we really know our world and our fellowmen and ourselves, we shall know
Thee. As we enter upon the work of this new day, we pray that we may
feel Thy presence with us. Thou art never far away from us; we cannot
get away from our world, and we cannot fly from ourselves. Thou art with
Thy world and Thou art with Thy children. We ask not so much for Thy
presence, as for the consciousness of Thy presence. May we learn to know
Thee in the world about us and in the secret places of our own hearts.
Then shall all life be fragrant and beautiful and this day somewhat
divine. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
October 22
_The best thing to take people out of their own worries, is to go
to work and find out how other folk's worries are getting on._
MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.
_Socrates thought that if all our misfortunes were laid in one
common heap, whence every one must take an equal portion, most
persons would be content to take their own and depart._
PLUTARCH.
Our Father in Heaven, the light of this new day is the light of Thy
countenance, therefore we rejoice. In Thy sunshine our souls find
strength for the burdens Thou dost give, and even through Thy shadows we
reach the peace which passeth understanding. Yet Thou art comfort to us
that we may comfort the troubled and the distressed with the comfort
wherewith we ourselves are comforted. Set Thou our feet in the paths of
service. Make us, we pray Thee, glad ministers of Thy mercy, and in
binding up the wounds of others may we have balm for our own. By this
day, may we grow in patience and power, and in the knowledge of Thy
love. Amen.
LEON O. WILLIAMS.
October 23
_Life has a thousand pages--love and scorn,
Hope and adventure, poverty and sin,
Despair and glory, loneliness forlorn,
Age, sorrow, exile, all are writ therein--;
And on each page, however stern or sad,
Are words which gleam upon the crabbed scroll,
Revealing words, that make our spirits glad,
And well are worth the study of the soul.
We may not lightly shrink from any leaf,
For on it may be writ the word we need.
God turns the page--whatever joy or grief
He opens for us, let us wisely read._
PRISCILLA LEONARD.
Fill our souls with Thy light, O God, that we may ever hope. Give us the
poise of endless progress. Make our souls free and joyous as the bird's
wing. Give us the courage of our convictions in all places, under all
conditions. Make us brave. Take away all forms of fear, whether of man,
of nature, or of Thee, and make us feel that each is our mighty friend,
but Thou supreme over all, faithful each moment to our being, in ten
thousand sweet, true, tender, life-giving, life-sustaining ministries.
Teach us to look for Thee everywhere, and to see Thy order, and Thy
beauty, facing all things Heavenward. May our ideals be perfect
holiness, perfect strength, perfect love, perfect service. Make our
faith great in the higher estate, where our faculties, only dawning
here, shall rise in a glorious morning of the soul. Amen.
A. N. ALCOTT.
October 24
_Suppose a kindly word of mine
Could lift the clouds and bring sunshine;
Am I my brother's keeper?_
_Suppose the weary worker toils,
For scanty pittance delves and moils;
Am I my brother's keeper?_
_Suppose in penury and fear
My neighbor see the wolf draw near;
Am I my brother's keeper?_
* * * * *
_Perhaps--who knows?--perhaps I'm not!
Self-centred soul! hast thou forgot
The marvel of our common lot,
The mystic tie that binds us all
Who dwell on this terrestrial ball,
Stupendous hope of time and song,
The bourne for which the ages long?
How hard our hearts must seem to Thee,
Exhaustless Fount of Charity!_
HENRY NEHEMIAH DODGE.
We thank Thee, our Father, for the light of a new day and for its
opportunities of service for Thee and Thy great Cause. We rejoice that
Thou dost not only set duty clearly before us, but also dost grant power
to perform it. May we realize not only that we are "our brother's
keeper," and that our lives are helpful or harmful every day, but may we
be increasingly grateful that we may every day by Thy grace be
fellow-helpers and workers together with God. Amen.
WILLIAM FULL.
October 25
_It is of no use to dispute about the Indian Summer. I never found
two people who could agree as to the time when it ought to be here,
or upon a month and day when it should be decidedly too late to
look for it. It keeps coming. For my part, I think we get it now
and then, little by little, as "the Kingdom" comes. That every
soft, warm, mellow, hazy, golden day, like each fair, fragrant
life, is a part and out-crop of it; though weeks of gale and frost,
or ages of cruel worldliness and miserable sin may lie between._
MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.
Vouchsafe Thy blessing, O Heavenly Father, upon this morning service of
thanksgiving and prayer. We thank Thee that each year Thou sendest
seed-time and harvest, to us Thy children. For the beauty and bounty of
the Autumn, for all Thy material gifts, for friends and home, and for
our precious Christian faith, we are deeply grateful to Thee. Give us
the attentive mind, the receptive heart, that we may see Thy providence
and love in every event of life. Banish fear and doubt from our minds.
Guard us from all temptations. May the Spirit of Christ abide in our
hearts, and enable us to glorify Thee in all our works and lives. In its
power and glory may Thy Kingdom come, and remain upon the earth forever.
Amen.
ELBERT W. WHITNEY.
October 26
_Pleasant smiles, gentle tones, cheery greetings, tempers sweet
under a headache or a business care or the children's noise; the
ready bubbling over of thoughtfulness for one another, and the
habits of smiling, greeting, forbearing, thinking in these ways; it
is these above all else which makes one's home "a building of God;
a house not made with hands," these that we hear in the song of
"Home, Sweet Home."_
WILLIAM C. GANNETT.
Almighty Father, the light of another day breaks in upon our lives, to
reveal to us unfinished tasks and unsought duties. The sorrows and joys
of the coming day are hidden from our sight, enswathed in the folded
hours of toil. But Thou knowest all our heedless ways and tempers that
chafe from impatience; Thou seest the measure of our needs and dost
consider our desires. Give unto us the consciousness of Thine
everlasting arms about us. And then when the shadows lengthen and the
twilight hushes the hum of toil, our spirits shall know no weariness and
bear no stain. Give ear unto this our morning prayer, O Thou Light of
Light. Amen.
FRANCIS TREADWAY CLAYTON.
October 27
_How can people help loving things, when they are full of life
magnetism, that even a finger touch gets the thrill of?_
_It is not the sunshine, or any other tangible why, that accounts
for the pleasantness of old house corners. It is the pureness and
the pleasantness that have clustered there; the very walls have
drunk these in._
MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.
Our Heavenly Father, wilt Thou keep our home life bright and sweet?
Guard our lips from harsh words, our lives from shame. If quarrels
arise, help us to be the first to forgive and forget. In the hour of
temptation may we say no, because of a father's splendid honor, and a
mother's pure face! In the time of trial or seeming defeat may we be
brave and of good cheer! Teach us that home is made dear, not by its
furnishings, but by the memories and inspirations of the hours we spent
under its roof with those who loved us and were always tender and true!
Bind us together in the bonds of love and peace, and keep us always
united and a happy family. Amen.
HENRY R. ROSE.
October 28
_There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are pure and true;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best shall come back to you._
_Give love, and love to your heart will flow,
A strength in your utmost need;
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed._
_For life is the mirror of king and slave,
'Tis just what you are and do;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you._
MADELINE S. BRIDGES.
Almighty Father, we come to Thee for a Father's blessing, that this day
we may go about Thy work and enter into Thy business, alive in Thy
spirit and strong in Thy strength. We ask this for ourselves, each of
us, that we may be knit to each other as brothers with brothers, to bear
each other's burdens. We ask it most of all for home, that in home-life
there always may be joy and peace and love, each seeking another's good,
brothers and sisters with sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers with
their children, that home may be the place of Thy holy spirit and the
home of joy. Today we would come and go as Thy messengers, in our own
lives welcoming the Father, who is with us seeking Thy strength and
asking for Thy good will. Bless us today with Thy blessing. Amen.
_Edward Everett Hale._
October 29
_We are never more discontented with others than when we are
discontented with ourselves. The consciousness of wrongdoing makes
us irritable, and our heart in its cunning quarrels with what is
outside it, in order that it may deafen the clamor within._
_In the conduct of life, habits count for more than maxims, because
habit is a living maxim, become flesh and instinct. To reform one's
maxims is nothing; it is but to change the title of the book. To
learn new habits is everything, for it is to reach the substance of
life. Life is but a tissue of habits._
HENRI-FREDERIC AMIEL.
Our Heavenly Father, we pray that our daily life may take on that
dignity and calmness and tranquillity which are the possession of those
who truly and inwardly trust and confide in the eternal Goodness, who
believe that our days are ordered by a Higher Power, and that through
all there runs a thread,--a chain of Infinite Love, binding us all to
Thee and to one common universal good and blessedness. In this faith,
keep us, O Holy Father, and, filled with love to Thee and to our
neighbor, may we pursue our way and do our work, anxious only to have
Thee in all our thoughts. In Thy name, Amen.
JOSHUA YOUNG.
October 30
_Thus pass away the generations of men!--thus perish the records of
the glory of nations! Yet, when every emanation of the human mind
has faded, when in the storms of time the monuments of man's
creative art are scattered to the dust, an ever new life springs
from the bosom of the earth. Unceasingly prolific Nature unfolds
her germs, regardless though sinful man, ever at war with himself,
tramples beneath his foot the ripening fruit!_
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT.
Infinite Spirit, Thou buildest the monuments of Thy power in the rocks
of the mountains, but Thou buildest the monuments of Thy love in the
hearts of men. When the bodies and the works of men have perished the
rocks will abide and the trees will bear their fruit. But when the rocks
have crumbled the souls of men will abide. If that which is seen is
temporal, we thank Thee O Lord, that the unseen is eternal. We are awed
by the majesty of the seas and the mountains. But we are inspired by the
immortality of the soul. Heavenly Father, may we live today as if made
for eternity. So may our lives be dignified and glorified. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
October 31
_God doth not need
Either man's work, or His own gifts, who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best; His state
Is kingly; thousands at His bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:--
They also serve who only stand and wait._
JOHN MILTON.
O God, who didst give to Thy servant light in his blindness and music in
the heart, grant that I may this day be swift to run on all errands of
mercy and truth, or patient to wait Thy will, if so Thou commandest.
Make me as unswerving as are the stars above me, as trustful as the
birds who sing at dawn, and fear not what the day may bring. May I be
strong to resist all evil, and cleave to that which is good. May I be
conscious that in the loneliest hour Thou art near, and in the most
solitary place there is the communion of saints. May Thy power flow
through human weakness, and may all the trials and testings of life lead
me constantly to the Rock that is higher than I. So may Thy will be done
in my life as it is in heaven. Amen.
W. H. P. FAUNCE.
November 1
_I saw the long line of the vacant shore
The sea-weed and the shells upon the sand,
And the brown rocks left bare on every hand,
As if the ebbing tide would flow no more,
Then heard I, more distinctly than before,
The ocean breathe and its great breast expand,
And hurrying came on the defenceless land
The insurgent waters with tumultuous roar.
All thought and feeling and desire, I said,
Love, laughter, and the exultant joy of song
Have ebbed from me forever! Suddenly o'er me
They swept again from their deep ocean bed
And in a tumult of delight, and strong
As youth, and beautiful as youth, upbore me._
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.
We give Thee hearty thanks, most Holy Father that Thou hast not
delivered up our souls to the emptiness and longing of despair. In Thy
mercy and wisdom hast Thou ordained that we may taste ever afresh the
deepest joys of life and ever anew feel the thrill of its loftiest
inspirations. Like the sea is our life for its largeness; like the sea
in its ebbs and flows. O Father of Life, flood our souls this day with a
tide from the ocean of Thine own love lifting our lives to highest
service and bliss. And Thine shall be all the honor and praise. Amen.
E. W. LUTTERMAN.
November 2
_The bird, let loose in Eastern skies,
When hastening fondly home,
Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies
Where idle warblers roam.
But high she shoots through air and light
Above all low delay,
Where nothing earthly bounds her flight,
Nor shadow dims her way._
_So grant me, God, from every care,
And stain of passion free,
Aloft, through Virtue's purer air,
To hold my course to Thee!
No sin to cloud--no lure to stay
My soul, as home she springs;--
Thy sunshine on her joyful way,
Thy freedom in her wings!_
THOMAS MOORE.
O God, who art both life and truth, the Author of our being and the
light which lighteneth all, the source of our soul's life, and the goal
towards which we strive, as cleaves the lark at dawn the heavenly blue,
so may our souls be freed from sense, whose music siren-like would seek
to draw us from our flight to Thee. As that same bird rejoices in the
morning light, and sounds its note of praise, so may our souls be tuned
to heavenly symphonies, and may the sunshine of Thy love, resplendent in
secure omnipotence, give glad assurance to our hearts, nor cease to
guide our way, until we reach that central orb, our soul's true home,
and find eternal rest in Thee. Amen.
ALBERT B. SHIELDS.
November 3
_There is ever a song somewhere, my dear;
There is ever a something sings alway:
There's the song of the lark when the skies are clear
And the song of the thrush when the skies are gray,
The sunshine showers across the grain,
And the bluebird trills in the orchard tree;
And in and out, when the eaves drip rain,
The swallows art twittering ceaselessly._
_There is ever a song somewhere, my dear,
Be the skies above or dark or fair,
There is ever a song that our hearts may hear--
There is ever a song somewhere, my dear--
There is ever a song somewhere!_
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY.
O God, the Giver of all harmony and joy, before whom the morning stars
sang together, by Whom the voice of the sparrow is heard, we thank Thee
that we may serve Thee with gladness and come before Thy presence with
singing. Put Thy new song into our mouths and help us to render the
acceptable praises of the upright and pure in heart. Help us to love all
Thy creatures and to delight in the songs Thou hast taught them.
Especially enable us to bless our brother men, to hush their sighing and
swell their singing, to strengthen the chorus of joy and praise with
which Thou hast ordained the world shall be filled. We ask with
confidence because we know Thy love. Amen.
J. FRANCIS COOPER.
November 4
_The snow has capped yon distant hill,
At morn the running brook was still,
From driven herds the clouds that rise
Are like the smoke of sacrifice;
Ere long the frozen sod shall mark
The ploughshare, changed to stubborn rock.
The brawling stream shall soon be done--
Sing, little bird! the frosts have come._
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, Thou art the giver of all good gifts,
and all that comes from Thy hand is good. May we accept Thy providences.
In the dreary days of winter as in the pleasant summer season, Thy
mercies are new every morning and fresh every evening. Even when our
hearts are chilled with grief and disappointment and failure, we would
still put our trust in the eternal goodness. Help us, O God, to be truly
grateful for everything that comes to us. In the winter of the soul may
we learn the lessons of patience and resignation. Thus, with faith
triumphant and with hearts full of gladness may we sing our songs of
praise to Thy holy name forever and forever. Amen.
ARTHUR W. GROSE.
November 5
_It is will alone that matters!
Will alone that mars or makes,
Will, that no distraction scatters,
And that no resistance breaks._
HENRIK IBSEN.
_No man can choose what coming hours may bring
To him of need, of joy, of suffering;
But what his soul shall bring unto each hour
To meet its challenge--this is in his power._
PRISCILLA LEONARD.
Infinite God, Who perceivest the destinies of worlds and of men; Who
bringest to pass all that we enjoy, and Who permittest all that we
suffer; may I this day be enabled to recognize Thy Fatherly goodness, in
the morning mists, even as in the noonday brightness! Should sorrow
becloud my pathway, should disappointment make its keen thrusts, should
temptation lay its attractive coils, may my soul be made aware of Thy
consoling presence, enjoy the compensations of Thy grace, assert the
potency of the wisdom from above! And mayest Thou reveal Thyself! So may
be fanned to a flame the divine spark in my heart, whereby all are made
partakers of the victory with and through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
ERNEST W. BURCH.
November 6
_"Yes," she answered, lifting her eyes to his face; "I, too, have
felt it, Hermas, this burden, this need, this unsatisfied longing.
I think I know what it means. It is gratitude;--the language of the
heart, the music of happiness. There is no perfect joy without
gratitude. But we have never learned it, and the want of it
troubles us. It is like being dumb with a heart full of love. We
must find the word for it, and say it together. Then we shall be
perfectly joined in perfect joy."_
HENRY VAN DYKE.
Almighty God, forbid that we shall ever be satisfied with the rich gifts
of Thy land, or until the gifts have brought us, appreciative, humble,
grateful, to Thee, the giver of them all. Help us to see that this is
their high office, disregarding which the noblest of them becomes a
stumbling block, accepting which the humblest of them becomes a means of
grace and of surpassing gladness. Move us, then, to such acceptance of
Thy favors as shall bring us to Thee rejoicing, that we may need less
the experiences which shall bring us to Thee weeping. And hallow all our
human loves by lifting us to a common sense and acknowledgment of Thy
transcendent love, as shown especially in Jesus Christ. Amen.
CHARLES R. TENNEY.
November 7
_"What is the real good?"
I asked, in musing mood.
"Order," said the court;
"Knowledge," said the school,
"Truth," said the wise man,
"Pleasure," said the fool,
"Love," said the maiden,
"Beauty," said the page,
"Freedom," said the dreamer,
"Home," said the sage;
"Fame," said the soldier,
"Equity," said the seer.
Spake my heart full sadly--
"The answer is not here."
Then within my bosom
Softly this I heard:
"Each heart holds the secret;
Kindness is the word."_
JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY.
Oh, Father, we are in a world of wonder and of bountiful promise. We
scarcely know which to choose. Of all life's quests we would seek the
highest and best. Thou art a Lord gracious and kind. Grace is but
another name for kindness. It is this which is pronounced as a
benediction Sabbath after Sabbath, and for which we lift up our faces
morning after morning, to receive. Crown us with Thy loving kindness and
tender mercies. But not for ourselves alone! As we meet the weary and
heavy burdened in life, inspire us to show them the kindness of our God.
As freely as we have received, so freely may we impart. Amen.
W. G. RICHARDSON.
November 8
_What a blessed thing it is that we can forget! Today's troubles
look large, but a week hence they will be forgotten and buried out
of sight. Says one writer, "If you should keep a book and daily put
down the things that worry you, and see what becomes of them, it
would be a benefit to you." The art of forgetting is a blessed art,
but the art of overlooking is quite as important._
AUGHEY.
Lord, we know not the path our feet must walk today; yet we are not
anxious. "Thy word will be a lamp to our feet," and what we need to know
Thou wilt reveal just when we need to know it. Help us not to forget
that we are under our Father's care; that He knoweth our frame, that He
will not unduly burden us; that He will not "suffer us to be tempted
beyond that which we are able to bear;" that He will make "all things
work together for good to them that love Him." So may this day be one of
peace to us, and through us may some troubled heart find rest. Amen.
GEORGE SKENE
November 9
_Learn to laugh. A good laugh is better than medicine. Learn to
tell a story. A well told story is as welcome as a sunbeam in a
sick room. Learn to keep your own troubles to yourself. The world
is too busy to care for your ills and sorrows. Learn to do
something for others. Even if you are a bedridden invalid there is
always something that you can do to make others happier, and that
is the surest way to attain happiness for yourself._
THE BEACON.
Father of all mankind, may the spirit of cheer mark this new day. May
the smile of Thy benediction rest upon us, and give courage to meet the
duty and bear the burden. Help us each moment to know something of the
highest joy of serving Thee. May that joy never be absent from our pain.
May it consecrate every pleasure. May it lift us nearer the stature of
the Christ, that the light of our life may shed its beams on the pathway
of other lives,--a light in their darkness, an assurance of sympathy in
affliction, an inspiration to do and endure. So may all gladly go to
their appointed duty, one with Thee, even as Christ, whose followers we
aim to be. Amen.
CHARLES T. BILLINGS.
November 10
_Take whatever is good in man, and argue that God is not only that,
but infinitely better than that. In fashioning your conception of
God, make it as resplendent in justice, as august in truth, as
noble and pure in love, as radiant and wondrous in pity, as
enduring as you please. Never be afraid that you will overdraw the
divine character. God is never better in your thought or
imagination than He is in Himself._
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
Almighty God, we thank Thee for the great thoughts and high hopes which
lie deep in human hearts. We thank Thee for the visions of the perfect
life which lead us ever toward the light. We long to follow those who
lead the way to Thee. By faith and love may we be bound to them. As
voices of Thy spirit may they be to us. Bless us this day with hunger
for righteousness. Feed us with the bread of life. Endow us with high
hopes and determined wills, that we may be faithful. Amen.
FREDERICK W. BETTS.
November 11
_There was a man who smiled
Because the day was bright;
Because he slept at night;
Because God gave him sight
To gaze upon his child!
Because his little one
Could leap and laugh and run;
Because the distant sun
Smiled on the earth, he smiled._
_He toiled and still was glad
Because the air was free;
Because he loved, and she
That claimed his love and he
Shared all the joys they had!
Because the grasses grew;
Because the sweet wind blew;
Because that he could hew
And hammer he was glad._
S. E. KISER.
O Lord, who dost bountifully provide for us the necessities and comforts
of life, and makest us glad in the enjoyment of the same; grant, we
beseech Thee, that we may so use these, Thy gifts, that in all our
blessings we find Thee to be the source and author of all our
happiness--of our health and prosperity, of our joys and hopes, and of
the holy relations of friends and family; lest, resting content in that
which is less, we fail to attain to that which is greatest--truly to
know Thee and to love Thee, which is the very end of our being and the
consummation of all bliss; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
WILLIAM H. P. HATCH.
November 12