in his or her inner and outer mind (animo et mente [3] ) , so that each consort has the other within him or her. That is, that the image, yea, the similitude of the husband is in the mind of the wife, and the image and similitude of the wife is in the mind of the husband; so that the one sees the other in himself or herself, and in their inmosts they thus dwell together. ”

“ Bound to each other by the most intricate ties of relationship and by a still more potent one, the eternal bond conferred by the title compadre or godfather, they share their troubles and shield each other as though they belonged to one great family. ”

“ Your fellow-creature, who has sinned and has repented—you have the authority of the Divine Teacher for it—is your fellow-creature, purified and ennobled. A joy among the angels of heaven—oh, my brothers and sisters of the earth, have I not laid my hand on a fit companion for You? ”

“ I now make those only my companions who are the most religious and moral, and I hope sincerely that it will have a good effect in changing that thoughtless disposition which has ever been a striking trait in my character. ”

“ Even among those who most esteem, and are drawn towards each other as well by fellowship in pleasure as companionship in danger, this vile and debasing principle—this insatiable desire for personal advancement—is certain to intrude itself; since we feel that over the mangled bodies of our dearest friends and companions, we can alone hope to attain preferment and distinction. ”

“ The love of domination of one over the other entirely banishes conjugial love and its heavenly delight; for, as was said above, conjugial love and its delight consists in the fact that the will of the one is that of the other, and this mutually and reciprocally. ”

“ So in my fanciful moments I have imagined may society be, when the two great branches of humanity's noblest family, which have been separated so long, will consent not only to meet, but to meet on the same ground ”

“ O Thou that hast begun this good work, perfect it, that I may praise thy holy name thro' time and all eternity. And now, O Lord, out of the sense of all these thy loving kindnesses towards thy poor handmaid, I desire in thy strength to renew former engagements, and solemnly anew to enter into covenant with thee. ”

“ The Reformed Presbyterian Church has for some time had in view the performance of the duty of Covenanting in her social capacity. There are the most abundant reasons why the object should be more and more steadily contemplated, till it be attained. We profess that Covenanting is a duty. ”

“ Can we make this covenant with ourselves this morning. Not only to say we dedicate this house and ourselves, our flocks, herds, families, and possessions, to the Lord, but actually perform the work, dedicating our affections to His service. If our affections are won and wholly dedicated to His cause, we have then obtained the victory. ”

“ But more than this, he wishes the servant to understand that he is to copy his king; that if his king has behaved to him like a father to his child, he must behave as a brother to his fellow-servants. So does God wish to teach us. ”

“ We ought rather to regard with reverence and affection the man who knew how to combine, so strikingly, unflinching principle and the deepest tenderness and consideration for others; we ought to propose his modesty, his sensitiveness to the feelings even of opponents, his sympathy with those who had no sympathy with him, as examples for our imitation. ”

“ They could not agree to live together unless idealistic conditions were to dominate them—conditions which were impossible of course, and they never were able to oil the wheels of life with that spirit of compromise which providence—if it be a providential gift—gave to us. ”

“ March 30.—May filial love of God take the place of servile fear in our hearts; then will our Lord draw nigh to us and replenish us with His grace. When filial love has closed the door against all earthly thoughts, then shall we return into that inward solitude in which our Lord loves that we should dwell, to seek Him and commune with Him. ”