ought to be; that is honestly and naturally human. We may compare
existence to raw material. What it is matters less than what it is
made of; as the value of a work of art lies in the flowering of a
workman's skill. True life is possible in social conditions the
most diverse and with natural gifts the most unequal. It is not
fortune or personal advantage, but our training them to account,
that constitutes the value of life. Fame adds no more than does
length of days; quality is the thing._
CHARLES WAGNER.
Heavenly Father, our eyes are ever toward Thee. We do not pray for the
things of the world. Teach us to walk in Thy truth. Though our days be
few, may our lives be hopeful and cheerful. Though our bodies be frail,
may we be invincible in spirit. All Thy children are immortal, but it is
for us to attain the eternal life. May we know Thee through Jesus. Then
days and hours and minutes will disappear in the liberty and glory and
peace of the life eternal. Then poverty of worldly goods will be
forgotten in the riches of the Spirit. Then the cares of the world that
now is will be lost in the joy of the life that is to be. Amen.
REIGNOLD K. MARVIN.
April 22
_A little sun, a little rain,
A soft wind blowing from the west--
And woods and fields are sweet again
And warmth within the mountain's breast._
_So simple is the earth we tread,
So quick with love and life her frame,
Ten thousand years have dawned and fled.
And still her magic is the same._
STOPFORD A. BROOKE.
Gracious God, we thank Thee for the gift of sight whereby we behold the
marvels of the outer world. But greater is our gratitude for the inner
sight, the power to see things as they ought to be. If we but look deep
enough, we find Thy central laws ever at the heart of all life. With
such insight, apparent confusion shall not bewilder us, life's cares
shall not harden us, the world's show cannot dazzle us. Give us, we pray
Thee, unceasing ability to wonder and admire, which brings perpetual
youth; to hope, to believe, to trust; to rest content in working with
Thee, the Eternal One, Lord of the seasons, this is our heart's desire.
Amen.
EDWARD A. HORTON.
April 23
_"What is the secret of your life?" asked Mrs. Browning of Charles
Kingsley; "tell me, that I may make mine beautiful too." He
replied, "I had a friend." Somewhere in her "Middlemarch," George
Eliot puts it well: "There are natures in which, if they love us,
we are conscious of having a sort of baptism and consecration; they
bind us over to rectitude and purity by their pure belief about us;
and our sins become the worst kind of sacrilege, which tears down
the invisible altar of trust."_
WILLIAM C. GANNETT.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for all the sweet and sacred
influences of life. Music comes with its invisible fingers to weave a
magic charm around our souls;--the home with its love is ours,--but we
thank Thee to-day for the sweet and saving influence of friendship,--for
the counsel and fellowship of those who are wise and good and faithful
to us. We would not walk alone--we would find strength in the strength
of others, and faith in other's faith. Let us cherish such fellowships
and give back to those, who love us, love again. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
April 24
_Live in the sunshine, don't live in the gloom,
Carry some gladness the world to illume.
Live in the brightness, and take this to heart;
The world will seem gayer if you'll do your part.
Live on the housetop, not down in the cell;
Open air Christians live nobly and well.
Live where the joys are, and, scorning defeat,
Have a good-morrow for all whom you meet.
Live as a victor, and triumphing go
Through this queer world, beating down every foe.
Live in the sunshine, God meant it for you!
Live as the robins, and sing the day through._
MARGARET SANGSTER.
O God, our heavenly Father, Thou who givest us the sunshine of this new
day, Thou who art the God of life and light, we ask Thy help and Thy
strength as we again go out to our separate duties and cares. Help us to
fill this day with good deeds, to give cheer and comfort to all we meet.
May our lips be clean. May our hearts be pure. And when the even time
comes, may it find us conscious that we have put no cloud upon the day,
that we have walked through its hours true disciples of the Master who
went about doing good. Amen.
WILLIAM H. MORRISON.
April 25
_To weigh the material in the scales of the personal, and measure
life by the standard of love; to prize health as contagious
happiness, wealth as potential service, reputation as latent
influence, learning for the light it can shed, power for the help
it can give, station for the good it can do--to choose in each case
what is best on the whole, and accept cheerfully incidental evils
involved; to put my whole self into all that I do, and indulge no
single desire at the expense of myself as a whole; to crowd out
fear by devotion to duty, and see present and future as one; to
treat others as I would be treated, and myself as I would my best
friend; and to recognize God's coming kingdom in every institution
and person that helps men to love one another._
WILLIAM DEWITT HYDE.
For the dear love that kept us through the night,
And gave our senses to sleep's gentle sway,
For the new miracle of dawning light,
Flushing the east with prophecies of day,
We thank Thee, O, our God!
For the fresh life that through our being flows,
With its full tide to strengthen and to bless,
For calm, sweet thoughts, upspringing from repose,
To bear to Thee their song of thankfulness,
We praise Thee, O, our God!
Thou knowest our needs, Thy fulness will supply
Our blindness--let Thy hand still lead us on,
Till, visited by the dayspring from on high,
Our prayer, one only, "Let Thy will be done,"
We breathe to Thee, O, God!
Amen.
W. H. BURLEIGH.
April 26
Is it not possible, then, that the hindrances which arrest our
progress, and the obstacles that lie broadly in our path, are the
divinest agents of help which our Creator could give us? The
painful struggles to overcome and remove them develop in us
strength, courage, self-reliance, and heroism. They are the hammer
and chisel that release the statue from the imprisoning
marble,--the plow and the harrow that break up the soil, and mellow
it for the reception of the seed that shall yield an abundant
harvest. Perfection lies that way.
MARY A. LIVERMORE.
We seek Thy face anew this day, O our Father, and ask Thee that Thou
wilt help us to live our lives in constant communion with Thee. Let us
see Thee at every turn in the way. Let us find Thy hand in all our
duties, all our meditations, all our intercourse with men, all our
doings and all our deeds. Help us to make Thee our counsellor every
hour. Help us to undertake nought without Thy blessings, to finish
nought without Thy benediction. Morning and evening may we turn in
prayer to Thy throne. At every meal may we seek Thy grace and give Thee
thanks. So may we find the blessing of them that abide in Thy house.
Amen.
J. COLEMAN ADAMS.
April 27
_I think the sweetest thought, the very central idea, of the
revelation of the character of God to me, is this: that He does
everything out of His supreme will. There is no one thing that I
can say with more heartiness, or that has in it more echoes of joy,
than "Thy will be done." If anything works righteousness in me or
in you, it is God. The nature of God is fruitful in generosity. He
is so good that He loves to do good, and loves to make men good,
and loves to make them happy by making them good. He loves to be
patient with them, and to wait for them, and to pour benevolence
upon them, because that is His nature._
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
Father, we thank Thee for the blessing. We know what are our privileges,
we know what are our duties, and we are before Thee again to consecrate
this day in all its glory and beauty to Thee, the Father of perfect
Love. Thou wilt be with us as we strive to be with Thee. Thou wilt make
us strong when we are weak. Thou wilt make us see where we are in
darkness. Thou wilt send us forth on Thine infinite mission to the
world. Boys or girls, men or women, here we are, the living children of
the living God, sent forward by Thee to proclaim it that all may be one
as Christ Jesus with Thee and Thou with Him, that this world may be
perfected into one, that men may know that Thou art Father and what the
Father has given us to do, that each one of us may lift up what has
fallen down, that each one may open the eyes that are blind and the ears
that are deaf, that each one of us may proclaim the gospel of Thy
perfect love. This is our prayer and our hope, in Christ Jesus. Amen.
EDWARD EVERETT HALE.
April 28
_With every rising of the sun,
Think of your life as just begun._
_The past has shrived and buried deep,
All yesterdays; there let them sleep._
_Nor seek to summon back one ghost
Of that innumerable host._
_Concern yourself with but today.
Woo it, and teach it to obey_
_Your will and wish. Since time began
Today has been the friend of man;_
_But in his blindness and his sorrow,
He looks to yesterday and tomorrow._
_You, and today! a soul sublime,
And the great pregnant hour of time,_
_With God himself to bind the twain!
Go forth, I say, attain, attain!_
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
Infinitely wise and loving Father, our minds and hearts reach out to
Thee in this morning hour thankful that the rest of the night has
prepared us for the work of the new day, and that the light brings the
call to service. The past cannot be recalled, but today is ours. I and
today, with God and in the Spirit of Jesus! Priceless privilege! Grant
us, O Father, to use it for Thee, for humanity and "In His name." Amen.
SAMUEL GILBERT AYERS.
April 29
_Life is full of new beginnings. Some change may come, something is
sure to come, to close one chapter and begin another. Life is
planned just so, ... that there should be a break from former link
and habit, often from imperfection and mistake, and a clear, clean
start for the fulfilment of the best one has grown to, even in
desire, unhampered by the poorest one has ever happened to be, or
to get credit for._
MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.
O, Thou who dwellest in the light, help Thy children this morning to see
the light of Thy truth and feel the warmth of Thy love. We thank Thee
for the open doors of opportunity for helpful service; for the
exhibition of kindness and for growth in the kingdom of Heaven. May we
clearly see the way to the Eternal life and have strength to walk
therein. May we so welcome Thy truth that we shall be free from error
and sin. May Thy wisdom so guide our energies that we shall reach after
greater perfection. May the evening of this day find us more in harmony
with God than we now are. And may the evening of life find us rich in
the treasures of heaven. Amen.
ANDREW WILLSON.
April 30
_True worth is in being, not seeming;
In doing each day that goes by,
Some little good--not in the dreaming
Of great things to do by and by,
For whatever men say in blindness,
And spite of the fancies of youth,
There's nothing so kingly as kindness,
And nothing so royal as truth._
_We get back our mete as we measure:
We cannot do wrong and feel right;
Nor can we give pain and gain pleasure,
For justice avenges each slight.
The air for the wing of the sparrow,
The bush for the robin and wren,
But always the path that is narrow
And straight for the children of men._
ALICE CARY.
Almighty Father, who with every morning dost give us a new day and with
each day some fresh duty, mercifully equip us for every task that awaits
us! Give us eyes to see, and hearts to love the truth and right, and the
disposition that makes every duty a delight, and the doing of good to
others a sacred privilege. Save us this day from angry passions and low
desires. Forgive us when we are selfish; recall us when we go astray;
save us from wronging ourselves by thinking ill of others, and in all
places and to all people give us the mind which was in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
JOHN CUCKSON.
May 1
_To the Woods:--Whoso goeth in your paths readeth the same cheerful
lesson, whether he be a young child or a hundred years old, comes
he in good fortune or in bad, ye say the same things, and from age
to age. Ever the needles of the pine grow and fall, the acorns on
the oak, the maples redden in autumn and at all times of the year
the ground pine and the pyrola bud and root under foot. What is
called fortune and what is called time by men, ye know them not.
Men have not language to describe one moment of your life._
RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
Thou God of Nature and of the human heart, we thank Thee for our human
relations, but we thank Thee also for our kinship with the birds. We
thank Thee for that instinct which makes us to sympathize with the
mating of the bird lovers and for that music of the heart which makes us
to love the song of the birds. We pray this morning for a life so simple
and natural that we shall be able to enter into sympathetic relations
with everything that lives--the flowers of the garden, and the
field--the bees that sip the flowers' honey, and the bird that makes her
nest among the trees. If Thou speakest to men in the glory of the
heavens, Thou speakest also in the manifold voices of all Thy loving
creatures. May our ears be trained to hear Thee when Thou speakest thus.
Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
May 2
_Hail bounteous May, that doth inspire
Mirth and youth, and warm desire;
Woods and groves are of thy dressing,
Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing,
Thus we salute thee with our early song,
And welcome thee and wish thee long._
JOHN MILTON.
Almighty and All-loving Father, who dost make all the earth to rejoice
in the brightness of returning springtime, fill our hearts with like joy
and renewal. Graciously awaken in us the life that the cold or care or
trouble or sorrow of the world often has caused to fade and go out. As
our eyes behold all this outward beauty and glory, give unto us that
spiritual vision by which we behold the beauty and glory of divine
things. Then when the springtime of our life passes with the summer and
the summer ripens into the autumn, and our work is done, may we bring
unto Thee the harvest of spiritual riches. Amen.
JAMES DENORMANDIE.
May 3
_Success! It is won by a patient endeavor,
Energy's fire, and the flame-glow of Will;
By grasping the chance with a "Now, now or never!"
Urging on, on! while the laggard stands still._
_Success! It is facing life's trials, undaunted;
Fighting the present--forgetting the past:
By trusting to Fate, though for years she has taunted,
And bearing Time's scars; facing front, to the last!_
_Success! Would you win it and wear its bright token?
Smile and step out to the drummer's light lilt;
Fight on till the last inch of sword-blade is broken.
Then do not say die. Fight on with the hilt!_
MARY MARKWELL.
We thank Thee, Our Father, that Thou hast enriched our being with those
faculties which prompt to noble endeavor. We rejoice in our power,
guided by Thy free Spirit, both to overcome evil and to do good. Help
us, dear Father, to recognize the great incentives of conscience and of
duty, assured that in cheerful conformity thereto we shall find the
sweetest zest of life. Increase our faith in Thee, O Lord. Enable us
more clearly to realize that in the end truth and right will gain the
victory. Thus may we be inspired to live brave, true and wholesome
lives. May we fight the good fight of faith and win the crown of life
promised to all those who follow the conquering Christ. In His name.
Amen.
HENRY W. RUGG.
May 4
_The green grass is bowing;
The morning wind is in it;
'Tis a tune worth the knowing,
Though it change every minute.
'Tis a tune of the Spring;
Every year plays it over._
RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
_God does not send strange flowers every year.
When the spring winds blow o'er the pleasant places
The same dear things lift up the same fair faces.
The violet is here._
MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.
O God, Father Almighty, who bringest light out of darkness and at whose
word night yields to day, we offer Thee glad worship and praise. We
thank Thee for Thy gifts which are beautiful and good; for flowers which
renew old friendships and awaken new affections; for songs in which
voices of all yesterdays sound through today's melodies; for rich
memories of the past; for the joy of living now; for the hope of better
days; for new expressions of abiding truth and fresh breathings of
eternal love; for courage to do right and for confidence in
righteousness. May we this day, mindful of earthly duty and of heavenly
promise, humbly follow Him "who went about doing good" and "gave Himself
a ransom for many." Amen.
W. I. WARD.
May 5
_Bishop Brooks taught me no special creed or dogma; but he
impressed upon my mind two great ideas--the fatherhood of God and
the brotherhood of man, and made me feel that these truths underlie
all creeds and forms of worship. God is love, God is our Father, we
are His children; therefore the darkest clouds will break, and
though right be worsted, wrong shall not triumph. He said: "There
is one universal religion, Helen--the religion of love. Love your
Heavenly Father with your whole heart and soul, love every child of
God as much as ever you can, and remember that the possibilities of
good are greater than the possibilities of evil; and you have the
key to Heaven."_
HELEN KELLER.
Infinite Spirit! We shall not look upon Thee as a friend looketh upon
the face of his friend, but may we learn to see Thee in every form of
life and beauty and service here in this great world of Nature and of
Man. May we discover Thee in the midst of common things and then they
shall no more be common, but all things shall be sacred and divine. May
we see Thy face in all human faces, clasp Thy hand in all human hands,
and when we have walked with a friend, or talked with those we love, may
it be as a walk with Thee and a communion with Thee. May we not think of
Thee as afar off but always near, making all things holy. May we realize
that it is a diviner thing to serve the lowly who need our help than to
praise the Infinite who needeth not. May the sense of Thy presence in
all things be the inspiration and interpretation of all days for us.
Amen.
E. L. REXFORD.
May 6
_The brown, brown woods of March
Are the green, green woods of May,
And they lift their arms with a freer swing
And shake out their pennons gay.
And the brown, dead world of March,
Is the living world of today;
Life throbs and flushes and flashes out
In the color and fragrance of May._
ANONYMOUS.
Infinite Spirit of the winter and the summer and of the night and the
morning, Thou hast watched over and guarded, during its winter sleep and
rest, this earth which Thou hast made, and which Thou hast made for a
purpose--to be beautiful and fruitful in its season, to be a humble and
obedient servant of Thy will of goodness. And now, as the woods of May
are radiant in the beauty of springtime, and ready to do Thy will; so as
we wake to the opportunity of this new day, may we rejoice in the
privilege of living to Thee and doing Thy will in the glad service of
lives lived as the Master lived. Amen.
GEORGE WALLACE PENNIMAN.
May 7
_One who never turned his back, but marched breast forward,
Never doubted clouds would break,
Never dreamed, though right were worsted,--wrong would triumph,
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,
Sleep to wake._
ROBERT BROWNING.
Our Father, in the heaven, we thank Thee for the birth of a new day. May
we be full of gladness during its golden hours, may our hearts be
tranquil with God's peace. A day is a part of Thy eternity. Thou hast
set us in the battle, Thou art watching us in the fight; Thou art
training us by well-accepted controversy. May nothing of Thy purpose be
lost because of the blinding details of the conflict. Strengthen our
hearts to do the work of this day. Help us to be as grateful as we are
dependent upon God. Inspire our whole life; help us quickly to learn why
we are here, what we are to do while here, and the path that leads home
when the work-day is over. In the name of the Christ! Amen.
W. A. WOOD.
May 8
_Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song!
And let the young lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound!
We in thought will join your throng,
Ye that pipe and ye that play,
Ye that through your hearts today
Feel the gladness of the May!_
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.
God of the morning, Father of the Soul, we bless Thee for the light, for
it is pleasant to behold the world made beautiful by the King of day,
and sweet with the melody of the song of bird, and cheerful with the
promise of hope in the swelling buds of spring. We join with Thy
faithful ones in ascriptions of praise to Thee for the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. Help us to look upon
our every faculty of soul, and power of body, as gifts from Thee, to be
used for the advancement of love, truth and beauty, in our own hearts,
and in the world. Give us Thine own help to bear every burden
cheerfully, to stand erect before every responsibility, and if in our
efforts to do much good for this day we seem to fail, may we look to
Jesus and learn of Him that in a conscience void of offence there is no
such thing as failure. Help us to strive with the evil of the world and
sin not, that at the close of the day we may look back and say, we have
kept ourselves unspotted from the world. Amen.
L. L. GREENE.
May 9
_Fairer grows the earth each morning
To the eyes that watch aright;
Every dew-drop sparkles warning
Of a miracle in sight;
Of some unexpected glory
Waiting in the old and plain;
Poet's dream nor traveller's story
Words such wonders as remain._
WILLIAM C. GANNETT.
O Thou, who makest things seen and temporal quiver and flash with Thine
own informing spirit, so illumine our pathways that the Luz where we
meet our duties may become the Bethel where we meet our God. As Thou
dost clothe the lily with beauty and inspire the bird with song help us
to grow into the beauty of holiness, and to know the joy of Thy
salvation. Whatever our past, open our eyes this day to some better
thing which Thou hast always in reserve. Teach us what hinders our
attainment and help us burst through the barrier. Make us so conscious
of Thy indwelling spirit that we may yield to its gracious impellings
toward righteousness and peace and joy. Amen.
THOMAS D. ANDERSON.
May 10
_Listen to the exhortation of the dawn!_
_Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the
Varieties and realities of your existence;
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty:
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But to-day well-lived makes
Every yesterday a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore to this day!_
_Such is the salutation of the dawn._
FROM THE SANSKRIT.
Dear God, in Thy loving kindness, Thou hast brought us to the opening of
another day; from darkness to light, from sleep to wakefulness, from
rest to labor. We thank Thee for its opening glory and its coming
opportunities; but above all, for the new strength we feel within
ourselves to do its work and live its life. As radiant dawn climbs to
full-orbed day and glides to setting sun, may we come to this day's
close with the consciousness that we have lived a little closer to the
great heart of the Eternal in every thought, word and deed, that we have
woven into the texture of our lives, and gently as twilight enfolds the
fruitful earth, shall "peace that passeth understanding" enfold our
souls. Amen.
THOMAS B. PAYNE.
May 11
_As the insect from the rock
Takes the color of its wing;
As the boulder from the shock
Of the ocean's rhythmic swing
Makes itself a perfect form,
Learns a calmer front to raise;
As the shell, enameled warm
With the prism's mystic rays,
Praises wind and wave that make
All its chambers fair and strong;
As the mighty poets take
Grief and pain to build their song;
Even so for every soul,
Whatsoe'er its lot may be--
Building, as the heavens roll,
Something large and strong and free--
Things that hurt and things that mar
Shape the man for perfect praise;
Shock and strain and ruin are
Friendlier than the smiling days._
JOHN WHITE CHADWICK.