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PRESS TOWARD THE MARK!

“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.”—Phil. 3:13.

Tho disappointments, keenly felt,
Have traced care on thy brow;
Tho hopes have perished that have caused
Thy heart in grief to bow;
Tho friends have failed thee whom thou loved,
And foes with wicked dart
Have drawn the cruel bow of scorn
To pierce thy breaking heart:

Be vigilant, be strong, be true,
And quit thee like a man;
Be diligent God’s will to know—
Submissive to his plan;
Heed not the counseling of men,
E’en tho in love ’tis given.
(Shortsighted it is apt to be,
And lead thee far from Heaven.)

But ready be to follow Christ,
Wherever he may lead;
To voice of stranger hearken not,
But to his voice give heed.
Through evil or through good report
Undaunted follow on;
Your feet will never find a path,
But there your Lord has gone.

And what if men may look askance
And sneer and laugh and scorn?
You’ll never feel a pang of pain,
But that your Lord has borne;
The trials of this present life
Are not to be compared
To glory we shall share with him,
Whose sufferings we have shared.

—HATTIE HENDERSON.

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— July 15, 1899 —