George MacDonald

The Seaboard Parish George MacDonald

In the evening we met in Connie's room, as usual, to have our talk. And this is what came outof it. The window was open. The sun was in the west. We sat a little aside out of the course of hisradiance, and let him look full into the room. Only Wynnie sat back in a dark corner, as if shewould get out of his way. Below him the sea lay bluer than you could believe even when yousaw it-blue with a delicate yet deep silky blue, the exquisiteness of which was thrown up by thebrilliant white lines of its lapping on the high coast, to the northward. We had just sat down, when Dora broke out with-"I saw Niceboots at church. He did stare at you, papa, as if he had never heard a sermonbefore.""I daresay he never heard such a sermon before!" said Connie, with the perfect confidence ofinexperience and partiality-not to say ignorance, seeing she had not heard the sermon herself. Here Wynnie spoke from her dark corner, apparently forcing herself to speak, and therebygiving what seemed an unpleasant tone to what she said."Well, papa, I don't know what to think. You are always telling us to trust in Him; but howcan we, if we are not good?""The first good thing you can do is to look up to him. That is the beginning of trust in him, and the most sensible thing that it is possible for us to do. That is faith.""But it's no use sometimes.""How do you know that?""Because you-I mean I-can't feel good, or care about it at all.""But is that any ground for saying that it is no use-that he does not heed you? that hedisregards the look cast up to him? that, till the heart goes with the will, he who made himselfstrong to be the helper of the weak, who pities most those who are most destitute-and who sodestitute as those who do not love what they want to love-except, indeed, those who don't wantto love?-that, till you are well on towards all right by earnestly seeking it, he won't help you?You are to judge him from yourself, are you?-forgetting that all the misery in you is justbecause you have not got his grand presence with you?"I spoke so earnestly as to be somewhat incoherent in words. But my reader will understand. Wynnie was silent. Connie, as if partly to help her sister, followed on the same sid