The great goddess Diana!

(Edward Payson, 1783-1827)

"The great goddess Diana!" Acts 19:27

"They started shouting again and kept it up for two hours: Great is Diana of the Ephesians! Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" Acts 19:34

So long as they remain in their natural state, the world is, in some form or other, the great goddess Diana - the grand idol of all its inhabitants!

They bow down to it.

They worship it.

They spend and are spent for it.

They educate their children in its service.

Their hearts,
their minds,
their memories,
their imaginations,
are full of the world.

Their tongues speak of it.

Their hands grasp it.

Their feet pursue it.

In a word, it is all in all to them! And all the while, they give scarcely a word, a look, or a thought to Him who made and preserves them - and who really is all in all.