Gently Shed Thy Gracious Rain

Piety, then, is said to perfect the attitude of man to God and to things of God by giving the appearance of friendship to his relationship to his Maker. Fear of the Lord, on the other hand, inclines him rather to look upon God in the character of a judge. Piety sanctifies the feeling of love and the other hallows the feeling of fear. In the life of the soul, there is room and need for both. Indeed, it may be said, not unjustly, that together they produce in the soul that instinct of reverence that is begotten of both.

Love that knows no reverence is not love at all, but passion. Fear that cannot climb to revere the object of our fear is altogether inhuman.

From the opposite standpoint, it can hardly be questioned that the chief obstacles that interfere with our perfect service of God are the two characteristics of hardness and independence.

We do not respond to His appeals. Passion and ever-flowing love leave us cold because our hearts are so hardened by the interests and the cares of our daily life and the deep respect that we owe to the Master of life too often becomes irritation at the way His commands cut across our pleasures. We object to the manner that, through His ministers, we are told to do something that altogether revolts us—not because it is something very great but because of its very pettiness. We are often inclined to think that He treats us as though we are children. Fear of restraint is a natural instinct in men and animals.