Part 2

MARY HANAFORD FORD.

Heavenly Father, we are of Thy plain common people: we feel ourselves of very little worth. For what can we do of ourselves? But, if Thou wilt graciously use us, shaping us to Thine ends as the potter his clay, it may be that we shall serve some worthy purpose. We therefore yield ourselves to Thee, and beg Thee to use us this day. Make us pliant to Thy purposes, make us a help to someone who needs us today. So take us into partnership with Thyself, and so may this day be a day of delight, and our plain common lives be made rich with the Glory of service. Amen.

C. H. WHEELER.

January 7

_And I, too, sing the song of all creation, A brave sky and a glad wind blowing by, A clear trail and an hour for meditation, A long day and the joy to make it fly, A hard task and the muscle to achieve it, A fierce noon and a well-contented gloom, A good strife and no great regret to leave it, A still night--and the far red lights of home._

H. H. BASHFORD.

Almighty God, we thank Thee that Thou art our Father, and that Thou lovest us as though Thou hadst no other children; we adore Thee for the beautiful world in which Thou hast placed us; for trees and birds and flowers and sky, for friends and music and books and all the ten thousand mercies which crown our lives. We thank Thee too, for hard tasks and severe disciplines, for everything that is intended to make us strong and brave and true. Thou art the Lord of the day and of the night also. Give us grace to trust Thee and to believe in Thy motherly solicitude at all times. May Thy goodness lead us to repentance and to joyous unselfish living and may we so improve our opportunities for service that we shall make others think of Him who went about doing good and trusted in His Father with a perfect trust. Amen.

DILLON BRONSON.

January 8

_Have we not all, amid life's petty strife, Some pure ideal of a noble life That once seemed possible? Did we not hear The flutter of its wings and feel it near, And just within our reach? It was. And yet We lost it in this daily jar and fret. But still our place is kept and it will wait, Ready for us to fill it, soon or late. No star is ever lost we once have seen: We always may be what we might have been._

ADELAIDE A. PROCTER.

O Thou, whose goodness is new to us every morning and fresh every evening, we bless Thee for Thy patient and unforgetting care of all of us. Though we transgress Thy beneficent laws and frequently lose sight of our cherished ideals, our hunger and thirst for righteousness never dies, for we partake of Thy Divine Nature. O that we might always be animated with Thy spirit of disinterested Love. We thank Thee this day for the inspiration of light and joy of our gifted poets and pray that we may meet the daily trials of life with a sweet and courageous spirit, remembering that "no star we have ever seen will cease to shine." Amen.

WILLIAM G. BABCOCK.

January 9

_The future is lighted for us with the radiant colors of hope. Strife and sorrow shall disappear. Peace and love shall reign supreme. The dream of poets, the lesson of priest and prophet, the inspiration of the great musician, is confirmed in the light of modern knowledge; and, as we gird ourselves for the work of life, we may look forward to the time when in the truest sense the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords._

JOHN FISKE.

All-wise and all-loving Father, we invoke Thy aid at the opening of a glad, new day. For the past we thank Thee, remembering that each day yielded its blessings. We rejoice that the victories of yesterday are the promise of larger successes today. Whenever during the day, we shall be conscious of our littleness, give us at that moment the vision of our possible largeness. Teach us, however tumultuous be the outward conditions, to maintain the inward calm. Today may Thy love work its miracle upon our pain and pleasure. So through faithful, hopeful work may we find Thy kingdom nearer at this day's close. Amen.

A. EUGENE BARTLETT.

January 10

_Blessings on the man who smiles! I do not mean the man who smiles for effect, nor the one who smiles when the world smiles. I mean the man whose smile is born of an inner radiance, the man who smiles when the clouds lower, when fortune frowns, when the tides are adverse. Such a man not only makes a new world for himself, but he multiplies himself an hundred fold in the strength and courage of other men._

GEORGE L. PERIN.

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our Father in heaven and on the earth! Give to us of Thy blessedness that all this day we may rejoice in Thee. Incline our hearts to see Thy goodness and wisdom. Make the gladness of our hearts constant that it may illumine our presence, so that those who walk with us may walk in Thy light and give Thee thanks. Make Thy joy our strength, whether expressed in storm or sunshine, that we may consent to Thy will cheerfully. We ask these and all gifts in the name of Him who would have His joy abide in us, that our joy may be fulfilled. Amen.

ALEXANDER MCKENZIE.

January 11

_Talk happiness! The world is sad enough, Without your woes. No path is wholly rough; Look for the places that are smooth and clear And speak of those who rest the weary ear Of earth, so hurt by one continuous strain Of human discontent and grief and pain._

_Talk health! The dreary, never changing tale Of mortal maladies is worn and stale. You cannot charm or interest or please, By harping on that minor chord, disease. Say you are well, or all is well with you, And God shall hear your words and make them true._

ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.

Heavenly Father, by whose mercy we are permitted to greet another day, we offer Thee this morning our grateful praise for all the blessings of this life. We take from Thee with thankful heart the gift of health, conscious that we shall never know how rich the gift until we lose it. Now, while it is ours, may we use it with abounding joy for the good of those we may meet this day. To be able to bring light where there is darkness, hope where there is despair, comfort where there is sorrow, and so to be the children of our Father which is in Heaven, for this we pray, with the pardon of our sins, in Jesus' name. Amen.

FRANCIS H. ROWLEY.

January 12

_The crest and crowning of all good, Life's final star, is Brotherhood; For it will bring again to Earth Her long-lost Poesy and Mirth; Will send new light on every face, A kingly power upon the race, And till it comes, we men are slaves, And travel downward to the dust of graves. Come clear the way, then, clear the way; Blind creeds and kings have had their day, Our hope is in the aftermath-- Our hope is in heroic men, Star-led to build the world again. To this event the ages ran; Make way for Brotherhood--make way for Man._

EDWIN MARKHAM.

O Lord, make us like Thee. There can be no greater ambition, no loftier desire, no holier purpose, for Thou holdest the secret of Brotherhood. Like Thee, the only begotten of the Father, the essence of love, the joy of angels, the hope of the world,--make us like Thee, O Christ. Let Thy light be our light; thy service our joy; Thy peace our inheritance. Touch our lips that we may say no unkind word; touch our hearts that we may feel no wrong desires. May our living be for the world's good, our acts precious helps to Thy kingdom, our all consecrated to Thy blessed service. May we be satisfied when we awake with Thy likeness. Amen.

WILLIAM H. MAIN.

January 13

_If there be some weaker one, Give me strength to help him on; If a blinder soul there be, Let me guide him nearer Thee. Make my mortal dreams come true With the work I fain would do; Clothe with life the weak intent, Let me be the thing I meant; Let me find in Thine employ Peace that dearer is than joy!_

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.

Heavenly Father! We humbly beseech Thee to breathe upon us Thy Holy Spirit, that we may be Thy true disciples, that we may be quick to see our brother's need, and quicker to relieve it. If he has lost his way, may we be aided to show it to him clearly. May we see our brother in the Master's "prodigal," and find in every needy soul our sphere of service. Forgive our weak excuses, and make the flickering embers burn to fervent heat, that the ideal Thou hast given in Thy Word may command every power of our lives. For Jesus' sake, Amen.

GEORGE WHITAKER.

January 14

_A German allegory tells of two little girls. They had been playing together in a strange garden, and soon one ran in to her mother full of disappointment. "The garden's a sad place, mother." "Why, my child?" "I've been all around, and every rose-tree has cruel, long thorns upon it!" Then the second child came in breathless. "O Mother, the garden's a beautiful place!" "How so, my child?" "Why, I've been all around, and every thorn-bush has lovely roses growing on it!" And the mother wondered at the difference in the two children._

ANONYMOUS.

Divine Spirit and Soul of this day! We rejoice in its accomplished and its prophetic beauty and wealth which even our undisciplined hearts and minds may readily perceive, but may we increase the joy of its activities and its whole divine meaning by a deeper appreciation of its ministry to the disciplined life we bear. If there shall be fortunes in its passing which we would not choose, if there shall be encountered any experiences we would shun, may we remember that our reverses only emphasize our successes, that our sorrows intensify our joys, that even the humiliation and shame of the "far country" add divine meaning to the Father's House where wait the sandals and robes and rings for the comfort and beauty that are yet to be. May we learn that the thorn protects the rose, that the flaming sword turning in all directions protects the Tree of Life in every Eden of the world. May we remember that every great and good fortune of life is guarded by a seeming hostility which bears in its soul the secret of a lasting benevolence appointed for our own good. Amen.

E. L. REXFORD.

January 15

_We are haunted by an ideal life, and it is because we have within us the beginning and the possibility of it. God is our continual incitement because we are His children. So the ideal life is in our blood and never will be still. We feel the thing we ought to be beating beneath the thing we are. Every time we see a man who has attained our ideal a little more fully than we have it wakens our languid blood and fills us with new longings._

PHILLIPS BROOKS.

O God, we thank Thee each morning for ideals which appeal to us with such persistence that we have no peace unless we pursue them. Even in our seeming indifference we are ill at ease, because Thy voice calling to us disturbs our fancied content. We are not satisfied with ourselves nor with our attainments. "We shall be satisfied only when we wake in Thy likeness." Weary though we often are in our service yet we thank Thee that Thou relentlessly pursuest us with even greater and higher demands. Help us in our onward and upward plodding. Revive our failing spirits. Lead us ever on. Help us to realize that "in our patience we shall win our souls." We pray as followers of Jesus Christ. Amen.

THEODORE A. FISCHER.

January 16

_O Singer of today, this glorious hour Is all for you and me--what shall it give To us, and ask of fate--what splendid power In brain and hand, what glorious right to live Among our fellows and to war with sin? What quickening of the pulse as we aspire To claim our right, and risk earth's joys to win, To conquer self, and force it through the fire! Give us this force, dear God, and evermore Give us a deepening love of all our fellowmen; Give us new insight--courage to explore With all the tenderness of human ken The lowliest heart that beats in human kind, Its glory and its soul to seek and find!_

WILLIAM ORDWAY PARTRIDGE.

O Soul of all souls! Baptize us afresh this morning into the lustral waters that we may devoutly thank Thee that Thou art and that Thou dost clearly reveal Thyself to Christian souls through Thy Son, as the Father of the great brotherhood of mankind. So wait upon us that we shall go forth to this day's duties resolved upon so living as to render the morning glad, the noon redolent with merciful activity, and the evening full of praise. Thus quickened and enlarged the night will afford rest and recuperation fitting us to welcome the morrow, still hoping, loving, progressing, obedient to the sainted call, "Up higher," being incessantly recompensed with the coveted refrain, "Well done." Amen.

S. H. MCCOLLESTER.

January 17

_There is one topic peremptorily forbidden to all well-bred, to all rational mortals, namely, their distempers. If you have not slept or if you have slept, or if you have headache, or sciatica, or leprosy or thunder stroke, I beseech you, by all angels, to hold your peace, and not pollute the morning, to which all the housemates bring serene and pleasant thoughts, by corruption and groans._

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

Our Father, when we remember the multitude of Thy mercies our hearts are filled with peace and praise and we are ashamed to murmur and complain. Turn our thoughts toward the love and joy that this day holds for us; its opportunities, its privileges and victories. Let the morning light dispel the shadows on our faces and the fears in our hearts. Thou hast glorified us and will glorify us again. Help us to be grateful for the rose that smiles amidst the thorns and the light that ever shines behind the clouds. Grant that the spirit of trust may prevail in us and send us on our way with power to conquer. Amen.

ABRAM CONKLIN.

January 18

_Simplicity is a state of mind. It dwells in the main intention of our lives. A man is simple when his chief care is the wish to be what he ought to be, that is, honestly and naturally human. And this is neither so easy nor so impossible as one might think. At bottom it consists in putting our acts and aspirations in accordance with the law of our being, and consequently with the Eternal Intention which willed that we should be at all. Let a flower be a flower, a swallow a swallow, a rock a rock, and let a man be a man, and not a fox, a hare, a hog, or a bird of prey; this is the sum of the whole matter._

CHARLES WAGNER.

Dear Heavenly Father, we rejoice in the awakening of body and soul to new activities. We thank Thee for the gift of divinity in the soul and for opportunity to give it expression. We would be true to ourselves, knowing we can thus alone be true to Thee. O God, hush the voice of evil passion. Quicken every noble aspiration. Grant the vision of Thy holy love that Thy image within us may remain clear in the turmoil of our life. We pray Thee stir the heart and mind that both may grow up to the full stature of man as it was in Jesus, our Saviour. Amen.

L. WARD BRIGHAM.

January 19

_God has put the keys to His kingdom into your own hands. Your intelligence is a key, your affection is a key, your conscience is a key. With these keys you are to unlock the great doors of life, and gain access to its heavenly treasures._

JAMES M. PULLMAN.

Master of life, as Thou hast opened our eyes to see the sun, open the eyes of our hearts to see the splendor of Thy law. And even as Thou dost bring to birth, through the marriage of our eye and the sun, all the beauty of this visible world, so through the union between our hearts and Thy holy will, create a world rejoicing in the beauty of truth and justice and peace. Lead us this day deeper into the mystery of Thy life and our life and make us interpreters of life to our fellows, through Him who by His death opened for us the book of life, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

HENRY S. NASH.

January 20

_A noiseless, patient spider, I mark'd how on a little promontory it stood isolated, Mark'd how to explore the vacant, vast surrounding, It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself, Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them._

_And you, O my soul, where you stand, Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space, Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them, Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold, Till the gossamer threads you fling catch somewhere O my soul._

WALT WHITMAN.

Thou Infinite Spirit, we are glad of all human relationships. We are thankful for all companionship with nature. We rejoice in the fellowship with books, yet like the child who grows tired with every plaything and every childish task and lonely for a mother's love, we look to Thee with an infinite longing. In our effort to solve the problems of life, we throw our web of life hither and thither, but it will not hold. Only when at last we have thrown the thread of faith to Thee, shall the ductile anchor hold. Our Heavenly Father, as we go forth into this day, may we not leave Thee for any dream or phantom, but may we walk with Thee all day long, and find in Thee the answer to every longing and the solution of every problem. Though we may not see, we may trust and wait. Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

January 21

_Do not think of your faults, still less of others' faults; in every person who comes near you, look for what is good and strong; honor that; rejoice in it; and as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes._

RUSKIN.

_With a clear sky, a bright sun, and a gentle breeze, you will have friends in plenty; but let fortune frown, and the firmament be overcast, and then your friends will prove like the strings of the lute, of which you will tighten ten before you find one that will bear the stretch and keep the pitch._

GOTTHOLD.

Dear Father, may the new day bring some fresh and inspiring thought of Thyself. May it give some tender communion with the universe, kindling into beauty as Thy smile shines through. May we make and keep a few dear friends. May some good book enrich the passing hours. May love flow through all acts, and the star of hope shine in all shadows. And trusting Thee supremely, may we humbly do our best that good may abound on earth. Amen.

JOSEPH H. CROOKER.

January 22

_The power of mere activity is often overrated. It is not what the best men do, but what they are, that constitutes their truest benefaction to their fellowmen. The things that men do get their value, after all, from the way in which they are able to show the existence of character which can comfort and help mankind.... It is the lives, like the stars, which simply pour down on us the calm light of their bright and faithful being, up to which we look and out of which we gather the deepest calm and courage._

PHILLIPS BROOKS.

Thou knowest, dear Father, how often we wish to do many things which are beyond our power. Help us to believe that Thou dost accept the wish when we cannot do the deed. But we thank Thee that we can do some things, though they are not large nor many. We know that as we grow in faith, in patience, in courage, in love, we radiate light and peace and power to those who are around us. As we begin a new day, we are uplifted by the thought that we have been called into being because Thou desirest the love of children, and because we are to co-work with Thee by loving and serving all whom we can reach. Always, we believe, art Thou ready to help us. Always art Thou brooding over us to draw us nearer to Thee, and to give us light and strength to be fellow-workers with Thee. In this new day, may we speak some word and do some work which shall please Thee and give us joy as we shall lie down to sleep. Amen.

HENRY BLANCHARD.

January 23

_We pride ourselves, in weighing worth and merit, Too much in virtues that we but inherit. Some punctual grandsire makes us hate delay And we are proud to keep our oath and day. But our ancestral follies and abuses We still indulge in, and make for them excuses. Let him be proud, dared man be proud at all, Who stands where all his fathers used to fall, Holding their virtues fast and passing on Still higher good through his own victories won._

ISAAC OGDEN RANKIN.

This morning, the sun shines by his own inherent worth. The clouds often intercept his influence but he shines back of them and finds a way through the slightest cleft to tip them with glory. He always reveals himself--his inner self--and makes all purer and more beautiful. May we so shine! The world needs the divinity there is in us. We are a part of Thee. Thou art our deeper self. The Nazarean prophet relied entirely upon his inner life and found ancient good uncouth. Whatever clouds intercept our influence, teach us to reveal what conscience dictates, what intuition illumines, what reason shows, to purify our time, and all unrighteousness, wrong thinking and useless and hurtful custom. To this end, give us purity, courage, and nobility. Amen.

WILLIAM S. MORGAN.

January 24

_My faith begins where your religion ends,-- In service to mankind. This single thread Is given to guide us through the maze of life. You start at one end, I the other; you, With eyes fixed only upon God, begin With lofty faith, and, seeking but to know And do His will who guides the universe, You find the slender and mysterious thread Leads down to earth, with God's divine command To help your fellowmen; but this to me Is something strangely vague. I see alone The fellowmen, the suffering fellowmen. Yet, with a cup of water in my hand For all who thirst, who knows but I one day, Following faithfully the slender thread, May reach its other end, and kneel at last With you in heaven at the feet of God?_

ALICE WELLINGTON ROLLINS.

Our Father in heaven, author of life and light, justice and mercy, liberty and love, we hail with joy and gratitude this new born day, token of Thy presence, good will and continued care. Help us with high ideals, pure thoughts and noble endeavors to hallow Thy name, trusting where we cannot prove, proving where we cannot trust, by a willing service to our fellowmen, ever advancing by faith, by works, with a strong heart, a firm step, a generous hand, a sunny smile, and a cheering voice, until we all come into the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

HENRY N. COUDEN.

January 25

_If you would have sunlight in your home, see that you have work in it: that you work yourself and set others to work. Nothing makes moroseness and heavy-heartedness in a house so fast as idleness. The very children gloom and sulk if they are left with nothing to do. Every day there is the light of something conquered in the eyes of those who work. In such a house, if there be also the good temper of love, sunshine never ceases. For in it the great law of humanity is obeyed, a law which is also God's law. For what said Christ, "My Father worketh hitherto and I work." Sunlight comes with work._

STOPFORD A. BROOKE.