LIFE ON THE ALTAR

This article is from Issue 4, Called to Trust

By George Mattheson (1842-1906)

From His Daily Devotional book, Moments on the Mount

There is a secret word which admits men into the Christian society, but it is a word that is spoken only to the heart; it is the word peace. This is the secret of The Lord that is with them that fear Him. The peace of Christ in the soul to the eye of an outward beholder is indeed a secret. He cannot explain it, he cannot account for it; it seems to him as if it had no right to be. He sees men joyous where he would be miserable, restful where he would be perplexed, calm where he would be appalled, and he asks, “Whence is it so?”

There is a peace which does not pass understanding, which the world understands quite well, and can refer to reasonable causes. Wealth, fame, rank, power, freedom from the tossings and the heavings of the great sea of human trouble, anchorage within some earthly haven on which the storms never blow; all this the world can appreciate as a source of peace.

But where riches are not, where fame and power are not, where freedom from the storm is not found, where the haven of anchorage is not known; there the world wonders to find unbroken joy. It marvels to see rest amid unrest, calm amid storm, light amid darkness, love amid shadow, life amid death. The peace of Christ is to it a secret.

My soul, it must be a secret to you too even after you have possessed it. You hear the sound of the wind, but cannot tell from where it came, so it is with the peace of Christ within you. When that peace is within, you have a joy, but it is a joy that you yourself do not understand. It passes even your knowledge. It lies beneath all human causes and is independent of all human circumstances. You can no more tell why your heart shines than you can tell why the sun shines. It shines because it has become its nature to do so.

It gets not it’s light form aught without, indeed it shall give it’s light to everything without, even to the shadows. It is not kindled by the glow of worldly fortune, indeed it will impart it’s own glow even to worldly misfortune.

O Divine Peace, you are a contradiction to them that know You not, and a secret even to them that know You. Let me know what it is to have incomprehensible joy, the unexplainable rest, the stillness that cannot be stirred though the earth be removed and the mountains be cast into the depths of the sea. Let me experience the Divine sleep in the midst of the waves, the sleep that You promised to Your beloved; so shall I learn what it is to possess the secret of the Lord.

George Mattheson (1842-1906)

Taken from Life On The Altar Publications
Issue 4 Spring 2022

Called To Trust