of our hearts to have fullest play. Help us to help each other, Lord,
and of whatever grace or influence we have to bless and uplift our
fellowmen to give generously and gladly. Help us scatter sunshine along
our pathway, to speak the cheering word to discouraged hearts and to
lend the helping hand to feeble or halting ones along the way. May we
find our greatest happiness following in the footsteps of our Master,
humbly serving our neighbor's needs, and doing good even at every
wayside opportunity. Amen.
JAMES F. ALBION.
March 30
_Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God's new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight,
Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right,
And the choice goes by forever 'twixt that darkness and that light._
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.
Almighty Father, we are before Thee, asking for strength this day, that
for today's duty we may have the help of Thy Infinite wisdom, as we know
we have Thy love, Our Father with His Children. Father, help us to look
to Thee for strength and wisdom in every moment of doubt. We are not
afraid, because we can come to Thee for counsel, and companionship. We
can come to Thee for everything, and we find everything if we seek for
it with all our heart and soul and strength. So today, Father, be with
us to show each one of us here, the youngest or the oldest, the weakest
or the strongest, what is the duty next his hand today, that we may
enter into that work and go about our Father's business. Go with us and
be with us as with Thine own children. Amen.
EDWARD EVERETT HALE.
March 31
_I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my duty and
joy to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and
noble._
HELEN KELLER.
_It is a fine notion of life to liken it to the loom. God puts on
the warp in those circumstances in which we find ourselves, and
which we cannot change. The woof is wrought by the shuttle of
everyday life. It is made of very homely threads sometimes, common
duties, unpromising and unwelcome tasks. But whoever tries to do
each day's work in the spirit of patient loyalty to God is weaving
the texture whose other side is fairer than the one he sees._
ANONYMOUS.
Our Father in heaven, grant that we may be "faithful in that which is
least," leaving to Thy will whether we have the opportunity of being
"faithful in much." May we understand that the value of our service is
not so much in what we do as the spirit in which we do it. Help us to
remember that no service is common in Thy sight, if it is done for Thy
glory and the betterment of humanity; that in blessing others, we
ourselves are blessed; that life is mostly made up of little things, but
a character which is perfected by Thy grace and humble service is not a
little thing, but a jewel to shine in Thy crown forever. Amen.
E. T. CURNICK.
April 1
_April is here!
There's a song in the maple, thrilling and new;
There's a flash of wings of heaven's own hue;
There's a veil of green on the nearer hills;
There's a burst of rapture in woodland rills;
There are stars in the meadow dropped here and there;
There's a breath of arbutus in the air;
There's a dash of rain, as if flung in jest;
There's an arch of color spanning the west;
April is here!_
EBEN E. REXFORD.
O God, ever-living and ever-acting, all Thy works praise Thee, and Thy
saints bless Thee! We rejoice that Thou art bringing in this new
springtime, and art preparing to pour out Thy summer glory and bounty in
garden and field and wood, that Thy children may be richly blessed. As
Thou art working mightily in nature today so wilt Thou work in us, Thy
children, that the blessed fruits of the Spirit may appear in all that
we think and do and are? And may the spontaneous spring song of the
woods find its counterpart in the perpetual gladness of our souls sunk
deep in the love of Christ! Amen.
HENRY IRVING CUSHMAN.
April 2
_The sweetest sound our whole year round
'Tis the first robin of the spring!
The song of the full orchard choir,
Is not so fine a thing._
EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN.
_The grass comes, the flower laughs where lately lay the snow,
O'er the breezy hill top hoarsely calls the crow,
By the flowing river the alder catkins swing
And the sweet song sparrow cries, "Spring, it is Spring!"_
CELIA THAXTER.
Accept from a heart of gratitude, O God, thanksgiving and praises for
the glad anticipation of the coming days of spring. May the awakening of
nature, this living garment in which Thou hast robed Thy mysterious
loveliness, be to each of Thy children symbol of the new life which
comes to those who put their trust in the risen Christ and of the higher
life beyond where shadows are no more and light and gladness bless an
eternity of joy. O, Thou Father of lights, make every hour of this
opening day rich and radiant with Thy effulgent presence through Jesus
Christ. Amen.
KERR BOYCE TUPPER.
April 3
_Within my earthly temple there's a crowd;
There's one of us that's humble, one that's proud,
There's one that's broken-hearted for his sins,
There's one that unrepentant sits and grins;
There's one that loves his neighbor as himself,
And one that cares for naught but fame and pelf.
From much corroding care I should be free
If I could once determine which is me._
THEODORE MARTIN.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for our multiform life. Thou hast
made us a little lower than the angels and hast crowned us with glory
and honor, yet how little we know ourselves! We go astray; we fall from
our high estate; like the moth we flutter around the blaze that burns
us. When we would do good, evil is present with us. Yet through all
complexity of thought and feeling, of passion and appetite, through all
our wanderings and all our sins we thank Thee that there shines clearly
the light of our own Divinity. We are Thy children. Help us, we pray
Thee, to know ourselves at our best. May we not be betrayed in this
day's journey by any siren voice. Let us go forth to the tasks of the
day with the consciousness that until the evening shadows fall Thou wilt
be with us. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
April 4
_If we but knew the secret of that power
That opes the bud in early days of spring,
If we but knew what makes the robin sing
His wondrous song just at the matin hour,
If we but knew the priceless boon and dower
Of human life when man is truly king.
If we but understood the little thing
That vexes us just at the present hour,
If we but knew--ah, well, 'tis vain to sigh
And speculate on things beyond our ken!
We know that earth is fair and life is sweet,
And something tells us that we cannot die.
And if we live and love the good, ah! then
We face to face with truth some day must meet._
CLARENCE HAWKES.
O Lord, we thank Thee for a day so sweet and fair as this, when the
trees lift up their hands in a psalm of gratitude to Thee, and every
little flower that opens its cup and every wandering bird seem filled by
Thy spirit, and grateful to Thee. We thank Thee for all thine
handwritings of revelation on the walls of the world, on the heavens
above us and the ground beneath, and all the testimonies recorded there
of Thy presence, Thy power, Thy justice, and Thy love. Amen.
THEODORE PARKER.
April 5
_Yet we must give the children leave to use
Our garden tools, though they spoil tool and plant
In learning. So the Master may not scorn
Our awkwardness, as with these bungling hands
We try to unroot the ill, and plant with good
Life's barren soil: the child is learning use.
Perhaps the angels even are forbid
To laugh at us, or may not care to laugh,
With kind eyes pitying our little hurts._
EDWARD ROWLAND SILL.
Our Father: Thou knowest how unskilled are these hands and hearts of
ours. Thou knowest how much that we do, think, and speak often tends to
retard the progress of that which we would promote. Give us, then, this
day that wisdom which is from above, that no touch of our hand may mar
the beauty of one of Thy creations: no thought nor word wrong one of Thy
creatures. Help us to know that we are workers with God, and in this
knowledge may we strive for that excellence of service that shall hasten
the coming of that kingdom of peace, joy and righteousness which is life
eternal. Amen.
FLORENCE KOLLOCK CROOKER.
April 6
_Plant flowers in the soul's front yard,
Set out new shade and blossom trees,
An' let the soul once froze an' hard,
Sprout crocuses of new idees._
_Yes, clean yer house, an' clean yer shed,
An' clean yer barn in ev'ry part;
But brush the cobwebs from yer head,
An' sweep the snow banks from yer heart._
SAM WALTER FOSS.
Gracious Father, help us gratefully to begin this day with Thee. We
expect the day to bring its accustomed routine of cares and duties, and
its round of petty irritations, but we confidently believe that Thou
wilt help us in all our experiences. Let this morning's freshness, hope
and vigor be ours through the whole day. Help us to put faith in the
place of fear that all our efforts may be crowned with the success of
helpfulness. May we go blithely about our business with kind words and
cheerful faces that our day's work may be our day's worship. Amen.
AUGUSTUS B. CHURCH.
April 7
_Ye seek for happiness--alas the day!
Ye find it not in luxury nor in gold,
Not in the fame nor in the envied sway,
For which O willing slaves to custom old,
Severe taskmistress, ye your hearts have sold.
Ye seek for peace, and, when ye die, to dream
No evil dreams; all mortal things are cold
And senseless then; if aught survive, I deem
It must be love and joy, for they immortal seem._
SHELLEY.
O Thou Eternal God who hast given us life, help us to love Thy will and
to walk in Thy way this day. If flowers chance to grow beside our path
we would pluck them, but most of all would we rejoice in Thee alone,
knowing that in Thy will is perfect peace. Fill our souls with Thy joy
and strengthen us in the spirit of self-forgetfulness to spill it out
into the lives of others. Give us hearts "roomy, radiant, and full of
laughter," learned of "Jesus Christ, whom not having seen we love; on
whom though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice greatly with
joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of our faith, even
the salvation of our souls." Amen.
WALTER HEALY.
April 8
_A gush of bird song, a patter of dew,
A cloud and a rainbow's warning,
Suddenly sunshine and perfect blue--
An April day in the morning._
HARRIET P. SPOFFORD.
_There is something in the air
That's new and sweet and rare--
There's something too that's new,
In the color of the blue
That's in the morning sky,
Before the sun is high._
NORA PERRY.
Infinite and Holy One, be with us in the beauty of this new day. May the
dewy sweetness of the dawn Thou hast given to us be regarded as a token
of Thy love for Thy children. As an atmosphere of joy and peace may be
the thought of Thy consolation and Thy care. The delicate tints of Thy
sky arching over us may we compare to the blue of a constancy that is
divine, and which is freely shown to even the humblest and more erring
of Thy flock. Bless us and guide us on our pilgrim way, and inspire our
hearts and our hands to perform well their daily task. In His name do we
ask it. Amen.
EDMUND Q. S. OSGOOD.
April 9
_As I have walked in Alabama my morning walk,
I have seen where the she-bird--the mocking-bird sat on her nest
in the briers hatching her brood,
I have seen the he-bird also,
I have paused to hear him near at hand inflating his throat and joyfully
singing,
And while I paused it came to me that what he really sang for was not
there only,
Nor for his mate nor for himself only, nor
All sent back by the echoes,
But subtle, clandestine, away beyond,
A charge transmitted and gift occult for those being born._
WALT WHITMAN.
Thou great Spirit of Life, Our Father, in heaven, and in the earth, with
what myriad voices dost Thou speak to us, sometimes with the voice of
thunder and sometimes with the voice of bird. Even the rocks and hills
have their language. With every manifold voice Thou tellest us that we
do not live nor work for a day only. The song and the word and the work
of today have larger relations. They pass over into other days. We pray
this morning that the thoughts we think, the words we speak, and the
work we do may be so true that they may be fit for another day. So may
we begin _now_ to realize the meaning of Eternal Life. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
April 10
_If the stream had no quiet eddying place, could we so admire its
cascade over the rocks? Were there no clouds, could we so hail the
sky shining through them in its still calm purity?_
_The night is mother of the Day
The Winter of the Spring,
And ever upon old Decay
The greenest mosses cling.
Behind the cloud the starlight lurks,
Through showers the sunbeams fall:
For God, who loveth all His works,
Has left His Hope with all!_
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.
Our Father, with childhood's glowing morning face we would turn to Thee
and be conscious that the brightness of life comes only to those upon
whom the sun of righteousness shines with clear light. Full of trust,
full of joy, we turn our faces towards the light and take up the labors
of life with entire confidence in the Divine care and guidance that
blesses the open vision, the faithful hand and the loving heart. We
would follow our Master, feeling that we could choose no better way, and
content if we be not called to suffer more than He in His life of
service and sacrifice, while our hearts praise the giver of spiritual
things with unceasing happy songs. Amen.
RALPH EDWIN HORNE.
April 11
_Oh, the little birds sang east, and the little birds sang west,
And I smiled to think God's greatness flowed around our incompleteness,--
Round our restlessness, his nest._
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING.
_And I saw that there was an Ocean of Darkness and Death; but an
infinite Ocean of Light and Love flowed over the Ocean of Darkness;
and in that I saw the infinite Love of God._
GEORGE FOX.
Father of Light, in whom is no darkness at all, to Thee we lift our
longing eyes again. Shine away the darkness of our minds by the light of
Thy presence. Complete our incompleteness. Bring us out of our
restlessness into Thy rest. We thank Thee for our daily gifts,--bread to
feed the body, strength to sustain the soul, light to guide the feet.
Help us to put away the mistakes of the past, remembering them only with
the penitence that shall cause Thee to remember them no more. Help us
all through this day to know ourselves surrounded by Thine Infinite
Love. Amen.
A. GERTRUDE EARLE.
April 12
_Just as you now play a piece without the music and do not think
what notes you strike, though once you picked them out by slow and
patient toil, so, if you begin of set purpose, you will learn the
law of kindness in utterance so perfectly that it will be second
nature to you and make more music in your heart than all the songs
the sweetest voice has ever sung._
FRANCIS E. WILLARD.
Father, we rejoice and will be glad all the day that Thou hast made it
possible for us and all Thy children to learn the sweet song of true
life and that Thou dost give us so many opportunities for its practice.
O Lord, give us patience and kindness toward our fellowmen and trust in
Thee, so that whether the lessons be easy or hard we may take them
cheerfully, believing that Thou dost give us only that which is best.
Grant that we may be earnest and faithful until our souls can sing the
highest, purest and sweetest notes, until we are in harmony with All
Good. Amen.
ABBIE E. DANFORTH.
April 13
_So many little faults we find:
We see them, for not blind
Is love--we see them; but if you and I
Remember them, perhaps, some by and by
They will not be
Faults then, grave faults to you and me,
But just odd ways, mistakes, or even less--
Remembrances to bless._
GEORGE KLINGLE.
Our dear Father in Heaven: for this day help us to be good. All through
the long night Thou hast watched over us. Under Thy wing have we been
sheltered as the chickens under the wing of the mother. Now that light
has come we will help Thee to keep this world sweet and bright and
clean. Help us to be true to this our promise; we resolve to be patient,
steadfast, cheerful, kindly, sturdy, and good. Our Father, we need Thee.
We want to walk in Thy way. Help us, for we are Thy children. Amen.
WILLIAM CHANNING BROWN.
April 14
_The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder; a waif,
a nothing, no man. Have a purpose in life, if it is only to kill
and divide and sell oxen well, but have a purpose; and having it,
throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has
given you._
THOMAS CARLYLE.
_Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man._
SHAKESPEARE.
Almighty God, at the commencement of this day's work may we look on
high, and measure everything we are about to do by the scale of
eternity. Keep us from all littleness; may we not be turned aside by
things that are insignificant and unworthy. Help us, we beseech Thee, to
make the glory of our life commensurate with the splendors of our
privileges. May we live life in a great spirit, realizing that there is
no duty so simple, no position so humble, but that we may show forth the
grandeur of trust, and obedience toward Thee. May the great and holy
purpose we cherish find its expression as we cooperate with the divine
purpose. Amen.
J. H. BARKER.
April 15
_'Twas one of those charmed days
When the genius of God doth flow,
The wind may alter twenty ways,
A tempest cannot blow;
It may blow north, it still is warm;
Or south, it still is clear;
Or east, it smells like a clover farm;
Or west, no thunder fear._
RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
Father of Lights, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift, we thank
Thee for the morning and for the sunshine. We rejoice in the light, but
when it is hidden from us, we are thankful that in the upper air above
our clouded morning it still fills Thy heavens. Thou gavest us good
things while we slept, and now, refreshed by Thy Spirit, may we go forth
to our appointed tasks with cheerful obedience and joyful expectation.
If trial and trouble await us, or if, in the heat of the day the burden
seems too great, may we still be comforted, because we put our trust in
Thee. Amen.
GEORGE BATCHELOR.
April 16
_But spring-wind, like a dancing psaltress, passes
Over its breast, to waken it, rare verdure
Buds tenderly upon rough banks between
The withered tree-roots and the cracks of frost,
Like a smile striving with a wrinkled face;
The grass grows bright, the boughs are swol'n with blooms
Like chrysalids impatient for the air,
The shining dors are busy, beetles run
Along the furrows; ants make their ado;
Above, birds fly in merry flocks, the lark
Soars up and up, shivering for very joy;
Afar the ocean sleeps; white fishing gulls
Flit where the sand is purple with its tribe
Of nested limpits; savage creatures seek
Their loves in wood and plain--and God renews
His ancient rapture._
ROBERT BROWNING.
O Lord, who givest to mankind liberally, and upbraidest not, we thank
Thee for the blessings Thou bestowest from day to day. We thank Thee for
this material world, now clad in its garment of Northern beauty, for the
great sun which all day pours down his light upon the waiting and the
grateful world, and for the earth underneath our feet. We bless Thee for
the grass, bread for the cattle, its harvest of use spread everywhere,
and for the various beauty which here and there spangles all useful
things which Thine eye looks down upon. May we use this world of matter
to build up the being that we are to a nobler stature of strength and of
beauty. Amen.
THEODORE PARKER.
April 17
_O brothers all! come near
And hear
A bird's
Melodious dreaming set to words, and flung
The spring's new leaves and tender buds among,
For very joy of life, and hope, and love
In a world made broad enough
For all God's creatures to be merry in,
With joyous clash and din,
And yet too small
For any greed at all!
Lo! deep and sure
Is cut this truth in heaven's book of gold:
Out of one mother in the garden old
Were born the rich and poor._
MAURICE THOMPSON.
Our Father, may we begin this day with a song in our hearts,--a song as
rich and full and free as the bird sings at the earliest dawning of the
sun's light,--a song so attuned with infinite life and hope and love
that it must be sung. Thou giver of abundance unto the rich and poor
alike, help our souls to mount unto the highest reaches of living
thoughts and generous deeds, that we may give unto others as Thou
givest. Unfettered by unholy passions and freed from the spirit of
greed, may we feel the unity of the bonds of a universal brotherhood,
and be just and true, honest, and helpful in all our dealings with all
men this day. Amen.
HENRIETTA G. MOORE.
April 18
_O spring, of hope and love and youth and gladness
Wing-winged emblem! Brightest, best and fairest!
Whence comest thou when with dark Winter's sadness
The tears that fade in sunny smiles thou sharest?
Sister of Joy! thou art the child who wearest
Thy mother's dying smile, tender and sweet:
Thy mother Autumn, for whose grave thou bearest
Fresh flowers, and beams like flowers,
Disturbing not the leaves which are her winding-sheet._
SHELLEY.
God unchanging, and still the creator of the seasons, we look up to
Thee, as the springtide works out the miracle of the resurrection from
the sleeping forms of the past season, in confidence and in trust that
ever Thou wilt bless us with a nobler, holier, sweeter, more wholesome
life, as the seasons come and go. The resources of trusting hearts are
always reinforced and reinvigorated by contact with Thy life, Thy power,
Thy goodness and Thy love. Out of the winter of our discontent, we enter
the springtime of love, that leads us forward in confidence through the
glad summer of growth to the soul's fruition and the place of rest and
peace in our Father's Home beneath Thine everlasting Love. Amen.
FRANCIS A. GRAY.
April 19
_One sound always comes to the ear that is open; it is the steady
drum-beat of Duty. No music in it, perhaps,--only a dry rub-a-dub.
Ah, but that steady beat marks the time for the whole orchestra of
earth and heaven! It says to you: "Do your work,--do the duty
nearest you!" Keep step to that drum-beat, and the dullest march is
taking you home._
GEORGE S. MERRIAM.
O Thou great impelling Spirit, whom we see manifest in all the world, as
we open our eyes to the light of another morning, may we be as
responsive to Thy influence as the sun and the flowers which brighten
our way. May we be very sensitive to Thy promptings as we go about our
day's work. May we be very quick to do the things Thou wouldst have us
do. May we give ourselves to Thy service without reserve. When again the
night shades draw about us, may our hearts be filled with deepest
gratitude for all the experiences of the day, and, deep within, may our
spirits be conscious of Thy approving benediction, "Well done, good and
faithful servant; enter Thou into the joy of Thy Lord." Amen.
FRANK LINCOLN MASSECK.
April 20
_Thyself and thy belongings
Are not thine own so proper as to waste
Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.
Heaven doth with us as we with torches do
Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike
As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touched
But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends
The smallest scruple of her excellence
But like a thrifty goddess, she determines
Herself the glory of a creditor,
Both thanks and use._
SHAKESPEARE.
Father, with faith and confidence in Thee we begin the day's duties,
with a blithe song upon our lips, expressing the melody of our souls,
thanking Thee for opportunities for work, and thought and love. We ask
not for more blessings but to be more worthy of those we have, using and
not abusing them. May our minds be open to Thy truth, and hearts to Thy
love, and when received may we be almoners of both to the waiting world.
May we keep by giving Thy love abundantly, and grow through the glory of
self-sacrifice. Give us the heart, O God, to sanctify our work and to
lift it above drudgery into the divinest service, and give us strength
to perform it. Amen.
U. S. MILBURN.
April 21