human
I should like to dress better just for his sake, now that he is a lawyer, she said with a little thrill of pleasure and pride.
gpt
Of course he will have a great many friends and they will have to see us sometimes. But-- here there was a pause and a deep sigh,
human
O, he does not know how little we have to dress with, if we would keep out of debt. There now, Agnes is singing and I am doing I scarcely know what, she added, as her sister's voice reached her. She did not hear the words, if she had heard they would have helped her. As it was, she chided herself for beginning the year so badly and hurried down stairs to help prepare dinner. Both she and Agnes decided it must be the very best dinner they ever had, for Guy liked good things, and on school days they had to live plainly. If the pudding was not _plum_ pudding, it would be
gpt
Wouldn't it be nice if we could live this way always?
human
Yes, replied Agnes,
gpt
Now, Agnes, do leave the _buts_ and ifs out once, and say that you would really like it.
human
Well, yes, I am sure it would be very nice not to have to think and plan so much about our way of living, and sometime I almost wish we had more money for your sake and Guy's, but--I can't help it, it will come, as Ruth made an impatient gesture--
gpt
Why, for fear of losing your religion? I thought you had more faith.
human
Yes, perhaps that is the reason, Ruth, my lack of faith on this point. If I consecrated all but my money to the Lord, I might fear, for it would not bring happiness with it, but God's grace can dim even the shining of gold to the Christian, so that neither the eye nor the heart may be held by it.
gpt
It is when I look at the pitiful way in which it is doled out, even to Him who gave it, that I dishonor God by having such thoughts. After all, the grace of submission which we need, Ruth, is as hard to learn, as any lesson that might come with riches; don't you think so?
human
The grace of submission, that is a hard thing to learn indeed, at least for some people. I wonder if any one ever submits _willingly_, or if it is not because when they reason about it they find they cannot do better. I don't know about this thing of having no will of your own: some people require greater strength than others. Now there are Agnes and I so very unlike; she could not manage and plan nearly so well as I. So it is necessary for me to have more strength of will because I have no one to depend upon. If we had more money it would be easier to be amiable and sweet, for then I should not be perplexed. But I must need a great deal of teaching, or rather a willingness to be taught, and that is the reason I can never see or feel like Agnes in spiritual things.