Part 11

_Give us, O give us the man who sings at his work. Be his occupation what it may, he is equal to any of those who follow the same pursuit in silent sullenness. He will do more in the same time--he will do it better--he will persevere longer. One is scarcely sensible of fatigue while he marches to music. The very stars are said to make harmony as they revolve in their spheres. Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, although past calculation its power of endurance. Efforts to be permanently useful, must be uniformly joyous--a spirit all sunshine, graceful from very gladness, beautiful because bright._

THOMAS CARLYLE.

Almighty God, we turn to Thee in adoration and praise as we pause upon the threshold of this new day. Grant, we pray Thee, that a song be in our hearts as we go about the duties of the passing hours. Whatever our experiences, whether of joy or sorrow, may we truly value the truthful spirit. If Thou callest us to bear burdens or to stand upon the mountain top of exultant achievement may we not forget to sing of Thee. Yea, O God, we would be ever of the company of trusting souls, for such are near to Thee. And when earthly days are past and the life of the freed spirit is over, grant that our lives may blend in full accord with the music of love, in sunshine of joy, in the beauty of holiness. We praise Thee now and ever. Amen.

STEPHEN H. ROBLIN.

June 30

_Full-leafed in pride of deepest green, The earth in the sunshine basks serene, Where linden blossoms crowded cling, A thousand bees are murmuring. As showers drift from the freshened land With a seven-barred bow is the rain-cloud spanned. The wild rose yields her subtlest scents Where hay cocks pitch their fragrant tents. The longest day's too brief for June, The night too short for such a moon!_

SARA ANDREW SHAFER.

We thank Thee, our Father, for the wonderful world in which we live; for the glory of the heavens; for the beauty of the earth; for the bright morning following the star-crowned night; for the song of birds, the hum of bees, the fragrance of flowers, and the laughter of children, for the industry of men and women, for all Thy gifts of love. As again the lengthening shadows creep across our pathway, may we redouble our energies that no labor of love may be left undone. So fill us with Thy presence, so lead us by Thy Spirit this day, that in our homes we may be patient, in our occupations sweet, in our social relations brotherly, in all things Christlike, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

ARTHUR WRIGHT.

July 1

_Let me go where'er I will I hear a sky-born music still: It sounds from all things old, It sounds from all things young, From all that's fair, from all that's foul, Peals out a cheerful song._

_It is not only in the rose, It is not only in the bird, Not only where the rainbow glows, Nor in the song of woman heard, But in the darkest, meanest things There alway, alway something sings._

_'Tis not in the high stars alone, Nor in the cups of budding flowers, Nor in the redbreast's mellow tone, Nor in the bow that smiles in showers, But in the mud and scum of things There alway, alway something sings._

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

Dear Father in heaven, we thank Thee for all the sweet voices of the world, not only for the harmonies of the great masters of song but for the sweet voice of the mother as she sings her song of love, for the bird in the spring time. We thank Thee for the music in the prattle of children, and the kindly word spoken everywhere. The world is full of music if only we have music in our own hearts. We pray, as we set forth again this morning, for spirits in tune with all that is sweet and good. Wherever we go this day, let the world sing to us and make us glad. Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

July 2

_A little bird with plumage brown, Beside my window flutters down, A moment chirps its little strain, Then taps upon my window-pane. And chirps again, and hops along, To call my notice to its song; But I work on, nor heed its lay, Till, in neglect, it flies away._

_So birds of peace and hope and love Come fluttering earthward from above, To settle on life's window-sills, And ease our load of earthly ills; But we, in traffic's rush and din Too deep engaged to let them in, With deadened heart and sense plod on, Nor know our loss till they are gone._

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR.

My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up; and looking up, may we not fail to realize that, amid the turmoil of this outward life, Thou art ever present to give peace and rest in the inner life. Should we fail to recognize that presence we shall lose the comfort which Thou art ever ready to bestow, and must ourselves bear burdens which Thou wouldst gladly bear for us or take from us. Thou knowest our frame and rememberest that we are dust. Open our spiritual vision to behold that Divine resources are subject to our daily prayer. In the name of Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

O. W. SCOTT.

July 3

_Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake._

MATTHEW v. 3, 8, 11.

O God, our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that Thou dost overrule our weakness, failure and sins to the accomplishment of Thy divine plan for us. We recall with pleasure our successes in the past year, and if we have failed, wilt Thou show us where and when and teach us the way of amendment. We thank Thee for our Hope and Faith which have come to us from the Bible. Here, on every page and in every biography, have we learned of Christ Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life. We thank Thee that through Him our sins are forgiven, and we have learned to know Thee, O blessed Father, which knowledge is eternal life. May we walk with Him, moment by moment in a life of loving service to all mankind, during all the remaining days of our life. Amen.

E. M. WARNER.

July 4

_One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One nation, evermore!_

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

_And for your country, boy, and for that flag, never dream a dream but of serving her, though the service carry you through a thousand hells! No matter what happens to you--no matter who flatters or abuses you--never look at another flag, never let a night pass but you pray God to bless that flag._

EDWARD EVERETT HALE.

Thine, O God, is the kingdom. And blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. We believe that Thy hand has been in the founding and the fortunes of this land. We do homage to it for its ideals, its principles, its glorious company of apostles of truth, its noble army of martyrs for liberty and humanity; we love and cherish it as our home and our shrine; but we hallow it, we stand in awe of it, as the scene of Thy special activity, the instrument of Thy holy purposes. May its vision not pass; may the clouds that hang over it be dispersed by the clear shining of the sun of righteousness and peace; may the dream of freedom with fraternity be realized here, even here, upon these shores, that Thy saving health may be known among all nations. Amen.

C. ELLWOOD NASH.

July 5

_Far up the crag, 'twixt sea and sky, Where winds tempestuous, blowing by, Leave giant boulders swept and bare; Where forked lightnings fitful flare, And petrels sound their stormy cry._

_A dainty bluebell, sweet and shy, Lifted its head complacently, As guarded by the tenderest care, Far up the crag._

_And now, whenever fear draws nigh, In thought I stand 'twixt sea and sky, And, as of old in my despair, I bless the Power that set it there-- That tiny thing with courage high, Far up the crag!_

FLORENCE E. COATES.

Eternal Presence, may we now speak to Thee? or, consciously within Thy presence, should our lips be still? Art Thou the Infinite Mercy, and shall we say, be merciful? Shall we persuade the love that can not once withhold itself? We would not ask, were prayer to change established law. But, we will open here our hearts, and so receive the blessedness that seeks us and has sought us,--sought us as the sunlight sought us early,--seeks us as the raindrops seek us in the storm. Not more canst Thou withhold the goodness from us. We wait receptively, unbarring all our rust-hinged doors to welcome the true favors that now find us. In sweet trust, asking or unasking, we abide ever in Thee. Amen.

PERRY MARSHALL.

July 6

_God is a kind Father. He sets us all in the places where he wishes us to be employed, and that employment is truly "our Father's business." He chooses work for every creature which will be delightful to them, if they do it simply and humbly. He gives us always strength enough and sense enough for what He wants us to do; if we either tire ourselves or puzzle ourselves, it is our own fault. And we may always be sure, whatever we are doing, that we cannot be pleasing Him if we are not happy ourselves._

JOHN RUSKIN.

Father Divine, Thou art indeed kind. Thine are the ways of kindness, of wisdom, and of love,--the ways of pleasantness and the paths of peace. In simple and humble spirit as becometh Thy children, may we walk with Thee accomplishing the work to which Thou dost call us. Our work is Thy work, our business the Father's business; the business of justice, mercy and truth. When loyal and true, we are what we are, and do what we do by Thy grace. So help us to honor Thee in all the duties of life,--"Not slothful in business,--fervent in spirit,"--pleasing Thee and therefore happy ourselves. Amen.

ISAAC P. CODDINGTON.

July 7

_Threefold is the form of Space: Length, with ever restless motion, Seeks eternity's wide ocean; Breadth with boundless sway extends; Depth to unknown realms descends._

_All as types to thee are given; Thou must onward strive for heaven, Never still or weary be, Wouldst thou perfect glory see; Far must thy researches go Wouldst thou learn the world to know; Thou must tempt the dark abyss Wouldst thou prove what Being is._

_Naught but firmness gains the prize,-- Naught but fulness makes us wise,-- Buried deep, truth ever lies!_

PROVERBS OF CONFUCIUS.

Our Heavenly Father, help us this day to make good our privilege to feel and think of Thee as we do. Help us this day to make ourselves part of our brotherhood, and our brotherhood part of Thee. We know not what the day hath in store for us, but we pray Thee to help us have in store for it our better heart, our better hands. Send Thy holy spirit into our life to calm and to strengthen; that we may be steadfast and true; that we may give and be forgiven. Bless all Thy children this day, and may our labor end as it began, in Thee, with Thee, for Thee. Amen.

LOUIS H. BUCKSHORN.

July 8

_O Impatient Ones! Do the leaves say nothing to you as they murmur to-day? They are not fashioned this spring, but months ago; and the summer just begun will fashion others for another year. At the bottom of every leaf-stem is a cradle, and in it is an infant germ; and the winds will rock it, and the birds will sing to it all summer long, and next season it will unfold. So God is working for you and carrying forward to the perfect development all the processes of our lives._

HENRY WARD BEECHER.

O Eternal Father, giver of all spiritual grace, we thank Thee for Thy presence in our hearts. May we realize that Thou hast the best possible plan for every human life. Help us to be patient and joyful in the consciousness that Thou art carrying forward Thy blessed work in us. Thy love, O Lord, is equal to Thy wisdom, and Thou wilt always do what is best for us. May Thy holy will be our delight, so that we may each trust in Thee at all times and cheerfully say, Thy will, O Lord, not mine, be done. Thou who dost care for the birds and the lilies art ever mindful of us, Thy children. Deliver us from worry and may Thy peace guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

GEORGE H. CHENEY.

July 9

_Let us hope that one day all mankind will be happy and wise; and though this day never should dawn to have hoped for it cannot be wrong. And in any event, it is helpful to speak of happiness to those who are sad, that thus at least they may learn what it is that happiness means. They are ever inclined to regard it as something beyond them, extraordinary, out of their reach. But if all who may count themselves happy were to tell, very simply, what it was that brought happiness to them, the others would see that between sorrow and joy the difference is but as between a gladsome, enlightened acceptance of life and a hostile gloomy submission; between a large and harmonious conception of life, and one that is stubborn and narrow._

MAETERLINCK.

O Lord, we thank Thee for the special providence which is over everything which Thou hast created, and wherein Thou residest with all Thine infinite perfections. We thank Thee that Thou carest for us all, that in our day of joy we know it is Thou who fillest our cup, by giving us the faculties which make it run over at the brim. We thank Thee that Thou art with us in our days of hardship and of calamity, that when our own heart cries out against us, Thou art greater than our heart, and, understanding all things, blessest us in secret ways; and when we are cast down and go stooping and feeble, with hungering eyes and a failing heart, that Thou still art with us, and leadest us from strength to strength and blessest us continually. Amen.

THEODORE PARKER.

July 10

_Were any of us really disappointed or melancholy in a hayfield? Did we ever lie fairly back on a haycock and look up into the blue sky, and listen to the merry sounds, the whetting of scythes and the laughing prattle of women and children, and think evil thoughts of the world or our brethren? Not we! Or, if we have so done we ought to be ashamed of ourselves, and deserve never again to be out of town during hay-harvest._

THOMAS HUGHES.

Dear Heavenly Father, we devoutly thank Thee for the beautiful open face of Nature shining upon us; for the splendor of the fields where the birds wing their merry flight; for the breath of the flowers and the grass beneath the scythe, like the odor of incense; and most of all, for the merry shouts of women and children and men in the meadow, in the heyday of happiness, as they fill their souls with the freedom of the children of God, and live in the open where no evil breath can come. Grant that we may live spiritually forever in the fragrant hayfields of life, where the birds sing and the children shout, and where no covering or roof can ever shut out the sunshine of life's eternal bliss. Amen.

ROBERT S. KELLERMAN.

July 11

_A story is told of a king who went into his garden one morning and found everything withering and dying. He asked an oak that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found that it was sick of life and determined to die, because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine was out of heart because it could not bear grapes like the vine; the vine was going to throw its life away, because it could not stand erect and have as fine fruit as the pomegranate; and so on throughout the garden. Coming to the heart'sease, the king found its bright face uplifted, as full of cheerfulness as ever. Said the king, "Well, heart'sease, I am glad to find one brave little flower in this general discouragement and dying. You don't seem one bit disheartened." "No, your majesty. I know I am of small account; but I concluded you wanted a heart'sease when you planted me. If you had wanted an oak, or a pine, or a vine, or a pomegranate, you would have set one out. So I am bound to be the best heart'sease that ever I can."_

WILLIAM MOODIE.

Like the wise King of old, I pray Thee, gracious Lord, give unto me wisdom. May Thy Pillar of Light guide my footsteps so that I go not astray in the wilderness of sin and selfish ambition. Help me to acquire a pure heart and a contented spirit. Amidst all the vicissitudes of fortune, let faith induce me to say, "Whatever God doeth is well." Amen.

M. M. EICHLER.

July 12

_What shall I do to be just? What shall I do for the gain Of the world--for its sadness? Teach me, O seers that I trust! Chart me the difficult main Leading out of my sorrow and madness, Preach me the purging of pain._

_Shall I wrench from my finger the ring To cast to the tramp at my door? Shall I tear off each luminous thing To drop in the palm of the poor? What shall I do to be just? Teach me, O Ye in the light, Whom the poor and the rich alike trust; My heart is aflame to be right._

HAMLIN A. GARLAND.

Infinite Spirit, Thou seest us just as we are. In Thy sight there can be no make-believe; we need not seek to offer Thee as a penance for our sins some cheap alms to the poor, for Thy favor cannot be bought. We pray simply that we may be just,--that we may be true. If we have wronged anyone, help us to right the wrong. If we have been false to ourselves or false to our neighbors, O Lord, make us true,--we seek no easy admission to a far-off heaven, we seek Thy presence here and now, today, by the only pathway open, the pathway of righteousness and truth. That we may enter this pathway, grant us we pray Thee the illumination of Thy Holy Spirit. Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

July 13

_The law of worthy life is fundamentally the law of strife. It is only through labor, painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things._

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

_If we would please God we must watch every stroke and touch upon the canvas of our lives; we may not think we can lay it on with a trowel and yet succeed. We ought to live as miniature painters work, for they watch every line and tint._

SPURGEON.

As we begin this new day, O our Father, may such energy and vigor, such strength and courage, such faith and hope be ours that the problems and tasks awaiting us may be boldly and gladly met as challenges to our powers. May that abundant life be in us which shall make our difficulties a tonic, and the struggle to achieve high aims a joy. May we be resourceful, equal to life, adequate to every situation, able to stand this universe,--men who can. May we count it a privilege to live, to have a vision of life's possibilities, and to have the fellowship of so many good men and women by the way. Amen.

GEORGE R. DODSON.

July 14

_With place, with gold, with power--oh, ask me not With these my little hour of life to blot. A little hour indeed! and I would fain Its moments spend in what is worth its pain. What traveler would faint through troublous lands To gather only what must leave his hands The moment that he takes his homeward ship? Earth's goods and gauds give every man the slip; But wealth of thought and richer wealth of love, Must pass for coin in any world above. The good to others done while here I strive Is all at last that shall my dying shrive; And, setting sail, my slight self-conquest's store Is all my freight if I shall come to shore._

ANONYMOUS.

O Father, God! The span of our influence is both near and far; may it also be direct and strong. Thou hast planted mighty virtue and unquenchable love in our hearts. Love knows the secret of imparting virtue's value to all the wretchedness in life. So, we beseech Thee, direct our hearts to altitudes of holiness and set our feet in the highways of helpfulness. May the charm of gentleness be in every service to-day, and may the tone of tenderness carry love's message over all barriers to the hearts that need. Thus would we keep our confidence with Thee and bind ourselves more profitably to our fellows. So shall Thy great name be honored among men. Amen.

J. O. RANDALL.

July 15

_What seems to grow fairer to me as life goes by, is the love and peace and tenderness of it. Not its wit and cleverness and grandeur of knowledge, but just the laughter of little children, and the friendship of friends, and the cosy talk of the fireside, and the sight of flowers and the sound of music._

J. R. GREEN.

Now that Thou givest us the light of a new day, grant that it carry with it the brightness of hope and courage for whatsoever the day may offer. Always behind the clouds is the shining that never fails; always beyond the labor which irks us is the joy of attainment. Open our eyes that we may see the best which shall be in the day; its love of friends, its sights of beauty, its music, its wisdom such as no day before could possess, its voices of the Spirit awaiting the listening ear, its tears of compassion and sympathy. Give us our daily bread such as shall feed the heart and enrich the mind and grant us forgiveness when we are blind to the common treasures of this Thy world. Amen.

GEORGE A. THAYER.

July 16

_Methought that in a solemn church I stood. Its marble acres, worn with knees and feet, Lay spread from door to door, from street to street. Midway the form hung high upon the rood Of Him who gave His life to be our good; Beyond, priests flitted, bowed, and murmured meet Among the candles shining still and sweet. Men came and went, and worshipped as they could; And still their dust a woman with her broom, Bowed to her work, kept sweeping to the door. Then saw I slow through all the pillared gloom Across the church a silent figure come. "Daughter," it said, "Thou sweepest well my floor!" "It is the Lord!" I cried, and saw no more._

GEORGE MACDONALD.

Our Father, who art ever with us, help us this day so to reveal Thee through our common tasks, our relations with one another, in our homes and at our work, that men may know and love Thee better. This is Thy most beautiful world. May we not mar its glory by our selfishness, but by the gentleness and sweetness of our lives make it more beautiful. May we this day not add to another's burden of care or pain. But may we by our words and deeds sweeten and brighten and strengthen the lives of those whom we meet. For Thy goodness and mercy to us, for the opportunity of service, for love and sympathy, we thank Thee and pray that our devotion to Thy truth may reveal the thankfulness of our hearts. Amen.

ARTHUR L. WHEATHERLY.

July 17

_For I, a man, with men am linked, And not a brute with brutes; no gain That I experience must remain Unshared; but should my best endeavor To share it, fail--subsisteth ever God's care above, and I exult That God, by God's own ways occult, May--doth, I will believe--bring back All wanderers to a single track._

ROBERT BROWNING.

Father of all souls in all worlds, our best friend forever, in Thy good keeping we cannot wander beyond Thy loving care. We thank Thee for life, for the fair world we live in, enriched by Thy countless benefits, for the glad tidings of Thy fatherly love that never fails, for the brotherhood that binds together all Thy children, and for the immortal hope that beckons us up and on. By faithful living may we make life divine, and by brotherly service show Thee our gratitude and love. May the gospel of Jesus prevail in all hearts, speedily bring all wanderers home, draw our souls heavenward, and prepare us for higher and larger realms of service, where we shall forever live to Thy glory. Amen.

RUSH R. SHIPPEN.

July 18