[Republished by request of students, and by permission of the author. — Ed.] Copyrighted.
PICTURE to yourself " a city set upon a hill," a celestial city, above all clouds, in serene azure and unfathomable glory. No temple therein, for God is the temple thereof; nor need of the sun, neither of the moon, for God doth lighten it. Then from this sacred summit behold a Stranger wending his way below, where a few laborers in a valley at the foot of the Mountain are working and watching for his coming. The descent is beset with peril, privation, temptation, toil, suffering; venomous serpents hide among the rocks, beasts of prey prowl in the path, wolves in sheep's clothing are ready to devour him. But he meets their secret, and open attacks, with the serene confidence of love's everlasting victory.
The Stranger finally stands in the valley at the foot of the Mountain. He saith unto his patient toilers, " What do ye here? Would ye ascend the Mountain, — climbing its rough cliffs, hushing the hissing serpents, taming the beasts of prey, — and bathe in its streams, rest in its cool grottoes, and drink from its living fountains? The way winds and widens in the valley; up the hill it is straight and narrow, and few there be that find it."
