Let us so use our opportunities for discipline now, that the uplifting
of character shall be permanent; not a mere spasm of passing enthusiasm,
but a real growth into the character and likeness of Him Who suffered
death upon the Cross, that all might live unto Him.

_For suggested Meditations during the week see Appendix._




VII

=Discipline through Bereavement=

SIXTH SUNDAY IN LENT

1 Thess. iv. 13

"We would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall
asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, which have no hope."


Of all kinds of sorrow, bereavement is in some senses the sternest,
the most irrevocable, and the one in which human compassion is of
least avail.

All that we said last week on the discipline of suffering applies here,
but with enhanced force. If suffering generally cannot be rationally
contemplated outside of the doctrine of a future existence, still less