Page:The Praises of Amida, 1907.djvu/141

 2. Gratitude, thanks,—this is the only payment which we must make in person. We can not send it by the hands of a third party. The kindness which we have received during our stay precludes the possibility of anything but a personal expression of gratitude. 3. "The water in the well, from which we are wont to draw, may be very deep," says the poet, "but it cannot be so deep as the wells of Mercy in Paradise." We think some times of the brightness of the Moon and Stars, but we forget all about the brightness of the Sun. The One is perennial, constant, unvarying, the other is inconstant and fitful. The Mercy of the Hotoke is forgotten, because it is like the Sun, perennial, constant, unvarying. Still let us not forget the giving of thanks whenever we invoke the Holy Name.

VIII. 1. And thus we go away. But there is one thing to be borne in mind at the moment of our departure. It is this, that we must preserve