Page:Sermons on the Lord's Prayer.djvu/75

 mind is not consistent with perfect passiveness,—with mere reception: there must be action added. For it is the glow of action, the delight of use, the pleasure of exercising the faculties in doing something beneficial to ourselves and others,—it is by these, chiefly, that happiness exists. The primal reason is, that God is activity itself: "My Father worketh hitherto," said the Lord, "and I work;" and the reason of that is, because he is Love itself,—and love, from its very nature and ardor, must exert itself in doing good to the being it loves. And it is in and from this Divine activity that God has his infinite joy. Man being created in God's image and likeness, it is infixed in the order of his nature that he can possess joy and happiness only in the same way, namely, in exercising love towards others, in the effort to benefit and bless them. All the angels are happy in this way, and man must learn to be so, too, if he would become an angel after death. Thus, then, action is the law of order. Consequently, man is required to work as well as pray, in order to form the habit of action; that thus he may come at length into that state of heavenly activity which is angelic and blessed. Were man already in that state,—did he find his delight, as the angels do, in doing good to others, and in exercising himself in pouring out blessing on those around him, there would be always a blessed return; others would do the same to him; and bread, and clothing, and comforts of all kinds and in abundance would be poured in upon him, and he would never want; and