Gold Dust: A Collection of Golden Counsels for the Sanctification of Daily Life

By William T. Stockton

After reading the original version of Gold Dust: A Collection of Golden Counsels for the Sanctification of Daily Life, I wanted to share the spiritual nature of this book with everyone in a format that is relevant to today's society.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098068912

Book preview

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Gold Dust

A Collection of Golden Counsels for the Sanctification of Daily Life

William T. Stockton, III

Copyright © 2020 by William T. Stockton, III

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

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XL

XLI

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XLV

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To my mother, Bettie, who I will always think of, and the pain that she endured during her life and now knowing that she is truly at peace with our Lord.

To EBH

This little book

is most lovingly dedicated

Prominence

The original Gold Dust books were two separate books. They were approximately 2.25 by 3.25 inches and fit neatly into their own little case. The print was small enough to fit on the top of a pin; hence the transcription. The covers of both books were in a gold material, a stunning pair of books in their day, to be placed on a table or carried in one’s pocket for daily reflection.

These books were the gift to my great-grandmother, Mary Buncomb Brewster, on February 6th, 1887. Deas’s name was changed to Daisy later in her life. She and her sisters Mary and Anne lived in Mobile, Alabama. The family’s name was Broun but somehow changed after the Civil War to Brown. They were very close to my great-grandfather, the Rev. Matthew C. Brewster, who initially served the Episcopal Church in New Orleans, then moved to Mobile, Alabama, where he and his family stayed with the Browns in their boarding house until the rectory accommodations across the street were completed. After some years in Mobile, he was called back to New Orleans, where he finished his service to the church and later passed away.

There is no way to tell when the original French Gold Dust was written. One may conclude that it may have been some decades before it was translated into English. I have done my best to maintain its original text; however, there was a need to make grammatical corrections and some English updates. I hope that those who read this collection of golden counsels appreciate it as much as those who did over perhaps 180 years ago.

Preface

This little book is a translation from a collection of devotional thoughts published in France under the title of Paillettes d’Or #1. It is necessarily a selection, since the Gold Dust which suits French readers requires a fresh sifting for the English, but the value of most of the thoughts seem to me well enough to deserve the term of gold. There are many who will enjoy having this little collection on their table so as to be able to take up and dwell upon some of its grains at leisure times throughout the day’s business.

C. M. Younge

February 12, 1880

Introduction

In the south of France, during the summer, little children and old and infirm poor who are incapable of hard work in order to earn a livelihood, employ themselves in searching the beds of dried up rivers for Paillettes d’Or #1, or golden dust, which sparkles in the sun, and which the water carries away as it flows. What is done by these poor people and little children for the Gold Dust God has sown in those obscure rivers, we would do with those counsels and teachings which God has sown almost everywhere, which sparkle, enlighten, and inspire for a moment, then disappear, leaving but regret that the thought did not occur to collect and treasure them.

Who is there that has not experienced at some time in his life those teachings so soft and gentle, yet so forcible, which make the heart thrill and revel to it suddenly a world of peace, joy, and devotion?

It may have been but a word read in a book, or a sentence overheard in conversation, which may have had for us a twofold meaning, and, in passing, left us touched with an unknown power.

It was the smile on the lips of a beloved one whom we knew to be sorrowful that spoke to us of the sweet joy of resignation.

It was the open look of an innocent child that revealed to us all the beauty of frankness and simplicity.

Oh! If we had but treasured all the rays of light that crossed our path and sparkle but for a moment. Oh! If we had but engraved them on our hearts! What a guide and comfort they would have been to us in the days of discouragement and sorrow—what counsels to guide our actions, what consolations to soothe the broken heart!

How many new means of doing good there would be!

It is this simple work of gathering a little from every source—from nature, from books, above all from mankind itself—that is the intention of one of your fellow creatures, dear souls, you who long so to make your lives more holy and devout!

And in the same way as the Gold Dust, gathered and accumulated from the river’s bed, was the means of bringing a little profit to the hearth, so would we endeavor to carry a little joy to your hearts and peace to your souls.

Gather then these little counsels, gather them with watchfulness. Let them for a moment penetrate deep into your heart and then scatter them abroad again, that they may go with their good works to the help of others.

They will not be importunate, will not even ask to be preserved; they do not desire fame, all that they seek is to convey a transient blessing.

Gold Dust

I

My Lord! exclaimed once a devout soul. Give me every day a little work to occupy my mind, a little suffering to sanctify my spirit, a little good to do to comfort my heart.

II

If by our deeds we become saints, true it is that by our deeds also we shall be condemned.

Yes, it is little by little that we press onward, either toward salvation or eternal ruin, and when at last we reach the gate of glory, or that of perdition, the cry escapes our lips, Already!

The first backward step is almost imperceptible#2; it was those tiny flakes of snow, seeming to melt as they touch the earth, but falling one upon another, that have formed that immense mass, which seems ready to fall and crush us.

Ah! If I tried to trace back to what first led to that