Part 4

_Let us learn to be content with what we have. Let us get rid of our false estimates, set up all the higher ideals--a quiet home; vines of our own planting; a few books full of the inspiration of a genius; a few friends worthy of being loved, and able to love us in return; a hundred innocent pleasures that bring no pain or remorse; a devotion to the right that will never swerve; a simple religion empty of all bigotry, full of trust and hope and love--and to such a philosophy this world will give up all the empty joy it has._

DAVID SWING.

Thou gracious Spirit of Life, our Father, at the beginning of this new day we wait for a moment before Thee with uncovered heads and with reverent spirits; Thou knowest us through and through, whatever man may think of us Thou knowest just what we are. In Thy sight we need not pretend; we need not make believe, we need only be simple and genuine and brave and earnest. We need be glad in the possession of what we have. Help us this day to rightly value that which is good and honest. Let us for this day at least, put away all vanity and give ourselves unreservedly to Thy service and the love of our fellow men. To this high end, may we have the sweet companionship of Jesus. Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

February 14

_We go through life as some tourists go through Europe,--so anxious to see the next sight, the next cathedral, the next picture, the next mountain peak, that we never stop to fill our sense with the beauty of the present one. Along all our pathways sweet flowers are blossoming, if we will only stop to pluck them and smell their fragrance. In every meadow, birds are warbling, calling to their mates, and soaring into the blue, if we will only stop our grumbling long enough to hear them._

MINOT J. SAVAGE.

Give us, O God, the vision to see the way where duty lies and strength to walk in it, to ever keep the forward look and never to lose heart today because of the stumblings and fallings in the yesterdays that are forever gone. Let us remember that we are in Thy hands and we are faithless to Thee and to ourselves if knowingly we fail to do Thy work. Though we cannot see Thee, we now see our fellow men and we shall best serve Thee if, in love and patience, we help our fellows. Amen.

ALMON GUNNISON.

February 15

_May I reach That purest Heaven--be to other souls The cup of strength in some great agony, Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love, Beget the smiles that have no cruelty, Be that sweet presence of a good diffused, And in diffusion ever more intense! So shall I join the choir invisible, Whose music is the gladness of the world._

GEORGE ELIOT.

Our heavenly Father, we bless Thee for the gift of another day with all its opportunities for service. And we pray that our hearts may respond in sympathy with the heartbeats of those who love and toil and suffer around us today. May we learn to make their joys and sorrows our own. Do not let our unfeeling hands strike the heart-strings of others harshly, nor allow our feet to go crushing roses of love, without thought. Help us, we pray Thee, to walk tenderly and reverently among our fellow men. May their hopes and noble endeavors ring within us the prayer bells of the soul. Make us thus to grow large and tender and noble through our helpful ministries. Amen.

JOHN WESLEY CARTER.

February 16

_Ah, love and love alone at last will solve All the vast, threatening questions that distract Mankind; that fellow-men in strife array, And the whole world with fierce contentions rend. Still keep your idle millions under arms-- Fed on the hard-earned substance of the poor-- Still watch each other with keen jealousy, Still slaughter thousands on the field of war, Or strive with statesman's craft to arbitrate; Thread the sly mazes of diplomacy, Try communistic cures for every ill, And when all fails at last, for lack of love, Try love--the mightiest of them all--and win!_

HENRY NEHEMIAH DODGE.

God of the light,--within, without, who hast lifted the curtain of night from our abodes, perfect now Thy blessing unto us, and take the veil from all our hearts, and make clear to us Thy holy presence. Filled with the everlasting light, may we look on each other, and on our work here below, and on the strifes and conditions of humanity, with a love and hope that are not of this world. May Faith, Hope and Love abide with us--and may we realize that the greatest of these is Love. Hasten Thou the time when by love alone Thy kingdom shall come, and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

WILLIAM B. EDDY.

February 17

_If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more starry, more immortal,--that is your success. All nature is your congratulation and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself._

HENRY DAVID THOREAU.

Father, I have found Thy gift of life, a sweet and beautiful thing. It has known cloud and rain, but these have nourished it, and the darkness has sheltered it. It has felt driving storms, but these have strengthened it. It has known sunshine too. And now every day is a transfiguration and every night a benediction. Let thanksgiving be my prayer. What I need Thou wilt give. My hands Thou wilt touch with the soft petals of Thy flowers; and the arms of Thy strong care shall be about me. By the voices of brooks and rivers and winds and birds and little children Thou wilt speak to me, and in the deeper silences I shall hear Thy still small voice. Father, I thank Thee. Amen.

O. C. S. WALLACE.

February 18

_Let us not care too much for what happens: Let us not leave our peace of mind at the mercy of events._

CHARLES G. AMES.

_Let us lay hold of the happiness of today. Do we not go through life blindly, thinking that some fair tomorrow will bring us the gift we miss today?... Know thou, my heart, if thou art not happy today, thou shalt never be happy._

ANNA ROBERTSON BROWN.

We thank Thee, our Father, that the Satisfaction of righteousness is present as well as future. Help us, we beseech Thee, to live this day so that earth shall seem like heaven. In the proof of our adequacy to the demands of duty may we find a delight that shall more than compensate us for any pleasure or profit surrendered for its sake. May the sense of Thine approval sanctify our joys and comfort our sorrows. May we win love by deserving it, and find happiness in bestowing it. Through obedience to Thy will may we add strength and spiritual beauty to our own character and carry into the evening shadows the sweet assurance that other lives have been enriched by our kind words and helpful deeds. We ask it as Thy children. Amen.

J. FRANK THOMPSON.

February 19

_'Tis always morning somewhere, and above The awakening continents from shore to shore. Somewhere the birds are singing evermore._

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.

_The inconveniences and the petty annoyances, the pains and the sorrows, do we ever forget them? Indeed, no; we grumble and groan continually. The blue sky and the sunshine, the everyday mercies and the wonderful blessings that we accept as a matter of course, do we remember to rejoice because of them? Only too seldom. On this one day, do let us be sincerely and expressedly thankful._

ANONYMOUS.

Our Father, we rejoice to believe that Thy love is the eternal sun which knows no eclipse and that in its pure shining, we Thy children can go forward with brave hearts and radiant hopes, assured that Thy wisdom hath left nothing unfinished and that "Thy goodness faileth never." We greet this new day with newness of joy in Thy Fatherhood as our personal right, and with ascending ideals of a service whose gracious light shall kindle other souls into a larger hopefulness and a deeper tenderness. We would fill this day with all sunny thoughts, with all cheering words and with all generous deeds, and thus the more effectually bring the divine light into the human and make clearer the outlines of a heaven on earth. Amen.

ARNOLD S. YANTIS.

February 20

_No blast of air or fire of sun Puts out the light whereby we run With girdled loins our lamplit race, And each from each takes heart of grace And spirit till his turn be done, And light of face from each man's face In whom the light of trust is one; Since only souls that keep their place By their own light, and watch things roll, And stand, have light for any soul._

ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE.

O Thou, Who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment, even the true light which lighteth every man coming into the world, shine Thou in us, putting to flight all the powers of darkness, and guilt of sin, and selfishness. Shine also through us to any that live in the shadow; and so fill us with Thy radiant Spirit, that we may be a lamp unto a neighbor's feet and a light unto his path. And when this day is done may every face we have met be the brighter for our meeting, and every heart braver with new joy and cheer and grace and strength. For in Thee O Lord, is life, and Thy life is the light of men. Amen.

THEODORE PARKER.

February 21

_The longer on this earth we live And weigh the various qualities of men The more we feel the high, stern-featured beauty Of plain devotedness to duty, Steadfast and still, nor paid with mortal praise, But finding amplest recompense For life's ungarlanded expense In work done squarely and unwasted days._

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.

Our dear Heavenly Father, we would greet Thee as this morning greets us. We thank Thee for the daily duty; that, amid this wondrous world, Thou hast set somewhat for our doing. May we appreciate the honor. May we not grudge our best, even in the humblest tasks, since Thou appointest them. Strengthen us, we beseech Thee, if sometimes the heart fails, and the tired hands get laggard. Show us how the lowliest service becomes loftiest if done with the glorifying motive of pleasing Thee. Make us this day blithe in duty. When our heads find pillow may Thy peace enfold us; forgive our failures; and, for Jesus' sake, may we never cease endeavor. Amen.

WAYLAND HOYT.

February 22

GEORGE WASHINGTON. BORN 1732.

_Welcome to the day returning, Dearer still as ages flow, While the torch of faith is burning, Long as Freedom's altars glow! See the hero whom it gave us Slumbering on a mother's breast; For the arm he stretched to save us, Be its morn forever blest._

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

Father of life, we thank Thee that Thou hast been with the Fathers; that Thou hast been with him whose birth this day we celebrate. Thou wert willing to speak to them, and they were willing to hear Thee and answer Thee, "Lo, here am I; send me." We thank Thee that the memory of this great man has come down to us; of him who was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen; and we ask Thee that Thou wilt be with our countrymen today; that Thou wilt teach us Thy law, that we may walk in Thy ways; that this may be that happy nation whose God is the Lord. In all time of our trial, if we have sought Thee we have found Thee,--in all time of our success Thou hast won for us our victories,--Thou hast been with our counsellors. Father, today, tomorrow, and in days to come, in our memories and in our hopes be with us still, Our Father, Who art in Heaven. Amen.

EDWARD EVERETT HALE.

February 23

_If you always remember that in all you do in soul or body God stands by as a witness, in all your prayers and your actions you will not err; and you shall have God dwelling with you._

EPICTETUS.

_Faith acts on our souls as a moral tonic; it takes the fret and fever out of our lives; it gives the appetite and desire for noble living; it removes despondency; it gives energy, courage, hope, patience, and persistence; and in its highest manifestations it makes our lives a blending of power, sweetness, and peace._

JAMES M. PULLMAN.

Father of spirits! We yield ourselves to Thee. We will be afraid of neither sorrow nor death in a world where many saintly souls have sanctified them by a divine patience, and amid a Providence wherein no evil thing can dwell. Clinging unto Thee, we shall not perish with the fashion of this world that passeth away. As sparks falling on the river, so shall the glories of our strength go out. But the graces of the holy soul shall be as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars forever and ever. In Thee, O Lord, is our undying trust. Amen.

JAMES MARTINEAU.

February 24

_Be of good cheer, brave spirit; steadfastly serve that low whisper thou hast served; for know, God hath a select family of sons now scattered wide thro' earth, and each alone, who are thy spiritual kindred, and each one by constant service to that inward law, is weaving the sublime proportions of a true monarch's soul. Beauty and strength, the riches of a spotless memory, the eloquence of truth, the wisdom got by searching of a clear and loving eye that seeth as God seeth. These are their gifts, and time, who keeps God's word, brings on the day to seal the marriage of these minds with thine, thy everlasting lovers._

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

O Thou, who makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice, help us to welcome this new day as Thy gift, to take up its duties with courage, and to follow the light which Thou shalt give. Conscious of the meaning and purpose of life, undismayed by the failures of past days, and ever remembering that Thy strength is made perfect in human weakness, may we consecrate ourselves anew to the glad service of life, knowing that in so doing we enter into fellowship with all who have been workers together with Thee, and into increasing likeness of soul to Thy holy Son. May the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and may life become stronger and sweeter and richer, until at last we receive through grace the "well done!" of the Master. Amen.

HENRY M. KING.

February 25

_There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it. In our whole life melody, the music is broken off here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of time. God sends a time of forced leisure--sickness, disappointed plans, frustrated efforts--and makes a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives, and we lament that our voices must be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the rest? See him beat time with unvarying count and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come in between. Not without design does God write the music of our lives. But be it ours to learn the time, and not be dismayed at the "rests." They are not to be slurred over, nor to be omitted, nor to destroy the melody, nor to change the key-note. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him we shall strike the next note full and clear._

JOHN RUSKIN.

O God, help us to trust where we cannot see, and to feel that life is not necessarily a failure because we are shut out from its activities. Grant us in sickness such visions and such communion with Thee that disease of the body shall be transformed into a healer of the soul; and, as the crushed rose the sweeter fragrance emits, so may our sorrows chasten and refine us.

O Heavenly Father, grant that all our sickness and pain and disappointment may so sweeten our dispositions, purify our character and strengthen our souls that we shall bring heaven's sunlight into the lives of all whom we meet. Amen.

MYRON W. HAYNES.

February 26

_Love is the greatest thing that God can give us, for Himself is love; and it is the greatest thing we can give to God, for it will also give ourselves, and carry with it all that is ours._

JEREMY TAYLOR.

_High thoughts and noble in all lands Help me, my soul is fed by such; But ah, the touch of lips and hands, The human touch! Warm, vital, close, life's symbols dear, These need I most and now and here._

RICHARD BURTON.

Our Father in Heaven, we bless Thee this morning for all Thy care and love; Thou hast made our houses homes, sweet, quiet dwelling-places. We thank Thee for sleep, for communion with one another in all holy and tender speech. We thank Thee for all our hopes; the worlds are nearer than we thought, heaven's fragrance attempers the winds of earth, we almost hear the upper song: may we listen for it, may our souls delight in sweet anticipations of immortal fellowship, and may we come out of these high reveries determined to work more, suffer more patiently, to accept every discipline more willingly, and to do all our little day's work as men whose citizenship is in heaven. Amen.

JOSEPH PARKER.

February 27

_Flame of the spirit, and dust of the earth,-- This is the making of man, This is his problem of birth; Born to all holiness, born to all crime, Heir of both worlds, on the long slope of time Climbing the path of God's plan; Dust of the earth in his error and fear, Weakness and malice and lust; Yet, quivering up from the dust, Flame of the spirit, unleaping and clear, Yearning to God, since from God is its birth-- This is man's portion, to shape as he can, Flame of the spirit, and dust of the earth-- This is the making of man._

PRISCILLA LEONARD.

O God, Thou art the Father of our spirits, but our spirits have come to us through ways of flesh. We are both spiritual and carnal. Our spirits seek Thee evermore, but our flesh turns away from Thee and strives to drag us down. Between our best and our worst is bitter conflict. Help us to the discovery that all that lives is in like conflict, and that there can be no virtue and no glory except in overcoming. Make us see that the spirit is stronger than the flesh because it is of God, and that in the obedience and inspiration of Jesus, Thy Son and our Brother, we may at last be enthroned with Him. Amen.

CEPHAS B. CRANE.

February 28

_Neither let mistakes nor wrong directions, of which every man, in his studies and elsewhere, falls into many, discourage you. There is precious instruction to be got by finding we were wrong. Let a man try faithfully, manfully, to be right; he will grow daily more and more right. It is at bottom the condition on which all men have to cultivate themselves._

THOMAS CARLYLE.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father,--in Thine own loving way Thou dost bless us when we do the right; when we fall into mistakes so teach us by Thy judgments that we become wise unto salvation. Help Thy children to recognize their proneness to blunder, that they learn to walk circumspectly. When we fall into the wrong, grant that we lie prone not long but arise undismayed to greater effort. Bring to bear upon us the influences of the Holy Spirit, that we strive earnestly and devoutly to be right at the centre of our being; that rightness be the fabric of our life. To Thee be all glory evermore. Amen.

EDWARD A. PERRY.

February 29

_Henceforth I learn that to obey is best, And love with fear the only God, to walk As in His presence, ever to observe His providence, and on Him sole depend, Merciful over all His works, with good Still overcoming evil, and by small Accomplishing great things--by things deemed weak Subverting worldly strong, and worldly wise By simply meek, that suffering for Truth's sake Is fortitude to highest victory, And to the faithful death the gate of life-- Taught this by His example whom I now Acknowledge my Redeemer ever blest._

JOHN MILTON.

O Thou Eternal One before whom from day to day we walk and on whom we ever depend, help us to-day to love whatever is good and beautiful and to follow obediently the behests of Thy Spirit. May we overcome evil with good; and may we accomplish whatever tasks the hours as they pass demand of us, whether small or great, with such strength as may be vouchsafed us and with a wisdom begotten of meekness. If we must suffer for truth's sake may we manifest such humility and fortitude as shall be conducive to the highest success. Open for us hourly the gates of life, as those who endeavor to be faithful to their high calling. These favors we ask in the name of Him who redeems our lives from all evil and crowns us daily with His loving kindness. Amen.

EDWARD DAY.

March 1

_All the strength of the world and all its beauty, all true joy, everything that consoles, that feeds hope, or throws a ray of light along our dark paths, everything that makes us see across our poor lives a splendid goal and a boundless future, comes to us from people of simplicity, those who have made another object of their desires than the passing satisfaction of selfishness and vanity, and have understood that the art of living is to know how to give one's life._

CHARLES WAGNER.

Heavenly Father, help us to be like Thyself, as manifested in the person of Jesus Christ, Thy Son! It was His will to do the will of His Father by living and dying for others. Teach us so to live. Help us to learn by positive personal experience that supremest joy comes only "in ministering unto others." Teach us what Jesus meant when He said: "I am among you as he that serveth." Plant deeply within us His passion for a life of service. May our morning hours be gladdened and inspired by this divine purpose. Let Thy holy will be done in us this day. Amen.

CHARLES PARKHURST.

March 2

_The year's at the spring And day's at the morn; Morning's at seven; The hill-side's dew-pearled; The lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn; God's in His heaven-- All's right with the world!_

ROBERT BROWNING.

Father in Heaven, refreshed and heartened by the night, we begin again with Thee the high adventure of our life. Add to the beauty of the world about us a finer spiritual beauty in our souls. Save us from our own undoing. If our thoughts are dark, shine in upon them with Thy glory; if they be bright, make them to light the pathway of another. Have us wholesomely to forget ourselves, in the joy of Thy good world, the promise of our imperfection and the trust in God that maketh not afraid. And when the duties of the day are done, dismiss us, Thy well-meaning children, with a quiet mind to rest. Amen.

ALBERT WELLMAN HITCHCOCK.

March 3

_We will do something worth doing--that is the resolution for you and me._

EDWARD EVERETT HALE.

_We admire the man who embodies victorious efforts, the man who never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life._

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

Father of Lights in whom is no darkness at all, and in whose light we see light, help us to clearly see and never forget that only right deeds are worthy of a child of Thine. May we in no moment forget that to yield to the wrong is to bring upon us Thy just condemnation and sow for us a sure reaping of sorrowful repentance. By doing the things we know to be right and worth doing, the things worthy of our true selves and of our Father and of our Master whose we are, may this day, through us, yield some benefit to other children of Thine, and bring to us the sweet reward of Thine approval. Amen.

OSCAR F. SAFFORD.

March 4

_It is worth a thousand pounds a year to have the habit of looking on the bright side of things._

SAMUEL JOHNSON.

_Not by appointment do we meet delight and joy; They wait not our expectancy; But round some corner in the street of life, They, on a sudden, greet us with a smile._