Secure in his prophetic strength,
The water peril o'er,
The many-gifted man at length
Stepped on the promised shore.
He trod the shore; but not to rest,
Nor wait till angels came;
Lo! humblest pains the saint attest,
The firebrands and the flame.
But when he felt the viper's smart,
Then instant aid was given.
Christian, hence learn to do thy part,
And leave the rest to Heaven.
--John Henry Newman.
All service ranks the same with God;
If now, as formerly He trod
Paradise, His presence fills
Our earth, each only as God wills
Can work--God's puppets, best and worst,
Are we; there is no last nor first.
Say not "a small event!" Why "small"?
Costs it more pain that this, ye call
A "great event," should come to pass
Than that? Untwine me, from the mass
Of deeds which make up life, one deed
Power shall fall short in, or exceed.
--Robert Browning.
What will it matter in a little while
That for a day
We met and gave a word, a touch, a smile,
Upon the way?
These trifles! Can they make or mar
Human life?
Are souls as lightly swayed as rushes are
By love or strife?
Yea, yea, a look the fainting heart may break,
Or make it whole,
And just one word, if said for love's sweet sake,
May save a soul.
Get leave to work
In this world--'tis the best you get at all;
For God in cursing gives us better gifts
Than men in benediction. God says, "Sweat
For foreheads;" men say "crowns;" and so we are crowned--
Ay, gashed by some tormenting circle of steel
Which snaps with a secret spring. Get work; get work;
Be sure 'tis better than what you work to get.
--Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Be useful where thou livest, that they may
Both want and wish thy pleasing presence still;
Kindness, good parts, great places, are the way
To compass this. Find out men's wants and will,
And meet them there. All worldly joys go less
To the one joy of doing kindnesses.
--George Herbert.
When He who, sad and weary, longing sore
For love's sweet service sought the sisters' door,
One saw the heavenly, one the human guest;
But who shall say which loved the Master best?
--John Greenleaf Whittier.
Oft, when the Word is on me to deliver,
Opens the heaven, and the Lord is there.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Then with a rush the intolerable craving
Shivers throughout me like a trumpet call--
Oh to save these! to perish for their saving,
Die for their life, be offered for them all!
No man is born into the world whose work
Is not born with him; there is always work,
And tools to work withal, for those who will;
And blessed are the horny hands of toil!
--James Russell Lowell.
The Holy Supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share with another's need;
Not what we give, but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three:
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me.
--James Russell Lowell.
Look not beyond the stars for heaven,
Nor 'neath the sea for hell;
Know thou, who leads a useful life
In Paradise doth dwell.
--Hafiz, tr. by Frederic Rowland Marvin.
Small service is true service while it lasts:
Of humblest friends, bright creature, scorn not one;
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.
--William Wordsworth.
Mechanic soul, thou must not only do
With Martha, but with Mary ponder too;
Happy's the home where these fair sisters vary;
But most, when Martha's reconciled to Mary.
--Francis Quarles.
If thou hast the gift of strength, then know
Thy part is to uplift the trodden low;
Else, in the giant's grasp, until the end
A hopeless wrestler shall thy soul contend.
--George Meredith.
The best men doing their best
Know, peradventure, least of what they do.
Men usefullest i' the world are simply used.
--Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
New words to speak, new thoughts to hear,
New love to give and take;
Perchance new burdens I may bear
To-day for love's sweet sake.
He doth good work whose heart can find
The spirit 'neath the letter;
Who makes his kind of happier mind,
Leaves wiser men and better.
Work for some good, be it ever so slowly,
Cherish some flower, be it ever so lowly,
Labor--all labor is noble and holy.
--Frances Sargent Osgood.
In silence mend what ills deform the mind;
But all thy good impart to all thy kind.
--John Sterling.
God gave me something very sweet to be mine own this day:
A precious opportunity a word for Christ to say.
That best portion of a good man's life--
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love.
--William Wordsworth.
Wouldst thou go forth to bless, be sure of thine own ground,
Fix well thy center first, then draw thy circle round.
--Richard Chenevix Trench.