He who sows, even with tears, the precious seed of faith, hope and love shall “doubtless come again, with joy and bring his sheaves with him”; because it is in the very nature of that seed to yield, under the kindly influence secured to it, a joyful harvest.
Every duty brings its peculiar delight, every denial its appropriate compensation, every thought its recompense, every love its elysium, every cross its crown; pay goes with performance as effect with cause. Meanness overreaches itself; vice vitiates whoever indulges in it; the wicked wrong their own souls; generosity greatens; virtue exalts; charity transfigures; and holiness is the essence of angelhood. God does not require us to live on credit; he pays us what we earn as we earn it, good or evil, heaven or hell, according to our choice.
