Any adequate self-examination, therefore, bears not only on our sins, our failures, but on our accomplishment. A tree is known by its fruits; and fruits are things which are evident to all men. If indeed the work of the Spirit in us is love, joy, peace and the rest of the fruits, these qualities cannot be hid. Certainly they cannot be hid from ourselves. They are the evidence to us of precisely where we stand in the way of spiritual accomplishment. And we must remember that they are supernatural qualities, and not be deceived by the existence in us of a set of human counterfeits. Love is not good-natured tolerance; joy is not superficial gaiety, peace is not clever dodging of difficulties. The fruits of the Spirit are not of easy growth, but come only at the end of a long period of cultivation, of energetic striving. But like all the gifts of God they do come if we want them to come. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." But when we ask our Lord for gifts we must remember that the giving is not a mechanical giving. What our Lord gives is the Might of the Spirit to effect what we desire. If a man ask of God a good harvest the prayer is answered if there be given the conditions under which a good harvest can be produced; it will not be produced without the appropriate human labour. And when we ask of God the Fruits of the Spirit the prayer is granted if the conditions are given under which this Fruit may be brought forth. But neither here may we expect Fruit without appropriate action on our part. God gives, but He gives to those who want.
In that, O Queen of queens, thy birth was freeI
From guilt, which others do of grace bereave,
When, in their mother's womb, they life receive,
God, as his sole-borne Daughter, loved thee:
To match thee like thy birth's nobility,
He thee his Spirit for thy Spouse did leave,
Of whom thou didst his only Son conceive;
And so was linked to all the Trinity.
Cease, then, O queens, who earthly crowns do wear,
To glory in the pomp of worldly, things:
If men such respect unto you bear
Which daughters, wives and mothers are of kings;
What honour should unto that Queen be done
Who had your God for Father, Spouse and Son?Sovereign of Queens, if vain ambition moveII
My heart to seek an earthly prince's grace,
Show me thy Son in his imperial place,
Whose servants reign our kings and queens above:
And, if alluring passions I do prove
By pleasing sighs--show me thy lovely face,
Whose beams the angels' beauty do deface,
And even inflame the seraphins with love.
So by ambition I shall humble be,
When, in the presence of the highest King,
I serve all his, that he may honour me;
And love, my heart to chaste desires shall bring,
When fairest Queen looks on me from her throne,
And jealous, bids me love but her alone.Why should I any love, O Queen, but thee,III
If favor past a thankful love should breed?
Thy womb did bear, thy breast my Saviour feed,
And thou didst never cease to succour me.
If love do follow worth and dignity,
Thou all in thy perfections dost exceed;
If love be led by hope of future meed,
What pleasure more than thee in heaven to see?
An earthly sight doth only please the eye,
And breeds desire, but doth not satisfy:
Thy sight gives us possession of all joy;
And with such full delights each sense shall fill,
As heart shall wish but for to see thee still,
And ever seeing, ever shall enjoy.Sweet Queen, although thy beauty raise up meIV
From sight of baser beauties here below,
Yet, let me not rest there; but, higher go
To him, who took his shape from God and thee.
And if thy form in him more fair I see,
What pleasure from his deity shall flow,
By whose fair beams his beauty shineth so,
When I shall it behold eternally?
Then, shall my love of pleasure have his fill,
When beauty's self, in whom all pleasure is,
Shall my enamoured soul embrace and kiss,
And shall new loves and new delights distill,
Which from my soul shall gush into my heart,
And through my body flow to every part.
I
II
III
IV
HENRY CONSTABLE: 1562-1613.
HENRY CONSTABLE: 1562-1613.