day, that we may live for Thee, from the love of Thee. Forgive us that
we have not always a thankful spirit. Strengthen our wills to do good
work, as in Thy sight, with clean hands and heart. Help us now as we
pray, and flood the morning with the sunshine of Thy face, that we may
be glad all the day long, and bring other lives into the brightness of
Thy light. Save us from a partial mind, that we may love all Thy little
ones with the same love of Him who said "Of such is the Kingdom of
Heaven." Amen.
C. W. HOLDEN.
January 28
_All thoughts of ill; all evil deeds.
That have their root in thoughts of ill;
Whatever hinders or impedes
The noble action of the will;--
All these must first be trampled down
Beneath our feet if we would gain
In the bright fields of fair renown
The right of eminent domain.
We have not wings, we cannot soar;
But we have feet to scale and climb
By slow degrees, by more and more,
The cloudy summits of our time._
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.
We bless Thee, Lord, for the new day and for the new chance which it
offers to our wayward lives. Forgive the evil in them, and make the good
efficient. Let the tides of Thy spirit bring to us cleansing,
refreshment and power. In the day's business may we be brave, cheerful
and considerate. Grant us a clear vision of the path of honor and the
will to choose it at whatever cost. We wait upon Thee for renewal of our
strength; for uplift as on eagle's wings; for unwearied running upon Thy
larger errands, if Thou shalt ordain us to such high employ; but most of
all, for grace to walk life's common ways without fainting. So at
evening wilt Thou send Thy peace. Amen.
EDWARD M. CHAPMAN.
January 29
_Don't you touch the edge of the great gladness that is in the
world, now and then, in spite of your own little single worries?
Well, that's what God means; and the worry is the interruption. He
never means that.... If you are glad for one minute in the day,
that is His minute; the minute He means, and works for._
MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.
Dear Father, Thou hast made us fit for joy. Help us today to grasp our
birthright of gladness. For those things which must be borne in sorrow
give us submission. Let us taste the salt tonic of our tears and feel
the strength born of struggle and the peace wrested from trial. Make us
glad that friendly hands meet our own; that kindness is always sweet and
sympathy divine. Teach us to lay hold on the radiance of each hour, that
the morning bow of promise may become our evening glory and prophesy
another glad new day. As children find content and joy by looking into
their father's face so we turn to Thee. Amen.
EFFIE MCCOLLUM JONES.
January 30
_Still must I climb if I would rest;
The bird soars upward to his nest;
The young leaf on the tree-top high
Cradles itself within the sky._
_I cannot in the valley stay:
The great horizons stretch away;
The very cliffs that wall me round
Are ladders unto higher ground._
_I am not glad till I have known
Life that can lift me from mine own;
A loftier level must be won.
A mightier strength to lean upon._
LUCY LARCOM.
Heavenly Father, as the bird that soars first looks upward, we turn our
souls to Thee, seeking inspiration that in the duties of today we may
live to the full height of the faculties Thou hast given. Help us to
know what is right and to follow it day by day continually. Grant that
our toils this day may be acts of service as sacramental as our prayer.
In our weakness, grant us of Thy strength that we may pass from glory to
glory till we are transformed at last into the perfect image of Thy
spirit. And when our work on earth is ended, when the clods of the
valley are sweet to our weary frame, take us home to Thyself. Amen.
NATHANIEL S. SAGE.
January 31
_Only a frown! Yet it pressed a sting
Into the day which had been so glad;
The red rose turned to a scentless thing:
The bird-song ceased with discordant ring;
And a heart was heavy and sad._
_Only a smile! yet it cast a spell
Over the sky which had been so gray;
The rain made music wherever it fell;
The wind sang the song of the marriage-bell;
And a heart was light and gay._
ANONYMOUS.
With our tribute of praise, O Father, we would begin this day; this day,
which, with all its bounties, is Thy gift. Prepare us, we beseech Thee,
for the experiences of the hours as they open before us. Gratefully
remembering that we are Thy children, may our duties weigh with such
sacredness upon our hearts that we may shun the evil way as unworthy
those so richly endowed and blest. Write, we pray Thee, Thy law within
us; and may our love of Thee make it so easy and so joyous to obey that
we shall continually grow into the likeness of Him whose mission it is
to fill the world with blessedness and peace. Amen.
CHARLES W. TOMLINSON.
February 1
_Father, I will not ask for wealth or fame,
Though once they would have joyed my carnal sense.
I shudder not to bear a hated name,
Wanting all wealth, myself my sole defence.
But give me, Lord, eyes to behold the truth;
A seeing sense that knows the eternal right;
A heart with pity filled, and gentlest ruth;
A manly faith that makes all darkness light;
Give me the power to labor for mankind;
Make me the mouth of such as cannot speak;
Eyes let me be to groping man and blind;
A conscience to the base; and to the weak
Let me be hands and feet; and to the foolish, mind;
And lead still farther on such as Thy Kingdom seek._
THEODORE PARKER.
Heavenly Father, we speak to Thee this morning out of a sense of rest
and trust. We would begin the day with Thee and keep in Thy company to
its close. Whether we work or pray, wilt Thou rule our spirits?
Conscious in this moment of freedom, that we shall soon be pressed and
absorbed by our own cares, we pray, Father, that we may keep in mind the
privilege and joy of bearing each other's burdens and so fulfilling the
law of Christ. Nor ever permit us to fall away from perfect faith in Thy
purpose. Work in us and through us to usher in the morning when Truth
shall spring out of the earth and Righteousness shall come down from
heaven. Amen.
ISAAC M. ATWOOD.
February 2
_As when good news is come to one in grief, straightway he
forgetteth his former grief, and no longer attendeth to anything
except the good news which he hath heard, so do ye, also! having
received a renewal of your soul through the beholding of these good
things. Put on therefore gladness that hath always favor before
God, and is acceptable unto Him, and delight thyself in it; for
every man that is glad doeth the things that are good, and thinketh
good thoughts, despising grief._
MARIUS THE EPICUREAN.
O Lord, we know there are a thousand reasons why we should be glad. We
cannot always forget our sorrows and our failures; there are manifold
sources of temporary vexation and annoyance and harassing care, but in
the face of Thine overmastering Providence and Love we cannot long be
vexed nor sad. If tears have dimmed our eyes let us brush away the
tears. If troubles and cares have burdened our hearts let us rise
triumphant over them all and for this day be glad; and in our gladness
let us find our strength. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
February 3
_Do not dare to be so absorbed in your own life, so wrapped up in
listening to the sound of your own hurrying wheels, that all this
vast pathetic music, made up of the mingled joy and sorrow of your
fellowmen, shall not find out your heart and claim it and make you
rejoice to give yourself for them.... Be sure that ambition and
charity will both grow mean unless they are both inspired and
exalted by religion. Energy, love, and faith,--these make the
perfect man._
PHILLIPS BROOKS.
O Thou who art not far from any one of us, but art the Source and
Sustainer of our life, gratefully do we acknowledge the Mercy that has
given us this new day with its certain opportunity for living the glad,
true life. Directed by Thee, may this be for us a day of progress. May
its duties be performed with alacrity and cheerfulness, its lessons
learned with humility, its temptations met with resolute will, its
crosses with patient hope. We thank Thee for the life of the Master who
has shown us that if we would live Thy divine life, ours must be one of
continual service and constant progression. If, tried by the seeming
drudgery of duties daily repeated, we long for the end of our labors or
dream of an idle heaven, O forgive our weakness, and help us trustingly
to obey Thy voice as it whispers, "Up and on, this is not thy rest."
Thus let the day close on hours well spent, and Thy joy and peace fill
our hearts. Amen.
JOHN MURRAY ATWOOD.
February 4
_Who art thou that complainest of thy life of toil? Complain not.
Look up, my wearied brother; see thy fellow-workmen there, in God's
eternity; surviving there, they alone surviving; sacred band of the
Immortals, celestial body-guard of the empire of mankind. To thee,
Heaven, though severe, is as that Spartan mother, saying while she
gave her son his shield, "With it, my son, or upon it." Thou too
shalt return home in honor; to thy far distant Home, in honor;
doubt it not,--if in the battle thou keep thy shield! Thou, in the
Eternities, and deepest death-kingdoms, art not an alien; thou
everywhere art a denizen. Complain not._
THOMAS CARLYLE.
O Thou God of goodness and grace, who dost turn Thy smiling countenance
upon the upturned faces of Thy children, help us to find in the light of
another day the continued proof of Thy fatherly care and tender mercy.
Since Thou art so well disposed towards us, give us courage to attempt
anything which the duties of this day require, remembering that Thou
canst not ask anything beyond our strength, or withhold from us the
blessing of Thy Divine approval. Living under Thy smile help us to be
strong and calm and confident, delighting Thy heart by our faith in Thee
and our love for our fellowmen. Amen.
SAMUEL C. BUSHNELL.
February 5
_This goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory;
this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'er-hanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden
fire, why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and
pestilent congregation of vapors. What a piece of work is a man!
how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving
how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in
apprehension how like a god!_
SHAKESPEARE.
Our Father in Heaven, we pray Thee that this may be a bright and happy
day in each of our lives. May there be sunshine in our hearts because
they are attuned to Thine. Going about our daily tasks, Thy spirit
within us, may we make our little portion of the earth not a sterile
promontory but a rich garden abounding in the fruits of the spirit, and
may we, by Thy grace, be enabled to dispel some of the pestilent vapors
of wordliness and doubt. In all things, may we remember our divine
parentage and conform our lives more and more to the pattern shown us by
Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
FRANCIS E. CLARK.
February 6
_There was a merchant once, who on the way
Meeting one fatherless and lamed, did stay
To draw the thorn which pricked his foot, and passed;
And 'twas forgot; and the man died at last.
But in a dream the Prince of Khojand spies
That man again, walking in Paradise.
Walking and talking in that blessed land,
And what he said the prince could understand;
For he said this, plucking the heavenly posies;
"Wonderful! One thorn made me many roses!"_
EDWIN ARNOLD.
Dear Father in Heaven, with our life refreshed and renewed by sleep, we
would face the duties of the day with strong hope and a ready courage.
Forbid that these shall in any degree be diminished by any difficulty or
perplexity that may arise. We pray for wisdom and love. Grant us that
interest in others that shall impel us to help those who are in need.
And may our desire to minister move us not only to dress the wounds of
those whom the thorns have injured, but to clear the paths, along which
men must pass, of those conditions and influences which inevitably maim
and blight. May we serve Thee faithfully and with gladness this day!
Amen.
HARRY L. CANFIELD.
February 7
_Quicksand years that whirl me I know not whither,
Your schemes, politics fail, lines give way, substances mock and
elude me,
Only the theme I sing, the great and strong-possess'd soul, eludes not,
One's self must never give way--that is the final substance--that out
of all is sure,
Out of politics, triumphs, battles, life, what at last finally remains?
When shows break up what but One's self is sure?_
WALT WHITMAN.
O Thou, who beholdest all the souls of men, in our vision of another new
day, help us to see as Thou seest; to be conscious not of our own need
and desert alone, but also of the deserts and needs of all those with
whom we have to do; shaping our prayer and directing the effort that
follows after all true prayer in accordance with this wider outlook. O
Thou, who fashionest the hearts of all, who observest all their works,
we would strengthen and purify our hearts that they may be fitted to be
fashioned by Thee to noble ends, and set to some good service; and we
would do our daily work as in the sight of one who knows and loves all
honest, thorough workers, great or humble, wise or simple. Amen.
AUGUSTUS MENDON LORD.
February 8
_Truth should be the first lesson of the child and the last
aspiration of Manhood; for it has been well said that the inquiry
of truth, which is the love-making of it, the knowledge of truth,
which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the
enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature._
_We search the world for truth; we cull
The good, the pure, the beautiful,
From graven stone and written scroll,
From all old flower-fields of the soul._
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.
Our Heavenly Father, we acknowledge Thee as the Author and Giver of all
truth. We bless Thee that Thou hast attuned our souls to its music, and
that when with conscious life we touch its strings covering the universe
we feel harmony with the Divine. We thank Thee for the truths of our
sonship in Thee and for the assurances of Thy Fatherhood. We bless Thee
for Jesus who was the truth made life, and who is our daily guide to its
blessings. We thank Thee for the truth of immortality, with its
encouragement to eager life today and its assurances of endless joyful
tomorrows. Make us seekers of truth, lovers of truth and examples of
truth as it is in Jesus our Savior. Amen.
FRED A. DILLINGHAM.
February 9
_All things are engaged in writing their history. The planet, the
pebble, goes attended by its shadow. The rolling rock leaves its
scratches on the mountain; the river, its channel in the soil; the
animal, its bones in the stratum; the fern and leaf, their modest
epitaph in the coal. The falling drop makes its sculpture in the
sand or the stone. Not a foot steps into the snow or along the
ground, but prints, in characters more or less lasting, a map of
its march. Every act of the man inscribes itself in the memory of
his fellows, and in his own manners and face. The air is full of
sounds, the sky of tokens, the ground is all memoranda and
signatures, and every object covered over with hints which speak to
the intelligent._
_Ralph Waldo Emerson._
Our Father, who art in Heaven and in every manifestation of living
nature, we turn our thoughts to Thee with the rising of each new sun. We
hear Thy voice in the singing of every summer bird. We realize Thy
presence in the shifting shadows of the clouds. In the arching blue
above us we realize something of the depth and breadth of the love that
arches over the horizon of our life and stretches like the radiant bow
of promise from the green hills of childhood to the sombre mountains of
old age. We beseech Thee to give us thoughts so beautiful and ennobling
that even amid the sods and clods of life's daily drudgery we can always
face the morning light of some new hope which comes like the old song
sung in the new land. Amen.
JOHN KIMBALL.
February 10
_First, when I feel that I am become cold and indisposed to prayer,
by reason of other business and thoughts, I take my psalter and run
into my chamber, or, if day and season serve, into the church to
the multitude, and begin to repeat to myself--just as children
used--the ten commandments, the creed, and, according as I have
time, some sayings of Christ or of Paul, or some Psalms. Therefore
it is well to let prayer be the first employment in the early
morning, and the last in the evening. Avoid diligently those false
and deceptive thoughts which say, Wait a little, I will pray an
hour hence; I must first perform this or that. For with such
thoughts a man quits prayer for business that lays hold of and
entangles him, so that he comes not to pray the whole day long._
MARTIN LUTHER.
O Lord, our Heavenly Father, who keepest covenant and loving kindness
with Thy servants, who walk humbly with Thee, and who hast been
attentive to the prayers of our fathers when they lifted up their hearts
and their hands to Thee, teach us to pray, and to love to pray. Visit us
in the night season and before the morning watch. Touch our spirits with
the flame of Thy Spirit, before the day's business lays hold upon us and
entangles us, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
REUBEN KIDNER.
February 11
_In one of Dean Stanley's sermons to children, preached at
Westminster Abbey, he told the following story: "There was a little
girl living with her grandfather. She was a good child, but he was
not a very good man; and one day, when the little child came back
from school, he had put in writing over the bed, 'God is nowhere,'
for he did not believe in the good God, and he tried to make the
little child believe the same. What did the little girl do? She had
no eyes to see, no ears to hear, what her grandfather tried to
teach her. She was very small. She could only read words of one
syllable at a time; she rose above the bad meaning which he tried
to put in her mind; she rose, as we all ought to rise, above the
temptation of our time; she rose into a higher and better world;
she rose because her little mind could not do otherwise, and she
read the words, not 'God is nowhere,' but 'God is now here.' That
is what we all should strive to do. Out of words which have no
sense or which have bad sense, our eyes, our minds, ought to be
able to read a better sense."_
WILLIAM MOODIE.
O Thou, Invisible Presence, there can be no place where Thou art not.
Thou, our Father, art in heaven and on earth and everywhere. Thou art in
the order of the rock, the beauty of the flower, the light of the sun
and stars, and goodness in the human soul. Teach us to be conscious of
Thy nearness to us, and so may we never be afraid. In the light of Thy
countenance, may we see duty and truth, and recognize more easily the
good in one another. Amen.
ALVA ROY SCOTT.
February 12
ABRAHAM LINCOLN BORN 1809
_Chosen for large designs, he had the art
Of winning with his humour, and he went
Straight to his mark, which was the human heart;
Wise, too, for what he could not break he bent._
_Upon his back a more than Atlas-load--
The burden of the Commonwealth was laid;
He stooped, and rose up to it, though the road
Shot suddenly downwards, not a whit dismayed._
_Hold, warriors, counsellors, kings! all now give place
To this dear benefactor of the race._
RICHARD H. STODDARD.
Almighty Father, we thank Thee today for the gracious memory of Thy
servant who lived and died for the sake of a free and united nation. We
thank Thee more that we have his life inwrought into the very fabric of
the life of the nation. We had in him "a hiding place from the wind and
a covert from the tempest, a river of water in a dry place and the
shadow of a great rock in a weary land." We gratefully join in praise
with the thousands who found help and cheer in the shadow of his
strength. And now we humbly beseech Thee, help us in some small way this
day to be a helper to the helpless, a friend to the needy, sunshine to
those whose day will be gray and gloomy, the shadow of a great rock to
those who are buffeted by the world's storms. Thus shall we prove our
gratitude to Thee for the gift of Thy servant whom we honor today, and
thus shall we honor Thee. We ask and offer all in the name of Thy Son
Jesus Christ. Amen.
AVERY A. SHAW.
February 13
_Let us learn to be content with what we have. Let us get rid of
our false estimates, set up all the higher ideals--a quiet home;
vines of our own planting; a few books full of the inspiration of a
genius; a few friends worthy of being loved, and able to love us in
return; a hundred innocent pleasures that bring no pain or remorse;
a devotion to the right that will never swerve; a simple religion
empty of all bigotry, full of trust and hope and love--and to such
a philosophy this world will give up all the empty joy it has._
DAVID SWING.
Thou gracious Spirit of Life, our Father, at the beginning of this new
day we wait for a moment before Thee with uncovered heads and with
reverent spirits; Thou knowest us through and through, whatever man may
think of us Thou knowest just what we are. In Thy sight we need not
pretend; we need not make believe, we need only be simple and genuine
and brave and earnest. We need be glad in the possession of what we
have. Help us this day to rightly value that which is good and honest.
Let us for this day at least, put away all vanity and give ourselves
unreservedly to Thy service and the love of our fellow men. To this high
end, may we have the sweet companionship of Jesus. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
February 14
_We go through life as some tourists go through Europe,--so anxious
to see the next sight, the next cathedral, the next picture, the
next mountain peak, that we never stop to fill our sense with the
beauty of the present one. Along all our pathways sweet flowers are
blossoming, if we will only stop to pluck them and smell their
fragrance. In every meadow, birds are warbling, calling to their
mates, and soaring into the blue, if we will only stop our
grumbling long enough to hear them._
MINOT J. SAVAGE.
Give us, O God, the vision to see the way where duty lies and strength
to walk in it, to ever keep the forward look and never to lose heart
today because of the stumblings and fallings in the yesterdays that are
forever gone. Let us remember that we are in Thy hands and we are
faithless to Thee and to ourselves if knowingly we fail to do Thy work.
Though we cannot see Thee, we now see our fellow men and we shall best
serve Thee if, in love and patience, we help our fellows. Amen.
ALMON GUNNISON.
February 15
_May I reach
That purest Heaven--be to other souls
The cup of strength in some great agony,
Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love,
Beget the smiles that have no cruelty,
Be that sweet presence of a good diffused,
And in diffusion ever more intense!
So shall I join the choir invisible,
Whose music is the gladness of the world._
GEORGE ELIOT.
Our heavenly Father, we bless Thee for the gift of another day with all
its opportunities for service. And we pray that our hearts may respond
in sympathy with the heartbeats of those who love and toil and suffer
around us today. May we learn to make their joys and sorrows our own. Do
not let our unfeeling hands strike the heart-strings of others harshly,
nor allow our feet to go crushing roses of love, without thought. Help
us, we pray Thee, to walk tenderly and reverently among our fellow men.
May their hopes and noble endeavors ring within us the prayer bells of
the soul. Make us thus to grow large and tender and noble through our
helpful ministries. Amen.
JOHN WESLEY CARTER.
February 16
_Ah, love and love alone at last will solve
All the vast, threatening questions that distract
Mankind; that fellow-men in strife array,
And the whole world with fierce contentions rend.
Still keep your idle millions under arms--
Fed on the hard-earned substance of the poor--
Still watch each other with keen jealousy,
Still slaughter thousands on the field of war,
Or strive with statesman's craft to arbitrate;
Thread the sly mazes of diplomacy,
Try communistic cures for every ill,
And when all fails at last, for lack of love,
Try love--the mightiest of them all--and win!_
HENRY NEHEMIAH DODGE.