vii. THE SWALLOW'S NEST. 127 



nest, and they are satisfied. Their limited nature is 

 at home in a world that has been straitened to their 

 wants. But man finds no nest for his hopes, no home 

 for his affections in any created good. Our Saviour 

 bids us consider the lilies of the field and the fowls of 

 heaven ; but the pity of our life is that we cannot be 

 as they are the careless, happy children of nature, for 

 whom she richly provides, and whom she perfectly 

 satisfies. We are the cuckoo in her nest; and even 

 though we should be fed and clothed with unfailing 

 regularity, without a care of our own, we should still 

 have the burdens, the yearnings, and regrets imposed 

 upon us, because of our Godlike nature, and the awful 

 freedom which has been given to us to sin and to suffer. 

 Amid the whirl of circumstances, the changes of time, 

 and the groanings and travailings together of the whole 

 creation because of our want of adaptation to it, and 

 our violation by our sins of its holy peace and beauty, 

 how needful, then, is it that we should build our trust 

 on the Rock that is higher than ourselves ; that we 

 should seek in aim and affection and action the City 

 which hath foundations whose builder and maker is 

 God ! God's house, and all that it represents, afford 

 to us here the only adequate shelter, the only sure place 

 of safety. There only do we find rest to our souls, the 

 higher fellowship which ennobles duty, sanctifies sorrow, 

 and enriches life above all else. There only do our 

 burdens fall off our spirits, our cares and perplexities 

 subside into a divine calm, and the mysteries of the 

 world reveal a clue which guides us safely through them 



