Lifting the Soul Beyond Vanity

ALMIGHTY GOD! whatsoever may be our sins or faults or failings, at least save us from this—“lifting up our soul unto vanity.” Unto vanity the flesh doth betray us, unto vanity our passions lead us, to Vanity-fair these things do lead; yet though we go on in them and even end therein, nevertheless let not our soul be lifted up thereunto.

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” We have declared it! We give Thee thanks that even there the soul has not been satisfied; we have drunk the wine of passion, and have missed oft-times the water of life; after the wine we have thirsted again, but after Thy living water we have thirsted no more.

When for awhile the soul has been asleep, or when the soul hath been turned out that the body might have its supreme will, whensoever we have drunk of these things, Lord God! thirst hath come again, and the vanity of this life hath never satisfied us. We bless Thee for every thirst that comes after evil-drinking, for every pang that follows evil-doing. For all the aches of heart and head that come through our evil-goings, we give Thee thanks, and we beseech Thee that they may make us wise, that we lift not up our souls unto vanity. Soul to soul, Lord, let it be; spirit to Spirit, ours to Thine. Let the soul that hath mourned so oft that it had not power to keep the rebellious passions down, assert itself now.

Help us, not to lift up our soul unto vanity; it is evil enough to have lifted up the eyes, it is evil enough to have lifted up the hands, it is sad enough to have lifted up the heart; but grant that we lift not up the soul to vanity! To God and to good, to grace and truth, to sanctity and sweetness, to light and knowledge, we thank Thee that oft to these sweet and beauteous things, we have lifted up the soul; but to vanity, never! Save us, good Lord, from this.

And if any of us have given too much care to little things, and too little to great things, forgive us. The dust of earth doth cling so close, the world is so strong and some sins are so sweet, the wine is so pleasant-coloured, the fires of passion are so very bright, and the poison-flowers do look so like honey-flowers, Have mercy!

But come what will, or let what will have been, hear this our prayer: Save us from lifting up our souls unto vanity! Not to the shadow, but to that which causes it; not to things seen, but to the unseen Spirit; not to things of mark, not to these outward signs, but to Thyself we would lift up our soul.

And, Lord, for this we lift up our thanks, we bless Thee chiefly for the holy thoughts that wise souls have given to us, for all pious hours and glorious aspirations. We would bless Thee most for these inward gifts, and may our hearts, our hands, and our souls, all rise in thankfulness to Thee. We thank Thee for the yellow sheaves of harvest for the colouring fruits of autumn, for the stores laid by for winter days, for the beauteous colours of the dying year, and for the glorious promise of bread.

For these things we bless Thee, but we thank Thee also for the bread of life, for the wine of God, for the broken bread and the poured-out wine of Christ Jesus, for the books of the ancients, for the learning of the wise, for the songs of the poets, for the strains of the musicians, for the wise words of men who have studied Thy works, for all these things we bless Thee. For the playfulness of the little child, for its bright-eyed beauty, its sunny head and joyous life, we bless Thee. For the ripple on the sea, and for the fair smile that is there, for the blue on the mountains and the golden clouds of the west, we bless Thee.

Grant to us all gifts, for we passionately covet them; give us much, for we hunger much, we thirst much. All things would be ours if we did but ask of Thee! Give us Thyself, Thy Son, Thy Holy Spirit, the blessed company of the martyrs, the wise souls of all times, the lowly-hearted and the loving; make all these things ours, then shall the soul be filled, and never lift itself up to vanity. And when the days of the things of this world shall pass away as the mist of the morning, we shall see the eternal things of the eternal God, and the soul shall lift itself up, and, through Thy mercy, find itself at home.

Of Thy mercy hear our supplications, through Jesus Christ our Lord.—AMEN.