TEACHING.
Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of Thy law.—Psalm xciv. 12.
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus:
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God.—John, iii. 1, 2.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another.—Colossians, iii. 16.
The azure vault, the crystal circles bright,
The gleaming, fiery torches powdered there,
The changing round, the shining, beamy light,
The sad and bearded fires, the monsters fair,
And prodigies appearing in the air;
The rending thunders, and the blust’ring winds,
The birds in hue, and shape, and nature rare;
The pretty notes of winged musicians fine;
Of earth the saucy flowers, the metalled mine,
The wholesome herbs, the healthful, pleasant trees,
The silver streams, the beasts of sundry kinds;
The bounding waves and fishes of the seas:
All these for teaching man the Lord did frame,
To do His will whose glory shines in flame.
King James I.
If man sleeps on, untaught by what he sees,
Can he prove infidel to what he feels?
Young.
Father of light and life! Thou good Supreme!
O teach me what is good! Teach me Thyself!
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice,
From every low pursuit.
Thomson.
Spirit of Light! do Thou impart
Majestic truths, and teach my heart;
Teach me to know how weak I am,
How vain my powers, how poor my frame;
Teach me celestial paths untrod,
The ways of glory and of God.
Crabbe.
Lord, grant our hearts be so inclined,
Thy work to seek, Thy will to do;
And while we teach the youthful mind,
Our own be taught Thy lessons too.
Miss Landon.
Chief of the household Gods
Which hallow Scotland’s lowly Scottish homes!
While looking at thy signs
Which speak, though dumb, deep thought upon me comes—
With sad yet solemn dreams my heart is stirred,
Like childhood when it hears the carol of a bird!
The mountains old and hoar—
The chainless winds—the streams so pure and free—
The God-enamelled flowers—
The waving forest—the eternal sea—
The eagle floating o’er the mountain’s brow—
Are teachers all; but oh! they are not such as thou!
Robert Nicoll.
To conquer hate,
And in its place to cherish love unfeigned,
Forgiveness and forgetfulness of wrongs,
No precepts but the perfect law of Christ,
No teacher but the blessed Son of God,
Could e’er instruct mankind.
C. P. Layard.
Here the lamented dead in dust shall lie,
Life’s lingering languors o’er, its labours done;
Where waving boughs, between the earth and sky,
Admit the farewell radiance of the sun.
And here the impressive stone, engraved with words
Which grief sententious gives to marble pale,
Shall teach the heart; while waters, leaves, and birds
Make cheerful music in the passing gale.
Willis G. Clark.
Your voiceless lips, O flowers, are living preachers,
Each cup a pulpit, every leaf a book,
Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers,
From loneliest nook.
Were I, O God, in churchless lands remaining,
Far from the voice of teachers and divines,
My soul would find in flowers of Thy ordaining,
Priests, sermons, shrines.
Horace Smith.