HOw strangely unseasonable is this Melancholy weather! and how tedious a Winter have we indur’d this Summer? More than these few last Weeks have not afforded us half as many Days, wherein we were neither troubl’d with Showry, or threaten’d by Cloudy, weather; and we in England have great Temptations to envy Nature’s Kindness unto Rhodes,1 if it be true what Geographers relate of that Island, that ‘tis a Rarity for the Inhabitants to see a Day pass without their seeing the Sun: For among us, the Confusions of our Country seem to have infected our very Air, and Serenity is as great a Rarity in the Sky, as in Men’s Consciences; so that those, who are wont to make Fires, not against Winter, but against Cold, have generally displac’d the florid, and the verdent Ornaments of their Chimneys, and think Vulcan more proper there than Flora; and some begin to doubt, whether our Almanacks be not mistaken, by calling this Moneth July instead of November. But notwithstanding all this appearance of Winter above our Heads, yet whilst we see, that Cherries, and Strawberries, and other Summer fruits, do grow, and, though but slowly, make a Progress towards Maturity in our Orchards, we doubt not that ‘tis Summer, and expect that these Fruits, though they will not be Early ones, will at length come to be Ripe ones.
Thus, for Reasons, which, though we know not yet, our knowing of God may assure us to be both VVise, and Just, a pious Soul may sometimes be reduc’d to so sad a Condition, that the Face of Heaven does to Her appear perpetually over-cast; and the Tokens of God’s Displeasure do so closely follow one another, that, to borrow Solomon’s Phrase, The Clouds return after the Rain: But if, notwithstanding all this, the seemingly deserted Soul, do, like the good Ground mention’d in the Gospel, bring forth Fruit with Perseverance; if Prayer, Charity, Resignation, and those other Divine Graces, that are wont to be the proper and genuine Productions of God’s Spirit, do flourish, and prosper in the Soul, we may safely conclude that Soul, though never so Disconsolate, to be in the state of Grace, and that she really receives the blest Assistances of Him, who can alone give the Increase (to the Seeds of Piety and Virtue) though not in the glad and conspicuous way of an unclouded Heaven, yet in the effectual, though secret, Method of fructifying Influences; and we may reasonably hope, That He that has not only begun a good Work, but carry’d it on thorow such Impediments, and Disadvantages, will perfect it, by bringing the slow, but yet gradually, ripening Fruit to the due Perfection: For those that are the humble Christian’s proper Graces do so much depend upon the Author, that, if they Flourish, his hiding himself in Clouds need not make us doubt the Fruits we see, to be the Productions of the Son of Righteousness, though we see Him not. VVe must not hastily conclude it VVinter with the Soul, though the Heaven be Lowring, provided the Earth be Fruitfull; but remember, that the saving Influence of God’s Spirit may be, where his comfortable Presence is not perceiv’d: The Living in sensible Comforts and Joys, is rather a part of our Reward, than of our Duty; and that (consequently) it may save many Modest and Pious persons a great deal of Disquiet, if they would learn to judge of their Spiritual condition, rather by the Duties, and Services, they pay God, than by the present Consolations he vouchsafes Them; or, in a word, rather by what they do, than by what they feel.
← Reflections, Section 3, Reflection III · Contents · Reflections, Section 3, Reflection V →
Footnotes
-
At Rhodes the Air is never so Dim and Cloudy, but one hour or other the Sun shineth out, Pliny, l. 2. c. 62. Where he also says the same of Syracusa. ↩