from our abodes, perfect now Thy blessing unto us, and take the veil
from all our hearts, and make clear to us Thy holy presence. Filled with
the everlasting light, may we look on each other, and on our work here
below, and on the strifes and conditions of humanity, with a love and
hope that are not of this world. May Faith, Hope and Love abide with
us--and may we realize that the greatest of these is Love. Hasten Thou
the time when by love alone Thy kingdom shall come, and Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
WILLIAM B. EDDY.
February 17
_If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy, and
life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is
more starry, more immortal,--that is your success. All nature is
your congratulation and you have cause momentarily to bless
yourself._
HENRY DAVID THOREAU.
Father, I have found Thy gift of life, a sweet and beautiful thing. It
has known cloud and rain, but these have nourished it, and the darkness
has sheltered it. It has felt driving storms, but these have
strengthened it. It has known sunshine too. And now every day is a
transfiguration and every night a benediction. Let thanksgiving be my
prayer. What I need Thou wilt give. My hands Thou wilt touch with the
soft petals of Thy flowers; and the arms of Thy strong care shall be
about me. By the voices of brooks and rivers and winds and birds and
little children Thou wilt speak to me, and in the deeper silences I
shall hear Thy still small voice. Father, I thank Thee. Amen.
O. C. S. WALLACE.
February 18
_Let us not care too much for what happens: Let us not leave our
peace of mind at the mercy of events._
CHARLES G. AMES.
_Let us lay hold of the happiness of today. Do we not go through
life blindly, thinking that some fair tomorrow will bring us the
gift we miss today?... Know thou, my heart, if thou art not happy
today, thou shalt never be happy._
ANNA ROBERTSON BROWN.
We thank Thee, our Father, that the Satisfaction of righteousness is
present as well as future. Help us, we beseech Thee, to live this day so
that earth shall seem like heaven. In the proof of our adequacy to the
demands of duty may we find a delight that shall more than compensate us
for any pleasure or profit surrendered for its sake. May the sense of
Thine approval sanctify our joys and comfort our sorrows. May we win
love by deserving it, and find happiness in bestowing it. Through
obedience to Thy will may we add strength and spiritual beauty to our
own character and carry into the evening shadows the sweet assurance
that other lives have been enriched by our kind words and helpful deeds.
We ask it as Thy children. Amen.
J. FRANK THOMPSON.
February 19
_'Tis always morning somewhere, and above
The awakening continents from shore to shore.
Somewhere the birds are singing evermore._
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.
_The inconveniences and the petty annoyances, the pains and the
sorrows, do we ever forget them? Indeed, no; we grumble and groan
continually. The blue sky and the sunshine, the everyday mercies
and the wonderful blessings that we accept as a matter of course,
do we remember to rejoice because of them? Only too seldom. On this
one day, do let us be sincerely and expressedly thankful._
ANONYMOUS.
Our Father, we rejoice to believe that Thy love is the eternal sun which
knows no eclipse and that in its pure shining, we Thy children can go
forward with brave hearts and radiant hopes, assured that Thy wisdom
hath left nothing unfinished and that "Thy goodness faileth never." We
greet this new day with newness of joy in Thy Fatherhood as our personal
right, and with ascending ideals of a service whose gracious light shall
kindle other souls into a larger hopefulness and a deeper tenderness. We
would fill this day with all sunny thoughts, with all cheering words and
with all generous deeds, and thus the more effectually bring the divine
light into the human and make clearer the outlines of a heaven on earth.
Amen.
ARNOLD S. YANTIS.
February 20
_No blast of air or fire of sun
Puts out the light whereby we run
With girdled loins our lamplit race,
And each from each takes heart of grace
And spirit till his turn be done,
And light of face from each man's face
In whom the light of trust is one;
Since only souls that keep their place
By their own light, and watch things roll,
And stand, have light for any soul._
ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE.
O Thou, Who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment, even the true
light which lighteth every man coming into the world, shine Thou in us,
putting to flight all the powers of darkness, and guilt of sin, and
selfishness. Shine also through us to any that live in the shadow; and
so fill us with Thy radiant Spirit, that we may be a lamp unto a
neighbor's feet and a light unto his path. And when this day is done may
every face we have met be the brighter for our meeting, and every heart
braver with new joy and cheer and grace and strength. For in Thee O
Lord, is life, and Thy life is the light of men. Amen.
THEODORE PARKER.
February 21
_The longer on this earth we live
And weigh the various qualities of men
The more we feel the high, stern-featured beauty
Of plain devotedness to duty,
Steadfast and still, nor paid with mortal praise,
But finding amplest recompense
For life's ungarlanded expense
In work done squarely and unwasted days._
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.
Our dear Heavenly Father, we would greet Thee as this morning greets us.
We thank Thee for the daily duty; that, amid this wondrous world, Thou
hast set somewhat for our doing. May we appreciate the honor. May we not
grudge our best, even in the humblest tasks, since Thou appointest them.
Strengthen us, we beseech Thee, if sometimes the heart fails, and the
tired hands get laggard. Show us how the lowliest service becomes
loftiest if done with the glorifying motive of pleasing Thee. Make us
this day blithe in duty. When our heads find pillow may Thy peace enfold
us; forgive our failures; and, for Jesus' sake, may we never cease
endeavor. Amen.
WAYLAND HOYT.
February 22
GEORGE WASHINGTON. BORN 1732.
_Welcome to the day returning,
Dearer still as ages flow,
While the torch of faith is burning,
Long as Freedom's altars glow!
See the hero whom it gave us
Slumbering on a mother's breast;
For the arm he stretched to save us,
Be its morn forever blest._
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
Father of life, we thank Thee that Thou hast been with the Fathers; that
Thou hast been with him whose birth this day we celebrate. Thou wert
willing to speak to them, and they were willing to hear Thee and answer
Thee, "Lo, here am I; send me." We thank Thee that the memory of this
great man has come down to us; of him who was first in war, first in
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen; and we ask Thee that
Thou wilt be with our countrymen today; that Thou wilt teach us Thy law,
that we may walk in Thy ways; that this may be that happy nation whose
God is the Lord. In all time of our trial, if we have sought Thee we
have found Thee,--in all time of our success Thou hast won for us our
victories,--Thou hast been with our counsellors. Father, today,
tomorrow, and in days to come, in our memories and in our hopes be with
us still, Our Father, Who art in Heaven. Amen.
EDWARD EVERETT HALE.
February 23
_If you always remember that in all you do in soul or body God
stands by as a witness, in all your prayers and your actions you
will not err; and you shall have God dwelling with you._
EPICTETUS.
_Faith acts on our souls as a moral tonic; it takes the fret and
fever out of our lives; it gives the appetite and desire for noble
living; it removes despondency; it gives energy, courage, hope,
patience, and persistence; and in its highest manifestations it
makes our lives a blending of power, sweetness, and peace._
JAMES M. PULLMAN.
Father of spirits! We yield ourselves to Thee. We will be afraid of
neither sorrow nor death in a world where many saintly souls have
sanctified them by a divine patience, and amid a Providence wherein no
evil thing can dwell. Clinging unto Thee, we shall not perish with the
fashion of this world that passeth away. As sparks falling on the river,
so shall the glories of our strength go out. But the graces of the holy
soul shall be as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars
forever and ever. In Thee, O Lord, is our undying trust. Amen.
JAMES MARTINEAU.
February 24
_Be of good cheer, brave spirit; steadfastly serve that low whisper
thou hast served; for know, God hath a select family of sons now
scattered wide thro' earth, and each alone, who are thy spiritual
kindred, and each one by constant service to that inward law, is
weaving the sublime proportions of a true monarch's soul. Beauty
and strength, the riches of a spotless memory, the eloquence of
truth, the wisdom got by searching of a clear and loving eye that
seeth as God seeth. These are their gifts, and time, who keeps
God's word, brings on the day to seal the marriage of these minds
with thine, thy everlasting lovers._
RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
O Thou, who makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice,
help us to welcome this new day as Thy gift, to take up its duties with
courage, and to follow the light which Thou shalt give. Conscious of the
meaning and purpose of life, undismayed by the failures of past days,
and ever remembering that Thy strength is made perfect in human
weakness, may we consecrate ourselves anew to the glad service of life,
knowing that in so doing we enter into fellowship with all who have been
workers together with Thee, and into increasing likeness of soul to Thy
holy Son. May the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and may life
become stronger and sweeter and richer, until at last we receive through
grace the "well done!" of the Master. Amen.
HENRY M. KING.
February 25
_There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in
it. In our whole life melody, the music is broken off here and
there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of
time. God sends a time of forced leisure--sickness, disappointed
plans, frustrated efforts--and makes a sudden pause in the choral
hymn of our lives, and we lament that our voices must be silent,
and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of
the Creator. How does the musician read the rest? See him beat time
with unvarying count and catch up the next note true and steady, as
if no breaking place had come in between. Not without design does
God write the music of our lives. But be it ours to learn the time,
and not be dismayed at the "rests." They are not to be slurred
over, nor to be omitted, nor to destroy the melody, nor to change
the key-note. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us.
With the eye on Him we shall strike the next note full and clear._
JOHN RUSKIN.
O God, help us to trust where we cannot see, and to feel that life is
not necessarily a failure because we are shut out from its activities.
Grant us in sickness such visions and such communion with Thee that
disease of the body shall be transformed into a healer of the soul; and,
as the crushed rose the sweeter fragrance emits, so may our sorrows
chasten and refine us.
O Heavenly Father, grant that all our sickness and pain and
disappointment may so sweeten our dispositions, purify our character and
strengthen our souls that we shall bring heaven's sunlight into the
lives of all whom we meet. Amen.
MYRON W. HAYNES.
February 26
_Love is the greatest thing that God can give us, for Himself is
love; and it is the greatest thing we can give to God, for it will
also give ourselves, and carry with it all that is ours._
JEREMY TAYLOR.
_High thoughts and noble in all lands
Help me, my soul is fed by such;
But ah, the touch of lips and hands,
The human touch!
Warm, vital, close, life's symbols dear,
These need I most and now and here._
RICHARD BURTON.
Our Father in Heaven, we bless Thee this morning for all Thy care and
love; Thou hast made our houses homes, sweet, quiet dwelling-places. We
thank Thee for sleep, for communion with one another in all holy and
tender speech. We thank Thee for all our hopes; the worlds are nearer
than we thought, heaven's fragrance attempers the winds of earth, we
almost hear the upper song: may we listen for it, may our souls delight
in sweet anticipations of immortal fellowship, and may we come out of
these high reveries determined to work more, suffer more patiently, to
accept every discipline more willingly, and to do all our little day's
work as men whose citizenship is in heaven. Amen.
JOSEPH PARKER.
February 27
_Flame of the spirit, and dust of the earth,--
This is the making of man,
This is his problem of birth;
Born to all holiness, born to all crime,
Heir of both worlds, on the long slope of time
Climbing the path of God's plan;
Dust of the earth in his error and fear,
Weakness and malice and lust;
Yet, quivering up from the dust,
Flame of the spirit, unleaping and clear,
Yearning to God, since from God is its birth--
This is man's portion, to shape as he can,
Flame of the spirit, and dust of the earth--
This is the making of man._
PRISCILLA LEONARD.
O God, Thou art the Father of our spirits, but our spirits have come to
us through ways of flesh. We are both spiritual and carnal. Our spirits
seek Thee evermore, but our flesh turns away from Thee and strives to
drag us down. Between our best and our worst is bitter conflict. Help us
to the discovery that all that lives is in like conflict, and that there
can be no virtue and no glory except in overcoming. Make us see that the
spirit is stronger than the flesh because it is of God, and that in the
obedience and inspiration of Jesus, Thy Son and our Brother, we may at
last be enthroned with Him. Amen.
CEPHAS B. CRANE.
February 28
_Neither let mistakes nor wrong directions, of which every man, in
his studies and elsewhere, falls into many, discourage you. There
is precious instruction to be got by finding we were wrong. Let a
man try faithfully, manfully, to be right; he will grow daily more
and more right. It is at bottom the condition on which all men have
to cultivate themselves._
THOMAS CARLYLE.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,--in Thine own loving way Thou dost
bless us when we do the right; when we fall into mistakes so teach us by
Thy judgments that we become wise unto salvation. Help Thy children to
recognize their proneness to blunder, that they learn to walk
circumspectly. When we fall into the wrong, grant that we lie prone not
long but arise undismayed to greater effort. Bring to bear upon us the
influences of the Holy Spirit, that we strive earnestly and devoutly to
be right at the centre of our being; that rightness be the fabric of our
life. To Thee be all glory evermore. Amen.
EDWARD A. PERRY.
February 29
_Henceforth I learn that to obey is best,
And love with fear the only God, to walk
As in His presence, ever to observe
His providence, and on Him sole depend,
Merciful over all His works, with good
Still overcoming evil, and by small
Accomplishing great things--by things deemed weak
Subverting worldly strong, and worldly wise
By simply meek, that suffering for Truth's sake
Is fortitude to highest victory,
And to the faithful death the gate of life--
Taught this by His example whom I now
Acknowledge my Redeemer ever blest._
JOHN MILTON.
O Thou Eternal One before whom from day to day we walk and on whom we
ever depend, help us to-day to love whatever is good and beautiful and
to follow obediently the behests of Thy Spirit. May we overcome evil
with good; and may we accomplish whatever tasks the hours as they pass
demand of us, whether small or great, with such strength as may be
vouchsafed us and with a wisdom begotten of meekness. If we must suffer
for truth's sake may we manifest such humility and fortitude as shall be
conducive to the highest success. Open for us hourly the gates of life,
as those who endeavor to be faithful to their high calling. These favors
we ask in the name of Him who redeems our lives from all evil and crowns
us daily with His loving kindness. Amen.
EDWARD DAY.
March 1
_All the strength of the world and all its beauty, all true joy,
everything that consoles, that feeds hope, or throws a ray of light
along our dark paths, everything that makes us see across our poor
lives a splendid goal and a boundless future, comes to us from
people of simplicity, those who have made another object of their
desires than the passing satisfaction of selfishness and vanity,
and have understood that the art of living is to know how to give
one's life._
CHARLES WAGNER.
Heavenly Father, help us to be like Thyself, as manifested in the person
of Jesus Christ, Thy Son! It was His will to do the will of His Father
by living and dying for others. Teach us so to live. Help us to learn by
positive personal experience that supremest joy comes only "in
ministering unto others." Teach us what Jesus meant when He said: "I am
among you as he that serveth." Plant deeply within us His passion for a
life of service. May our morning hours be gladdened and inspired by this
divine purpose. Let Thy holy will be done in us this day. Amen.
CHARLES PARKHURST.
March 2
_The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven--
All's right with the world!_
ROBERT BROWNING.
Father in Heaven, refreshed and heartened by the night, we begin again
with Thee the high adventure of our life. Add to the beauty of the world
about us a finer spiritual beauty in our souls. Save us from our own
undoing. If our thoughts are dark, shine in upon them with Thy glory; if
they be bright, make them to light the pathway of another. Have us
wholesomely to forget ourselves, in the joy of Thy good world, the
promise of our imperfection and the trust in God that maketh not afraid.
And when the duties of the day are done, dismiss us, Thy well-meaning
children, with a quiet mind to rest. Amen.
ALBERT WELLMAN HITCHCOCK.
March 3
_We will do something worth doing--that is the resolution for you
and me._
EDWARD EVERETT HALE.
_We admire the man who embodies victorious efforts, the man who
never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who
has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of
actual life._
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
Father of Lights in whom is no darkness at all, and in whose light we
see light, help us to clearly see and never forget that only right deeds
are worthy of a child of Thine. May we in no moment forget that to yield
to the wrong is to bring upon us Thy just condemnation and sow for us a
sure reaping of sorrowful repentance. By doing the things we know to be
right and worth doing, the things worthy of our true selves and of our
Father and of our Master whose we are, may this day, through us, yield
some benefit to other children of Thine, and bring to us the sweet
reward of Thine approval. Amen.
OSCAR F. SAFFORD.
March 4
_It is worth a thousand pounds a year to have the habit of looking
on the bright side of things._
SAMUEL JOHNSON.
_Not by appointment do we meet delight and joy;
They wait not our expectancy;
But round some corner in the street of life,
They, on a sudden, greet us with a smile._
GERALD MASSEY.
Our Father, at the beginning of a new day, refreshed by the night's
rest, we turn to Thee for strength for the day's task. We know not what
the hours hold for us, but this we do know, that come what may, Thou
wilt go with us to bless, to cheer; we shall not walk or work alone. As
we faithfully and cheerfully perform our work, conscious of Thy
presence, there will come joys and smiles unexpected and unsought. This
is Thy way of teaching us faithfulness and endurance. May we soon learn,
that if we would make the day happy and worth while, we must not seek
our own pleasure and good, but that of our brethren. May we so live that
when the night shadows are again upon us, there shall be no cause for
shame or regret. In the Master's spirit! Amen.
O. HOWARD PERKINS.
March 5
_Not in dumb resignation we lift our hands on high;
Not like the nerveless fatalist, content to do and die.
Our faith springs, like the eagle's, who soars to meet the sun,
And cries exulting unto Thee, "Oh, Lord, Thy will be done."_
_Thy will! It bids the weak be strong; it bids the strong be just;
No lips to fawn, no hand to beg, no brow to seek the dust,
Wherever man oppresses men beneath the liberal sun,
O Lord, be there, Thine arm made bare, Thy righteous will be done._
JOHN HAY.
It is with the beautiful assurance of Thy love and kindness, our Father,
that we draw nigh unto Thee. It is Faith that seems to give us wings by
which we rise above the darkness, into Thy Presence of light and love.
We feel our divine relationship to Thee, so that we lift up our hands to
Thee, as the child to the parent. We are content to do Thy will, because
we know then just what it is to love Thee. Our Master taught us this
great lesson by His own faith in Thee. To do Thy will means strength to
the weak, hope to the hopeless. To the sorrowing there can be seen,
beyond the tear, the rainbow of Thy promise. Thus, as we realize our
sonship will we work to make all men feel their own power, and all
become one in Thy great love. May Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done,
in Christ our Lord. Amen.
C. E. FISHER.
March 6
_If you are my friend you cannot be indifferent to my faults of
character, any more than you can be indifferent to my sickness or
suffering. But, if you care to help me cure these faults, please
let them alone! Please make much of my good qualities if you can
discover any. And especially bless me with the encouraging sight of
a better man than myself, and cheer me with a high example. I know
that there are times when a sharp or gentle rebuke is in order, and
that "faithful are the wounds of a friend." But the wiser doctors
have lost their faith in blood-letting; and they know that clumsy
surgery kills more than it cures._
CHARLES G. AMES.
In our prayer, our Heavenly Father, we desire to be consciously grateful
for the opportunities this new day affords us of being helpful to each
other. The inspiration so to act comes from Thee. Thou art the constant
and never-failing Helper of Thy children. May we be mindful of the fact
that our noblest service to another may not be an alms, but a look of
encouragement, a word of cheer. Enable us to be not too sensible of
others' faults and failings. Assist us to see and magnify the good in
other lives. To this end may we be to others such examples in conduct
and character as we would have them be to us. We offer and ask all in
the spirit of Jesus. Amen.
LEROY W. COONS.
March 7
_The mariner of old said to Neptune in a great tempest, "O God!
Thou mayest save me if Thou wilt, and if Thou wilt Thou mayest
destroy me, but whether or no, I will steer my rudder true."_
MONTAIGNE.
_I go to prove my soul
I see my way as birds their trackless way.
I shall arrive! what time, what circuit first,
I ask not; but unless God send His hail
Or blinding fire-balls, sleet or stifling snow,
In some time, His good time, I shall arrive;
He guides me and the bird. In His good time!_
ROBERT BROWNING.
Once more we face the day that can be dreadful only to our poor sight
and trembling faith. For Thou hast made flame and pain, the hurricane
and quaking earth to be Thy ministers of grace. Shall trust depart when
shadows fall? Thou art "in the shadow keeping watch above Thine own." As
truly in severity as in gentleness, Thou art the All-Loving and
All-Wise. Shall we fear to go anywhere? Lord, Thou art everywhere!
Defend us only from the blindness and fear of ignorance and sin. Draw us
nearer to Thee, this day, by any means in Thy good pleasure, so that at
last, truly knowing Thy way, we shall rise above the worst that
circumstances may do into joy unspeakable and peace unbroken. In the
name of Him made perfect through suffering. Amen.
HENRY B. TAYLOR.
March 8
_We complain of the slow, dull life we are forced to lead, of our
humble sphere of action, of our low position in the scale of
society, of our having no room to make ourselves known, of our
wasted energies, of our years of patience. So do we say that we
have no Father who is directing our life, so do we say that God has
forgotten us, so do we boldly judge what life is best for us, and
so by our complaining do we lose the use and profit of the quiet
years._
BISHOP HUNTINGTON.