Part 19
We thank Thee, Heavenly Father, that awaking, we are conscious that Thou art near. Walk with us, through the untried path of this day's duty and service. We rejoice that Thou art in Thy world. Within its striving is Thy calm. Around its restlessness is Thy rest. Thy purpose fashions its achievements; Thy love shapes its future. Help us to see it with clearer vision, to hold it fast with firmer faith. When wrong seems to triumph, may we know that it is already perishing, and hold hard by truth and love and faith. Give us grace to spend this day as becometh children of God in honor, in courtesy, in sympathy, in confident trust. When the way seems long and lonely, straight and steep, help us to sing as we march forward, since Thou art with us, Who hast said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Amen.
CHARLES C. P. HILLER.
November 30
_She was a droll little figure of a girl with a quaint old face, that showed too early the lines of care and work, and her clothing betokened a poverty-stricken home. Evidently not much of brightness had touched her life, but her face always lightened up when she mentioned her school or her teacher. "Why is it that you love your teacher so well?" she was asked one day. Her eyes shone and her lips smiled happily as she replied, "Because she's glad to me!" What a tribute was that! What an evidence was that of a happy heart that radiated its gladness! If we cannot bring other offerings of much value to the children and the poor among us, how blessed are we if we can bring gladness!_
ESTELLE M. HART.
Almighty God, teach us how to be glad. Put some gladness into our hearts. Show us where gladness is hidden in our little world about us, so that we may find it and use it. Give us the wisdom of Jesus, who, although a Man of Sorrows, yet spake ever of His joy and His peace. We feel that the secret of things must be gladness, that somehow there is a covered joy even in what we call our sufferings. Let us find that. Keep our hearts pure of the soiling of evil desire, for we know that no gladness can come from the muddy fountains of sin. Let our hands be busy at some good part of the world's work, for we know that idleness never went hand in hand with joy. Let our minds be open to acknowledge, love and obey the truth, for we feel that truth alone can satisfy our hearts. And let us feel to-day the duty of gladness we owe to our fellow-creatures. Let us give to them what we would receive from Thee. Amen.
FRANK CRANE.
December 1
_But winter has yet brighter scenes--he boasts Splendors beyond what gorgeous Summer knows; Or Autumn with his many fruits, and woods All flushed with many hues, come when the rains Have glazed the snow and clothed the trees with ice, The incrusted surface shall upbear thy steps, And the broad arching portals of the grove Welcome thy entering._
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.
Our Father, we know that Thou wilt commune with us if only we truly seek Thee; Thou art the Infinite Consciousness and Thou dost include within Thyself our finite consciousness. We have our life in Thy life. This morning we would be mindful of Thy presence. The northern groves with snow-laden, bended branches bid us enter and worship. Thou dost send forth the rays of Thy sun and touch them aglow with the reflected beauty of the snow-flake. Thou hast also created us. The flake reflects the sun, and may we reflect Thee, through living righteously. Help us to do the right and to forego the wrong. Amen.
FRED ALBAN WEIL.
December 2
_"A commonplace life," we say, and we sigh; But why should we sigh as we say? The commonplace sun in the commonplace sky Makes up the commonplace day. The moon and the stars are commonplace things, And the flower that blooms and the bird that sings, But dark were the world and sad our lot If the flowers failed and the sun shone not; And God, who studies each separate soul Out of commonplace lives makes His beautiful whole._
SUSAN COOLIDGE.
Our Infinite Father, we open our hearts to Thee, for where Thou art heaven is. As the morning sun gives light and life to Earth, so Thou givest light and life and joy to us. We say Good-morning to Thee, and as we listen Thy Good-morning comes to us. As it comes we glow and expand like the opening flower. May this glowing spirit of love be in all we say and do and think this day, and still continue through all days to come. When we are vexed and weary with trials and labor, make us to remember this morning glow of Thy Love that it may renew rest and peace within us. Help us, O our Father, to enter the beauty of this day and this life by claiming our heritage as "children of light" and going forth to fulfil the common duties of the day as "children of God." Amen.
WALTER DOLE.
December 3
_No matter! so long as the world is the work of eternal goodness, and so long as conscience has not deceived us. To give happiness and to do good, there is our only law, our anchor of salvation, our beacon light, our reason for existing. All religions may crumble away; so long as this survives we have still an ideal, and life is worth living. Nothing can lessen the dignity and value of humanity so long as the religion of love, of unselfishness and devotion endures; and none can destroy the altars of this faith for us so long as we feel ourselves still capable of love._
HENRI-FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for a night of peaceful rest, and we are glad to begin a new day with full assurance of Thy loving care. We hope for pleasant ways and large success, but Thy wisdom is better than our wishes and if it is appointed us to meet difficulties or temptations, we pray for strength to sustain a manly warfare. We have faith that whatever our condition Thou wilt still provide a way by which lofty purpose and resolute endeavor may use the circumstances of our life for a nearer approach to Thee and for service to our fellowmen. To this end be then the light of our way and the strength of our life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
J. SMITH DODGE.
December 4
_He was a friend to man, and lived in a house by the side of the road._
HOMER.
_There are hermit souls that live withdrawn In the peace of their self-content; There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart, In a fellow-less firmament; There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths Where highways never ran:-- But let me live by the side of the road And be a friend to man._
_Let me live in a house by the side of the road. Where the race of men go by-- The men who are good and the men who are bad, As good and as bad as I. I would not sit in the scorner's seat, Or hurl the cynic's ban:-- Let me live in a house by the side of the road And be a friend to man._
SAM WALTER FOSS.
Our Father in Heaven, we come with thanksgiving for the light of another day and all the blessings which it brings from Thee. May the precious moments before us be filled with activity. Forgive us if we have been remiss in seizing our opportunities and so lead us this day that if we shall be called to Thee, the sweet voice of the Master may greet us with, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me." In Jesus' name. Amen.
J. E. CHARLTON.
December 5
_One old lady kept a sighing; Said she wasn't young, Didn't look as sweet's she used to, Times were all unstrung; Troubles doubled aches, and favors Went a flying past, Wrinkles stung like thorns, and eyesight Kept a failing fast._
_One old lady kept a saying Life was like the spring, Brighter blossoms always coming, Birds around to sing; Troubles came--and went; she let 'em, Didn't count the throng. Thanked the Lord 'most every morning She'd been young so long!_
JESSIE M. SHAW.
Our Heavenly Father, wilt Thou forgive us for the sighs and tears and frowns and doubts of yesterday? Especially wilt Thou forgive us for all that was little and petty and mean? May we begin again today with larger vision, higher hope and nobler ambition. May there be no sighs for lost beauty, no grief over faded youth and no lamentation over lost fortune. Thankful and glad for what we have, may we find our joy in using it for some high end. So may we conserve the youth of the heart and the light of the soul. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
December 6
_There is never a sky of winter To the heart that sings alway; Never a night but hath stars to light, And dreams of a rosy day._
_The world is ever a garden Red with the bloom of May; And never a stormy morning To the heart that sings alway!_
FRANK L. STANTON.
O Thou who art the Love, the Light, and the Life in whom is no discord, no darkness, no disease nor death; but who art ever radiating sympathy, vision and health; we give Thee hearty thanks for the consciousness of Thy abiding presence when we possess a humble and contrite spirit. May we ever remember that nothing but our own selfishness, pride, and forgetfulness can break this constant communion with Thee. Open our hearts just now for the inflow of the divine Love in order that we may pass it on to others today. Open our eyes today that we may see Thee everywhere striving against selfishness in the lives of all men. Fill us with Thy Life today in order that there may go out to others a heavenly harmony, a song, a symphony, that will dispel discord, darkness and disease; that will overcome evil with good. Amen.
E. J. HELMS.
December 7
_As the bird trims her to the gale, I trim myself to the storm of time, I man the rudder, reef the sail, Obey the voice at eve obeyed at prime; "Lowly faithful, banish fear, Right onward drive unharmed; The port, well worth the cruise, is near, And every wave is charmed."_
RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
Heavenly Father, keep our faces in the light and upward. Make us courageous in the storm. Help us to consecrate all our powers against the contrary winds and listen for the loving voice of Him who walks the rough waves and comes toward our frail barks. May we never be afraid; may we know peace and rest and trust. O Saviour, help us to know the reality of Thy love and friendship, and hear Thee say in the darkest hour, "All is well." May no storm be too severe, no burden too heavy, no task too hard. So let us believe and live. Amen.
CORTLAND MYERS.
December 8
_Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee, Corruption wins not more than honesty. Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not: Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's, Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell, Thou fall'st a blessed martyr!_
SHAKESPEARE.
Father Almighty, we do trust in Thee, and we ask Thee for everything. Thou art pleased to give us everything. Thou dost give us the light by which we see. Thou dost give us this air which we breathe and with which we speak. Best of all, Thou hast shown us that we are one family of Thy children, alive in Thy life and strong in Thy strength. Thou dost give us the water that we drink and the food that we eat. Everything is Thine while it is ours. Now, Father, we are here to consecrate these gifts to Thy service, to come and go indeed as Thy children; when we speak, to speak the word that Thou shalt teach; when we act, to do the thing that Thou wouldst. Moreover, inspire us with Thine holy spirit, that we may so come and go in our Father's service, and for the coming of Thy kingdom in this world, that all men may be one, and may bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Amen.
EDWARD EVERETT HALE.
December 9
_Each soul, alone unto herself, must bear The heartache out of which man wins despair Or hope according to his faculty. Nathless one thing is certain; who hath known Truth, beauty, goodness, shining in their sphere, Shall not be lost through any lesser lure. On black tempestuous waves he may be thrown; Yet to the right port shall he surely steer, And God Himself shall make his doing pure._
JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS.
O God, with the dawn we would lift our grateful hearts to Thee! We know not what Thou hast in store for us this new day, but we rejoice that we are in Thy thought, and that we cannot pass beyond the reach of Thy love. Helpless and weak, we pray for courage to be undaunted by the uncertainties of life, and that we may meet all its duties with a firm and tranquil mind. Grant that we may be helpful to all with whom we come in contact and forbid that we should judge others hastily or uncharitably. May our minds and hearts be open to the truth, that we may know and do Thy gracious will. Guided and guarded by Thee, may the day be full of peace, purity and power. Amen.
GEORGE M. HOWE.
December 10
_There was never a song that was sung by thee, But a sweeter one was meant to be. There was never a deed that was grandly done, But a greater was meant by some earnest one. For the sweetest voice can never impart The song that trembles within the heart._
_And the brain and the hand can never quite do The thing that the soul has fondly in view. And hence are the tears and the burdens of pain, For the shining goals are never to gain But enough that a God can hear and see The song and the deed that were meant to be._
BENJAMIN R. BULKELEY.
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who hast illumined the morning with the brightness of Thy life, we rejoice in the potency of the influence that brings us into communion with Thee. For the blessed revelation of Thyself, for life and all things that nourish it, for the earth and the fulness thereof, for daily comforts and mercies and for the Light that lighteth every man who cometh into the world, we give Thee thanks. We thank Thee too for the songs that we have sung and for the better songs that are in our hearts. We thank Thee for every noble deed and also for the dreams of nobler deeds that men have cherished. O Lord, bless our work and fill us with aspiration for nobler service. Bless the poor, the sick, and those that mourn. Hear this our prayer and answer our petition through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
FRANK D. SARGENT.
December 11
_Love the spot where you are, and the friends God has given you and be sure to expect everything good of them._
JOHN ALBEE.
_When do we lift each other up? Must we gain a height first or can we reach up our feebleness together to the Hands that do offer us a mighty help from on high? Near doing, and near living, and near loving; these life-particles make the great heaven, as the little polarized atoms of light, all magnetized one way, make the great blue in which the stars burn forever._
MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.
No discontent could harass us if we had a deeper faith in Thee and a broader love for those about us. We praise Thee, therefore, that we may be rooted and grounded in Christ. And that our little lives may glorify Him by bringing forth abundant fruit. Thou dost give us the holy privilege of being co-laborers with Thee in the salvation of needy humanity. Around us are the countless opportunities for ennobling and gladdening the lives of those whose courage burns low, or who have never known the transforming companionship of Christ. We would not forget that we are debtors to Thee and to that great Host whose love and service has inspired us. May we be not selfish takers only, but generous givers. May there be less gloom, fewer shackles, less guilt in the world because we are mastered by the spirit of Christ. Amen.
PHILIP L. FRICK.
December 12
_Have you learned lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you?_
_Have you not learned great lessons from those who reject you, and brace themselves against you? or who treat you with contempt, or dispute the passage with you?_
WALT WHITMAN.
Help us, O God, always to be hopeful; teach us what it means to hope in Thee, and may we experience the truth of the promise which says: "He will strengthen your heart that hopes in Him;" but help us not to indulge in too fond hopes nor to be too easily elated by future dreams. May we see life clearly as it is and be ready to accept courageously whatsoever Thou sendest us. Help us to accept all our joys as Thy blessings; all our duties as Thy commands, and our sorrows as of Thine appointment, and help us to believe that Thou wilt turn even that which seems to harm us, into everlasting good and everlasting joy. Amen.
JOHN F. MEYER.
December 13
_Life should be a giving birth to the soul, the development of a higher mode of reality. The animal must be humanized: flesh must be made spirit; physiological activity must be transmuted into intellect and conscience, into reason, justice, and generosity, as the torch is transmuted into light and warmth. The blind, greedy, selfish nature of man must put on beauty and nobleness. This heavenly alchemy is what justifies our presence on the earth; it is our mission and our glory._
HENRI-FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL.
Our Father, this world is Thy world, and this day is Thy renewed gift of opportunity to learn life's lesson more perfectly. We need clearer insight into Thy designs, that we may loathe every form of selfishness, and love devotion. Give us to know the Christ more intimately, and in the strength of His apprehended presence help us to employ this day in practising the holy principles He taught. Assist us this morning to have, and throughout this day to keep, such an attitude of glad co-operation with Him, that work shall be shot through and through with joy in anticipation of its glorious result. So may this day be to us a time of real soul expansion; a wooing and a winning of that which is highest, even a purer, noble character. Amen.
J. EDWIN LACOUNT.
December 14
_'Tis the mind that makes the body rich, And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds, So honor peereth in the meanest habit. What, is the jay more precious than the lark, Because his feathers are more beautiful? Or is the adder better than the eel, Because his painted skin contents the eye?_
SHAKESPEARE.
In this world of mingled good and evil, amid the ceaseless struggle of the better with the worse, grant unto us our Father, the cheerful assurance that we are enlisted in the service of the good, bound for the better, and destined for the best. Reveal to us each day some task that we can do for Thee, some chance to bear with Christ the burden of another, some call to take the side of the right against the wrong. Help us to conquer hardship by patience, despair by hope, fear by courage, and hate by love; and may we find the peace, the power, the glory of Thy perfect will and Thy great kingdom reflected and reproduced in our hearts and lives. Amen.
WILLIAM DEWITT HYDE.
December 15
_Call him not old, whose visionary brain Holds o'er the past its undivided reign, For him in vain the envious seasons roll Who bears eternal summer in his soul. If yet the minstrel's song, the poet's lay, Spring with her birds, or children at their play, Or maiden's smile, or heavenly dream of art, Stir the few life-drops creeping round his heart, Turn to the record where his years are told,-- Count his gray hairs,--they cannot make him old!_
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
Thou infinite Spirit of Life, in Thy sight, there is no old age. The step may grow feeble, the hair may whiten, the eye may grow dim, but each human soul is still Thy child. We gather about the tables of earth, families of children, some older, some younger, but all young in Thy sight. We pause for a moment this morning to pray for the spirit of youth. Let us cherish the power of hoping and of believing. Let us have that fine quality of the child life which keeps it facing the future with glad expectancy. Let us not give over our toils till we must. Let us not relinquish our interest in life till the evening shadows fall, and even at the last, let us lie down like the child who sleeps with his hand in the hand of his mother. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
December 16
_O toiling bands of mortals! O unwearied feet, travelling we know not whither! Soon, soon, it seems to you, you must come forth on some conspicuous hilltop, and but a little way further, against the setting sun, descry the spires of El Dorado. Little do ye know your own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labor._
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
Our Father, we thank Thee for the work that Thou givest us to do; for its joy, for its zest, even for its very task and weariness. We would interpret our labor by the highest good it brings us; through our brave and cheerful doing Thy heaven of peace is found. We thank Thee for our diviner hopes, and for the Spirit that would complete them. They light our days with gladness, and set our feet in large places, and though the higher hill-tops seem far away, yet meeting our duties faithfully, we do see them, and looking back we find the places of our departure lying far below. O blessed tasks! O blessed hopes! That lead us ever to our Father's love. Amen.
ALBERT J. COLEMAN.
December 17
_God speaks to hearts of men in many ways: Some the red banner of the rising sun, Spread o'er the snow-clad hills, has taught his praise. Some the sweet silence when the day is done; Some, after loveless lives, at length have won His word in children's hearts and children's gaze; And some have found him where low rafters ring To greet the hand that helps, the heart that cheers; And some in prayer, and some in perfecting Of watchful toil through unrewarding years; And some not less are his, who vainly sought His voice, and with his silence have been taught,-- Who bore his chains who bade them to be bound, And at the end in finding not have found._
ANONYMOUS.
O God, all voices of the earth are Thine, even when there is no speech or language, Thy messages have many ways to reach the listening heart. Give us this day to hear at least some whisper of Thy grace. If it may be, open our minds and attune our spirits to receive more than we could hitherto interpret of the assurances sent to us by elevated goodness and love. So let us be defended this day against wrong, and do our work in joy and peace through the knowledge that Thou art with us, our friend and helper even unto the end. Amen.
HOWARD N. BROWN.
December 18
_Did you ever see a schoolboy tumble on the ice without stooping immediately to re-buckle the strap of his skates? And would not Ignotus have painted a masterpiece if he could have found good brushes and a proper canvas? Life's shortcomings would be bitter indeed if we could not find excuses for them outside of ourselves. And as for life's successes--well, it is certainly wholesome to remember how many of them are due to a fortunate position and the proper tools._
HENRY VAN DYKE.
Our Father, God, help us to begin this new day with the right spirit in our hearts,--the spirit of love toward Thee and our fellowmen. Help us to begin the day if possible without mistake. If, in our human weakness we find that we have not succeeded, that we have erred or gone astray, help us not to despair, not to be discouraged; help us to know and to seek and to love the right. Help us never to forget what we owe to Thee, to our friends, and the beautiful world Thou hast given us. Daily bread we have, opportunities open, like books on every hand. Greater than all life's bitter is its sweet. Ever ready is the Master to bless; ever ready is the spirit to comfort Thy children look up and praise the Father eternal. Amen.
RANSOM A. GREENE.
December 19