ONE day little Alice hung about her mother's neck covering hercheeks with kisses, and saying in her pretty, childish way,
"I love you, you nice, sweet mother! You are good--so good!" But hermother answered earnestly,
"Dear child, God is good; if I have any good it is from Him; He hasgiven it to me; it is not mine."
Then the little one unclasped her caressing arms, and putting backher hair with both hands gazed with a look of surprise into hermother's face.
Presently she said--"But if He has given it to you, it is yours."
"No, darling," replied the lady, "you do not quite understand.Listen. Suppose your dear father had a great garden full of all mostbeautiful things that ever grew in gardens, and he should say toyou--'Come and live in my garden; you shall have as much ground asyou are able to cultivate, and I will give you seeds of all fruitsand flowers you love best, as many as you want. Here no evil thingcan ever come to harm you, but every day you will grow happier andstronger, and then I will give you more ground and more seeds, andyou shall live with me for ever!' Suppose you were so glad to hearthis that you lost no time, but went in, at once, and began to plantthe seeds in your little plot, close by the gate--you know it wouldbe a tiny little plot at first, because you are small and weak; andsoon your flowers were to grow up and bloom, so tall, and sobeautiful, and your trees hang heavy with such delightful fruit thatevery one passing by would exclaim,
"'Oh, what a beautiful garden! Are these flowers and fruit treesyours?'
"Would you not say--
"Oh, no! they are not mine; they are all my father's. This is hisbeautiful garden, but he said if I were willing I might stay herealways, and I have come to live with him because he is good. Nothingat all here belongs to me, though my father likes me to give awaythe fruits and flowers that grow in my plot to all who ask for them.I am a great deal happier, all the time, when I think that even thewild flowers in this grass, and the small berries, and the littlebirds that eat them, belong to him, than I could be if they weremine, and I had no one to love for them.'
"Should you not feel, dearest, as though you were telling a wickedstory, and almost as though you were stealing something, if yousaid, 'Yes, they are all mine,' so that the people would not evenknow you had a father?"
"Oh, yes! that would be very naughty indeed. I would give the peoplesome of the fruit and flowers, and say they grew on my father'strees, and then they would love him too; but tell me more about thegarden."
"I will tell you all I think you can understand, and you must beattentive, for I want you to remember it all your life. Did you everhear of the Garden of Eden?"
"Yes; that is where Adam and Eve lived."
"Well, that's the beautiful garden I've been telling you about, andGod is your good father. You can begin your journey there this veryday if you like."
"Is it a very long journey?--and will you go with me? Is therereally, really such a garden? Oh, tell me where it is!"
"I desire nothing in the world so much as to lead you there, but thepath is rough and steep; I cannot carry you in my arms along thatroad; you must walk on your own little feet, and I am afraid theywill sometimes get--very tired."
"You know, mother, I never do get tired when I am going to apleasant place; but, oh, dear! I do believe now it is all adream-story; you smiled and kissed me just as if it were."
"No, you need not look so disappointed, little one, for though it issomething like a 'dream-story,' there is nothing in the world halfso true and real. Think in that little head of yours, and tell mewhat seems to you most like this beautiful garden."
"I cannot think of anything at all like it, except heaven.--Oh,yes!--that is it! Heaven, is it not?"
"And what is heaven?"
"The place where good people go when they die."
"Think again. What is heaven?"
"I have thought again, and I cannot think of anything but the placewhere God and the angels are. I do not know how you want me tothink."
"I want you to think why it is heaven, and why the angels are happy.Do you understand?"
"Yes. Being beautiful and so pleasant makes it heaven; and theangels are happy because they are in heaven."
"Then, of course, if you put even such wicked people into abeautiful and pleasant place they would be angels, and happy?"
"Oh, now I see! You mean the angels are happy because they aregood."
"Why should that make them happy?"
"I don't know why, but I know the Bible says so. I suppose just thesame as when you promise me, in the morning, that if I say mylessons all nicely you will tell me a beautiful fairy-tale aftertea."
"No, my little Alice, not exactly in that way, though at firstthought it does seem to be so. I want you very much indeed, tounderstand the truth about it, but I am afraid you will not find iteasy. You know that God is good, and wise, and happy--ah, dearest!better, wiser, happier than the purest angels will ever know, thoughthey go on learning it to eternity. When I say to you God isinfinitely good, and wise, and happy, you cannot understand that,and neither can I; but one thing about it I can understand, and thisI will tell you. Just as every joyous ray of light and heat comes tous from the sun, so all wisdom, all goodness, all beauty, all joy,flow forth from God, and are His, alone. Our very souls would go outof existence like the flames of a lamp when the oil is spent, if,for the least fraction of a second, He ceased to give us life. Thistruth that I am teaching you now is not mine, nor yours; it is onlya tiny stream flowing from the fountains of His infinite wisdom, andwould be the truth, all the same, if we had never been born, ornever learned to see it. The good and joyous feelings in your heart,too, are also from God, just as the truth is, though they seem toyou more as if they were your own. You must never think of them asyour own, never; but thank God for them very gratefully and humbly,for they are His fruits that grow in the garden of your father, theGarden of Eden."
"Why do you call it the Garden of Eden?"
"Because, by the Garden of Eden, is signified the state of those wholive in obedience to God; and by the beauty and pleasantness of thegarden we are taught that, when we receive goodness and truth fromGod, we, at the same time, receive happiness from Him, because He isinfinitely happy, as well as infinitely good, and when His spiritfills our hearts, we are happy too. Happiness comes with goodness,just as the flowers and songs of birds come with summer."
"Then are all good people happy? I thought not."
"It is true, there are many trials in this world, but do you not seethat if we were good we should acknowledge that God sent them asblessings, and should be willing to accept them from him, andshould, therefore, not be made very unhappy by them. You may be surethat people are really, in their heart of hearts, happy exactly inproportion as they are good. I have known persons who had suffered agreat deal in many ways, and who yet said that nothing had been sobitter to them as the consciousness of their own sins. Good peoplesee a thousand things to love and enjoy which the wicked world findno pleasure in; they are sure to make friends, and, what is farbetter, sure to love and do good to all about them. They takedelight in everything beautiful that God has created. They think ofHim, and all His goodness, and, in the midst of sorrow, their heartsare comforted, and filled with heavenly peace."
"Why did you say the road was rough and long to that beautifulgarden?--is it so very, very hard to be good?--and does it take sovery long?"
"You must not feel sad because it is not easy to be good; you mustthink of it bravely, and joyfully. Why, my Alice! did you not sayyou never felt tired when you were going to a pleasant place? It isnot always easy to do right; sometimes we are sorely tempted, andthen it seems very difficult; but what of that? It is possible,always, for God never requires of us what we cannot do. When youfeel discouraged, remember that angels in heaven were littlechildren once, and that some of them found it as hard as you do tobe good and true, but they tried over and over again, and areblessed angels now. They love to acknowledge that it was not bytheir own strength they overcame evil, but that all the good andtruth and happiness they have are from God. He does not love youless than He did them, for His love is infinite to all His children,and if you are willing He will lead you also into His Garden ofEden."
THE END.
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