Christ with me, Christ before be, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ in the fort, Christ in the chariot seat, Christ in the poop, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.[53]
[48] The most charming chapter of Adolphe Monod's _Saint Paul_ is on the subject of these two paragraphs. It is difficult to quote from it, because one would like to quote it all; but I allow myself the pleasure of borrowing these golden sentences: "C'est qu'en dépit de tant de promesses faites à la foi, nous sommes toujours plus on moins affaiblis par un reste de force propre, comme nous sommes toujours plus on moins troublés par un reste de propre justice, que les plus humbles eux-mêmes traînent partout avec eux. Cette malheureuse force propre, cette éloquence propre, cette science propre, cette influence propre, forme en nous comme un petit sanctuaire favori, que notre orgueil jaloux tient fermé à la force Dieu, pour s'y réserver un dernier refuge. Mais si nous pouvions devenir enfin faibles tout de bon et désespérer absolument de nous-mêmes, la force de Dieu, se répandant dans tout notre homme intérieur et s' infiltrant jusque dans ses plus secrets replis, nous remplirait jusqu'en toute plénitude de Dieu; par où, la force de l'homme étant échangée contre la force de Dieu, rien ne nous serait impossible, parce que rien n'est impossible à Dieu."
[49] Stearns, _The Evidence of Christian Experience_; Dale, _The Living Christ and the Four Gospels_.
[50] "I feel most strongly that man, in all that he does or can do which is beautiful, great or good, is but the organ and the vehicle of something or some one higher than himself. This feeling is religion. The religious man takes part with a tremor of sacred joy in those phenomena of which he is the intermediary but not the source, of which he is the scene but not the author, or rather the poet. He lends them voice, hand, will and help, but he is respectfully careful to efface himself, that he may alter as little as possible the higher work of the Genius who is making a momentary use of him. A pure emotion deprives him of personality and annihilates the self in him. Self must perforce disappear when it is the Holy Spirit who speaks, when it is God who acts. This is the mood in which the prophet hears the call, the young mother feels the movement of the child within, the preacher watches the tears of his audience. So long as we are conscious of self, we are limited, selfish, held in bondage."--AMIEL.