Part 20
_I love Thee, O Son of Man! for Thy strength and Thy sweetness, for Thy simplicity, Thy courage, Thine infinite tenderness, for Thy glance which strengthens and pardons us, quickens us and lifts us up; for all that Thou hast brought us of consolation, of peace and of warmth of heart. Abide Thou with us! Teach us to see the divine spark imprisoned in every stone of the highway._
CHARLES WAGNER.
O Lord, our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for all Thy manifold mercies to us, for all Thy constant care and watchfulness over us from the beginning of our lives to this day, for the revelations of Thy presence in the world about us, in the shining sky, in the earth beneath our feet, and in the faces of our friends. Bless us, O Lord, this day, with health and strength and a good courage, and grant that we may show our gratitude for all Thy goodness not only with our lips but in our lives, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
GEORGE HODGES.
December 20
_In every "Oh my Father!" Slumbers deep a "Here, my child."_
THOLUCK.
_This world, with its wonderful creations, its beauties, and mysteries may lead a child up to the father's throne, if his heart and mind are open to it. Fill the heart with goodness and there is no place for badness. Fill the soul with heaven, and there is no hell. And this delightful time will come when "God is all and in all."_
ABBIE E. DANFORTH.
Our Father, who art in heaven; we know that Thou hast been good to us. We thank Thee for the daily witnesses of Thy love. And we would walk worthily before Thee. But we are weak. Help us, O Father to see clearly what Thou would'st have us do! Give us strength. Fill us with Thy spirit, that all the way we may be pure and patient. Help us to walk aright. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
CHARLES H. PUFFER.
December 21
_Grand is the seen, the light, to me--grand are the sky and stars, Grand is the earth, and grand are lasting time and space, And grand their laws, so multiform, puzzling, evolutionary; But grander far the unseen soul of me, comprehending, endowing all those, Lighting the light, the sky and stars, delving the earth, sailing the sea, (What were all those, indeed, without thee, unseen soul? of what amount without Thee?) More evolutionary, vast, puzzling, O my soul! More multiform far--more lasting Thou than they._
WALT WHITMAN.
O Thou, our Heavenly Father, in spirit we reach out to Thy great spirit. Quicken within us visions of what things we may do this day, with Thee at hand, Thy love abounding. Give us vision that we may rise to the opportunities of our daily task. Let Thy holy spirit bear witness to the reality of our dreams and aspirations, that we may look not idly upon our opportunities, but rather that each new opportunity shall challenge us to nobler effort. O keep us this day full of faith in ourselves and Thee, each obedient to our vision, until full purposed, winning Thine approval, we shall accomplish the thing for which Thou sendest us, and Thine be the glory. Amen.
JAMES D. TILLINGHAST.
December 22
_I see the wrong that round me lies, I feel the guilt within, With groan and travail cries I hear the world confess its sin._
_Within the maddening maze of things, And tossed by storm and flood, To one fixed stake my spirit clings: I know that God is good._
_I know not where his islands lift Their fronded palms in air; I only know I cannot drift Beyond His love and care._
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.
O Thou, without whose care a sparrow does not fall, who through the pathless sky dost guide the bird seeking its distant nest, Thy trusting children are safe in Thy dear love. We know not the way before us, but Thou dost know; our feet may stumble in rough paths, but Thou wilt hold us up. Glad in this confidence, may we begin the day with song and finish it, whatever may befall us, in the calm assurance that all things work for good. Give us patience in perplexity, hope amid our fears, and faith to trust Thy holy will as best. Thus walking in Thy love may we reach home at last to see our Saviour's face. Amen.
STEPHEN A. NORTON.
December 23
_Wouldst make thy life go fair and square? Thou must not for the past feel care; Whatever thy loss, thou must not mourn; Must ever act as if new-born. What each day wants of thee, that ask; What each day tells thee, that make thy task; With pride thine own performance viewing, With heart to admire another's doing; Above all, hate no human being, And all the future leave to the All-Seeing._
GOETHE.
Dear Father, grateful for another new-born day, myself new-born, I greet Thee! Yesterday and all other yesterdays are in Thy keeping. _This day is mine!_ For the failures of the past I care not, nor do I mourn the losses of the days gone by. _Today I am new-born!_ Indeed, aspiring to Thy comprehensive wisdom, I may see my past and my present as one, and out of that past I may select--even from failures and losses--such experiences and lessons as will help me live the present--at least this one day which is mine!--more nobly, more fully, more usefully, more beautifully. May I, knowing myself to be Thy Child, respect myself as a creative spirit able to look upon its own work and to say: "Behold, it is good!" And above all, I pray: that, to-day and always, I may grow in grace and loving-kindness,--hating no one, but feeling, thinking, speaking, acting with good will towards all Thy creatures! _This day is mine!_ The future I leave to Thee, All-Seeing Father! but feel myself Thy open-eyed and confident child. Amen.
CHARLES FLEISCHER.
December 24
_'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home; A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there, Which sought through the world is ne'er met with elsewhere._
_An exile from home splendor dazzles in vain, Oh give me my lowly thatched cottage again; The birds singing gaily, that came at my call, Give me them, and that peace of mind dearer than all._
J. HOWARD PAYNE.
O God, our Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the blessings of home; for the shelter, safety, and hallowed associations of our domestic habitation; for the sympathy and helpfulness of family relationship. Help us we pray thee to make ours an ideal household, bright with cheerfulness, an exemplification of Christian faith and hope. May the happiness of all be the object of each. To that end help us to be patient toward one another, kind and forgiving. May we realize by many beatific experiences that it is better to give than to receive, better to serve than to be served. May we be disposed, as occasion may arise, to share, for a season, the comfort and inspiration of our home with those who are homeless. We thank Thee for the bright assurance that beyond the fading scenes and transitory experiences of this life, there is, awaiting us, an eternal abiding place in "a continuing city" whose maker and builder is God, where there shall be no more parting, and where the shadows of our present life shall forever flee away. Amen.
CHARLES CONKLIN.
December 25
_That ever-vivid scene of Bethlehem.... A father, a mother, and a child are there. No religion which began like that could ever lose its character. The first unit of human life, the soul, is there, in the new-born personality of the childhood. But the second unit of human life, the family, is just as truly there in the familiar relation of husband and wife and the sacred, eternal mystery of motherhood._
PHILLIPS BROOKS.
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth Peace." We take up the angel symphony and give it new breath, this gladsome day of days. Thou who didst send Thy Son in the likeness of a little child, that by His life of increase in love and beauty and wisdom and power He might give us courage to begin as children the obedience that alone leads at last to the measure of the stature of His fulness, accept our unutterable gratitude for all that gift. And oh, may He be born in us and formed in us, the hope of glory, that so we may share His peace, His victory, His exaltation, His union with Thee. Amen.
C. ELLWOOD NASH.
December 26
Two are the pathways by which mankind can to virtue mount upward; If thou shouldst find the one barr'd, open the other will lie. 'Tis by exertion the Happy obtain her, the Suffering by patience, Blest is the man whose kind fate guides him along upon both!
SCHILLER.
O Thou who hast kept us safely during the unconsciousness of our slumbering hours, and brought us refreshed to this morning light, prepare us for the duties of this day by filling us with the assurance that we are Thine, and that Thou lovest us. Help us to be more like Thee, to love Thee more and serve Thee better. May we manifest our love to Thee by our willingness to be of service to our fellowmen. Make us warm-hearted and true, helpful and kind, reflecting Thy love and doing Thy will. We are glad to live in this beautiful world. And we pray that we may be faithful co-laborers with Jesus Christ, in being light, love and joy to all lives. Amen.
CHARLES R. TENNEY.
December 27
_Stronger, and more frequently, comes the temptation to stop singing, and let discord do its own wild work. But blessed are they that endure to the end,--singing patiently and sweetly, till all join in with loving acquiescence, and universal harmony prevails, without forcing into submission the free discord of a single voice._
_This is the hardest and the bravest task which a true soul has to perform amid the clashing elements of time. But once has it been done perfectly unto the end; and that voice--so clear in its meekness--is heard above all the din of a tumultuous world: one after another chimes in with its patient sweetness; and, through infinite discords, the listening soul can perceive that the great tune is slowly coming into harmony._
LYDIA MARIA CHILD.
Our Father, who art in heaven! We thank Thee that we are permitted to see the light, engage in the duties and enter into the experiences of this new day. We thank Thee for the order and harmony of this wonderful universe; that every force and law and being supports and balances every other force, law and being; that every life contributes to or may contribute to the welfare of every other life, and we pray, that each one of us may come into such relations with Thee, the great harmonizing soul of things, as to add our little note to the full anthem of perpetual and adorable praise. In Christ's dear name, we ask and offer all. Amen.
A. J. PATTERSON.
December 28
_It is said that a friend once asked the great composer, Haydn, why his church music was always so full of gladness. He answered, "I cannot make it otherwise; I write according to the thoughts I feel; when I think upon my God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap from my pen; and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit."_
_Pardoned? Nay, it will be praised and rewarded. For God looks with approval and man turns with gratitude to everyone who shows by a cheerful life that religion is a blessing for this world and the next._
HENRY VAN DYKE.
Our Father in Heaven, we awake this morning with a sense of thankfulness for the beauty and glory of Thy creation. We praise Thee that as Thy children we can be conscious of the kingdom of heaven always about us. So we pray for that attitude of mind and spirit of soul that will unlock for us the divine life. Help us to be conscious of Thee in all the varied experiences of this day. If it shall be a day of burdens, give us strength to play our part uncomplainingly, if a day of joy to accept it with true gratitude; and when the shades of night shall call us to our rest, may our memory of the day bring us peace. Amen.
EDWARD C. DOWNEY.
December 29
_Ah, don't be sorrowful, darling, And don't be sorrowful, pray; Taking the year together, my dear, There isn't more night than day._
_'Tis rainy weather, my darling; Time's waves they heavily run; But taking the year together, my dear, There isn't more cloud than sun._
ALICE CARY.
We thank Thee, heavenly Father, for the days just as they come. Nor would we measure the sunshine against the storm as if to test Thy goodness by some petty form of bookkeeping. Thou presidest over all our days, and whatever may be the face of nature we trust Thy love. Let us go forth today, not in critical mood nor despondent mood but in the mood of high Christian faith, anxious, not to test Thy providence, but ready to do our own part, taking care to hold our cup of blessing open-side up; so shall it catch the manna when it falls. Then shall each passing day be full of blessing. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
December 30
_Fades the rose; the year grows old; The tale is told; Youth doth depart-- Only stays the heart._
_Ah, no! if stays the heart, Youth can ne'er depart, Nor the sweet tale be told-- Never the rose fade, nor the year grow old._
RICHARD WATSON GILDER.
Dear Father, we thank Thee for the year now coming to its close, and for all that has blessed us in it. Help us to keep the good wherewith it has done us good in lasting memory. By the flight of time which its passing emphasizes move us to earnestness in the labors committed to our hands. Beyond this help us that we may be undisturbed, remembering that Thou art our dwelling place, and that we are the children of Thy love and the sharers of Thy everlastingness. So may we keep the vision of youth, the vision to which endings are but beginnings, the good leading to the better, and the best forever more. May Thy blessing be upon all whom we love and should pray for in this and every day, in Jesus' name. Amen.
CHARLES R. TENNEY.
December 31
_Be not afraid, dear friend. What of sickness! What of sorrow! What of failure! What of misfortune! What of death! Is not this God's world? Are not you God's child? Go forth into the New Year with brave heart. When fortune smiles, smile with her. When fortune frowns, smile the more, and trust in God._
GEORGE L. PERIN.
Our Heavenly Father, we stand upon the utmost verge of the old year. Forgetting the things that are behind, we stand with our faces looking earnestly into the future. We do not despise the past, we do not forget its manifold blessings. We do not forget that Thou hast been with us in the old year; for all this we would be grateful. With clear vision and earnestness of purpose, we would stand looking into the future expectantly, ready for its duties and its responsibilities; yet not ostentatiously nor with over-confidence, for we know our own infirmities, our own weaknesses. We would enter upon the New Year with confidence, not because of our own strength, but because of Thy living presence. Thou art always with us, Thou art pouring out Thy spirit upon us. O Lord, let us believe in Thee, and believing, let us have a heart for any fate. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
Services for Special Days
_Good Friday_ _Easter_ _Thanksgiving Day_ _Birth of a Baby_ _Child's Birthday_ _Father's Birthday_ _Mother's Birthday_ _General Birthday_
Good Friday
_Why dost thou glare so fierce O Death, as thou wouldst pierce, With thine uplifted dart, My sinking heart?_
_Yet though men fear thee so Wherever thou dost go, And tremble at thy feet, Thou art a cheat!_
_Though men thy pity crave, Though naught from thee can save, Thy Master rules above, Thou servest Love._
HENRY NEHEMIAH DODGE.
O Thou, who didst not spare Thine own Son, but didst deliver Him up for us all, we cannot ask Thee to withhold us from our Gethsemane nor even from our Calvary. But when Thou callest us to go down into the gloom or up to the cross, remember, O God, that we are dust. Might we so dwell with Thee in Thy secret place, as to abide under Thy shadow! There, sheltered and unafraid, we should sustain the rod as eager for its chastening stroke, praying only for wisdom to learn its lesson and acquire its discipline. With the picture of the crucified Savior before us, we only cry this day as He taught us, Thy will be done. Amen.
C. ELLWOOD NASH.
Easter
_See, in that rock-hewn garden sepulchre, The Holy One of God, despised and slain, With nail-torn hands and feet, and spear-pierced side, His gentle brow by mocking thorns defaced; See where He lies, obedient unto death. Into that pallid face the glow of life Begins to steal, while silent and in awe The heavenly watchers stand. Now they with haste Unwind the scented wrappings from His form That fill the place with rich aromas rare, Perfume of spicery and sweet spikenard's breath Lingering since Love her alabastron broke, And with her tresses wiped these tear-bathed feet. And then, their joyful faces all aglow Like flashing sunbeams, quickly by a touch They roll away the stone with jarring shock, As if an earthquake passed, and sitting there Behold their Lord go forth, Death's Conqueror!_
HENRY NEHEMIAH DODGE.
O Thou Eternal One, who gatherest our fleeting moments into Thy permanence, when we draw close to Thee the terrors of change and vicissitude pass away, and a sense of the stability and security of all that is good brings us peace. We rejoice to know through Thy gospel that "life is ever lord of death." "Thou didst not suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption," and we trust that because He lives we shall live also. O grant that, believing in Him, we may not see death save as a door to more abounding life, and so realize our privilege daily to be risen with Him in the newness and power of an endless life. Amen.
C. ELLWOOD NASH.
Thanksgiving
_Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands._
_Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing._
_Know ye that the Lord He is God; it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture._
_Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name._
_For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations._
PSALM 100.
For days of health, for nights of quiet sleep; for seasons of bounty and of beauty, for all earth's contributions to our need through this past year: Good Lord, we thank Thee. For our country's shelter; for our homes; for the joy of faces, and the joy of hearts that love: for the power of great examples; for holy ones who lead us in the ways of life and love: for our powers of growth; for longings to be better and do more; for Ideals that ever rise above our real: for opportunities well used; for opportunities unused, and even those misused: Good Lord, we humbly thank Thee! For our temptations, and for any victory over sins that close beset us; for the gladness that abides with loyalty and the peace of the return: for the blessedness of service and the power to fit ourselves to others' needs: for our necessities to work; for burdens, pain, and disappointments, means of growth; for sorrow; for death: for all that brings us nearer to each other, nearer to ourselves, near to Thee; for Life: We thank Thee, O our Father!
WILLIAM C. GANNETT.
Birth of a Baby
_Where did you come from, baby dear? Out of the everywhere into the here._
_Where did you get your eyes so blue? Out of the sky as I came through._
_What makes the light in them sparkle and spin? Some of the starry spikes left in._
_Where did you get that little tear? I found it waiting when I got here._
_What makes your forehead so smooth and high? A soft hand stroked it as I went by._
_What makes your cheek like a warm white rose? Something better than anyone knows._
_Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss? Three angels gave me at once a kiss._
_Where did you get those arms and hands? Love made itself into hooks and bands._
_Feet, whence did you come, you darling things? From the same box as the cherub's wings._
_How did they all just come to be you? God thought about me, and so I grew._
_But how did you come to us, you dear? God thought of You, and so I am here._
GEORGE MACDONALD
Fresh from the Gates of Heaven, our Father, this dear child has come, opening in our hearts springs of new and deeper affection. We thank Thee for this life whose coming has filled our lives with sunshine. Teach us how to live that we may guide it aright, so that as the years pass more and more sunlight shall be radiated. Even as Thine angels kissed the sweet rosebud lips and left a smile thereon, so may we kiss away the tears of life. Heavenly Father, we consecrate this child to Thy service. We pray that the ears may learn to listen for Thy voice, speaking in truth and purity. May the tiny hands be ever ready to do a service of love and may the feet be swift to do Thy bidding. Tenderly guide this precious child, for it needs Thy guidance, and safely guard it through all the years, lest it go astray. This we ask in the name of Him who took little children in His arms and blessed them, saying--"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven." Amen.
FLORENCE H. PERIN.
A Child's Birthday
_A dreary place would be this earth, Were there no little people in it: The song of life would lose its mirth, Were there no children to begin it:_
_No little forms, like buds to grow, And make the admiring heart surrender: No little hands on breast and brow, To keep the thrilling love-chords tender._
_The sterner souls would grow more stern, Unfeeling nature more inhuman, And man to stoic coldness turn, And woman would be less than woman._
_Life's song, indeed, would lose its charm, Were there no babies to begin it; A doleful place this world would be, Were there no little people in it._
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.
Our dear Heavenly Father, Thou lookest upon us all as Thy children,--whether our hair be flaxen or brown or white with age. We thank Thee today for the children of our own household, for our children, and all the children, and especially do we thank Thee for the one whose birthday we celebrate here to-day. May Thy blessing be upon him (her), may the skies be bright over his (her) head,--may the birds sing to him (her). May the flowers blossom around his (her) pathway. Thro' all the journey of this life let him (her) have the guidance of Thy Father hand. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
A Father's Birthday
_The boy enjoyed this kind of a father at the time, and later he came to understand, with a grateful heart, that there is no richer inheritance in all the treasury of unearned blessings. For, after all, the love, the patience, the kindly wisdom of a grown man who can enter into the perplexities and turbulent impulses of a boy's heart, and give him cheerful companionship, and lead him on by free and joyful ways to know and choose the things that are pure and lovely and of good report, make as fair an image as we can find of that loving, patient Wisdom which must be above us all if any good is to come out of our childish race._
HENRY VAN DYKE.