The Frailty of Life Requires Preparation for Death "A creature treading every moment upon the slippery brink of the grave, and ready every moment to shoot  the gulf of eternity, and launch away to some unknown coast, ought to stand always in the posture of serious expectation; ought every day to be in his own mind taking leave of this world, breaking off the connections of his heart from it, and preparing for his last remove into that world in which he must reside, not for a few months or years as in this, but through a boundless everlasting duration.  Such a situation requires habitual, constant thoughtfulness, abstraction from the world, and serious preparation for death and eternity."     -- Samuel Davies (1724-1761)   -----------------------   Seven Vials Hold Thy Wrath   Seven vials hold Thy wrath:  but what can hold Thy mercy save Thine own Infinitude, Boundlessly overflowing with all good, All lovingkindness all delights untold? Thy Love, of each created love the mould; Thyself, of all the empty plenitude; Heard of as Ephrata, found in the Wood, For ever One, the Same, and Manifold. Lord, give us grace to tremble with that dove Which Ark-bound winged its solitary way And overpast the Deluge in a day, Whom Noah’s hand pulled in and comforted: For we who much more hang upon Thy Love Behold its shadow in the deed he did.   -- Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)                

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