Part 5

GERALD MASSEY.

Our Father, at the beginning of a new day, refreshed by the night's rest, we turn to Thee for strength for the day's task. We know not what the hours hold for us, but this we do know, that come what may, Thou wilt go with us to bless, to cheer; we shall not walk or work alone. As we faithfully and cheerfully perform our work, conscious of Thy presence, there will come joys and smiles unexpected and unsought. This is Thy way of teaching us faithfulness and endurance. May we soon learn, that if we would make the day happy and worth while, we must not seek our own pleasure and good, but that of our brethren. May we so live that when the night shadows are again upon us, there shall be no cause for shame or regret. In the Master's spirit! Amen.

O. HOWARD PERKINS.

March 5

_Not in dumb resignation we lift our hands on high; Not like the nerveless fatalist, content to do and die. Our faith springs, like the eagle's, who soars to meet the sun, And cries exulting unto Thee, "Oh, Lord, Thy will be done."_

_Thy will! It bids the weak be strong; it bids the strong be just; No lips to fawn, no hand to beg, no brow to seek the dust, Wherever man oppresses men beneath the liberal sun, O Lord, be there, Thine arm made bare, Thy righteous will be done._

JOHN HAY.

It is with the beautiful assurance of Thy love and kindness, our Father, that we draw nigh unto Thee. It is Faith that seems to give us wings by which we rise above the darkness, into Thy Presence of light and love. We feel our divine relationship to Thee, so that we lift up our hands to Thee, as the child to the parent. We are content to do Thy will, because we know then just what it is to love Thee. Our Master taught us this great lesson by His own faith in Thee. To do Thy will means strength to the weak, hope to the hopeless. To the sorrowing there can be seen, beyond the tear, the rainbow of Thy promise. Thus, as we realize our sonship will we work to make all men feel their own power, and all become one in Thy great love. May Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done, in Christ our Lord. Amen.

C. E. FISHER.

March 6

_If you are my friend you cannot be indifferent to my faults of character, any more than you can be indifferent to my sickness or suffering. But, if you care to help me cure these faults, please let them alone! Please make much of my good qualities if you can discover any. And especially bless me with the encouraging sight of a better man than myself, and cheer me with a high example. I know that there are times when a sharp or gentle rebuke is in order, and that "faithful are the wounds of a friend." But the wiser doctors have lost their faith in blood-letting; and they know that clumsy surgery kills more than it cures._

CHARLES G. AMES.

In our prayer, our Heavenly Father, we desire to be consciously grateful for the opportunities this new day affords us of being helpful to each other. The inspiration so to act comes from Thee. Thou art the constant and never-failing Helper of Thy children. May we be mindful of the fact that our noblest service to another may not be an alms, but a look of encouragement, a word of cheer. Enable us to be not too sensible of others' faults and failings. Assist us to see and magnify the good in other lives. To this end may we be to others such examples in conduct and character as we would have them be to us. We offer and ask all in the spirit of Jesus. Amen.

LEROY W. COONS.

March 7

_The mariner of old said to Neptune in a great tempest, "O God! Thou mayest save me if Thou wilt, and if Thou wilt Thou mayest destroy me, but whether or no, I will steer my rudder true."_

MONTAIGNE.

_I go to prove my soul I see my way as birds their trackless way. I shall arrive! what time, what circuit first, I ask not; but unless God send His hail Or blinding fire-balls, sleet or stifling snow, In some time, His good time, I shall arrive; He guides me and the bird. In His good time!_

ROBERT BROWNING.

Once more we face the day that can be dreadful only to our poor sight and trembling faith. For Thou hast made flame and pain, the hurricane and quaking earth to be Thy ministers of grace. Shall trust depart when shadows fall? Thou art "in the shadow keeping watch above Thine own." As truly in severity as in gentleness, Thou art the All-Loving and All-Wise. Shall we fear to go anywhere? Lord, Thou art everywhere! Defend us only from the blindness and fear of ignorance and sin. Draw us nearer to Thee, this day, by any means in Thy good pleasure, so that at last, truly knowing Thy way, we shall rise above the worst that circumstances may do into joy unspeakable and peace unbroken. In the name of Him made perfect through suffering. Amen.

HENRY B. TAYLOR.

March 8

_We complain of the slow, dull life we are forced to lead, of our humble sphere of action, of our low position in the scale of society, of our having no room to make ourselves known, of our wasted energies, of our years of patience. So do we say that we have no Father who is directing our life, so do we say that God has forgotten us, so do we boldly judge what life is best for us, and so by our complaining do we lose the use and profit of the quiet years._

BISHOP HUNTINGTON.

Infinite and Holy One, by the tender mercies of Thy great love show us this day the true life that is hid in Thee. Feed us with Thy spirit that we hunger not. Make us strong and merciful in Thee. Help us to be simple, brave, and true. Give us to speak and live the truth. Make us content with life while ever dreaming of the more perfect day. Fix our lives in a great and brave integrity. Humble us in our pride, lift us from our despondency. Keep our hearts pure and our lips from speaking guile. Send us forth in perfect faith that here and now our lives may be patterned after that of Jesus without loss of influence over men. Make us not ashamed to be good and forgiving and gentle in all our ways. Amen.

FREDERICK W. BETTE.

March 9

_Count each affliction, whether light or grave, God's messenger sent down to thee; do thou With courtesy receive him; rise and bow; And, ere his shadow pass thy threshold, crave Permission first his heavenly foot to lave._

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_Grief should be Like joy, majestic, equable, sedate, Confirming, cleansing, raising, making free. Strong to consume small troubles; to commend Great thoughts, grave thoughts, thoughts lasting to the end._

AUBREY DEVERE.

Our Father, we would learn to trust Thy love, to live so that Thy grace shall have in us its perfect work. Not the easy thing is what we ask, but strength for duty. Give us the confidence that Thou art by our side. Let Thy strong touch be felt, Thy blessed presence seen. In all the turmoil that rages within, without, grant us Thy peace. In childish helplessness, grant us the Father's help. To grow like Jesus is our heart's desire. All things that Thy great heart permits or sends, we would receive with gratitude, that so our wills and lives may be in harmony with Thine. And so day by day may something of the Saviour's glory shine through us and bless and brighten other lives in need. Amen.

FRANK M. HOLT.

March 10

_Dawn and its silence draw a silver sigh Far in the east where early shadows lie All flocked and folded like soft peaceful sheep. The spirit of the spring stirs in its sleep, Breathes into life a misty floating sheen; The willows dreamy drip of constant green; Exultant beats a bird-heart o'er a nest, Where dim, vague stirrings 'neath the tiny breast Spell fresh the miracle of motherhood. Ah, how the world is young! ah, how 'tis good! To feel the new life flutter mystic wing; Like to a lark to feel one's soul upspring, Transpierce the very limit of the sky, And toss its challenge to Eternity!_

MARY BALDWIN.

O God, our heavenly Father, make our hearts exultant, as the earth in the spring morning, with the radiance of Thy Presence. Fill them with the joy and hopefulness of eternal youth, and cause them to be uplifted in gratitude and thankfulness to Thee. We have seen earthly faces so beaming with the light of love that we never shall forget them. We have spoken names that are so endeared to us that they will linger in our memory as long as we live. So, O Father, may it be with Thy face and Thy name. May Thy face beaming upon us as the sun of righteousness win our love to holiness and virtue, making us fruitful of good works, and Thy name be so woven in our affections that we shall cherish and hallow it forever. Amen.

EDGAR W. PREBLE.

March 11

_You must be serving something, some one, that needs your help in order to really appreciate the Divine care. It may be the parents' care of their children; the teacher and her scholars; the charity-worker and the poor, the friendless, the benighted; it may be friend helping friend--in some way the life of loving service must be there as something out of which God can help us think of and value the care which infinite love bestows upon us._

JULIAN K. SMYTH.

Heavenly Father, with the opening of a new day we thank Thee for father love and mother love, for love of patriot and philanthropist, and for the love which that has called into being in our own hearts. Through this love and the service of mutual helpfulness to which we have been led thereby, Thou openest our eyes to behold the world pervaded and overruled by a spirit of infinite goodness, society resting upon mutual services, and through that service mankind rising to a nobler and diviner civilization. Help us to be mindful of this heavenly vision, and so make our feet swift to run and our hands eager to work in the service of righteousness and mutual helpfulness. We ask in His name, who loving us, has taught us the divinity of service. Amen.

LEGRAND POWERS.

March 12

_Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat._

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

_But only he whose judgment never strays Beyond the threshold of the right, learns this-- Not always is it good to have one's wish; What seemeth sweet full oft to bitter turns; Fulfilled desire hath made mine eyes to weep. Therefore, O reader of these lines, if thou Would'st virtuous be, and held by others dear Will ever for the power to do aright._

LEONARDO DA VINCI.

God of the morning light, with the dawn of another day we come to Thee with prayer for help in the steadfastness of our manifold duties. The cares that oppress us, the burdens we carry, the obligations that fall upon us, are too much for our little strength without Thy help. That help we crave from Thee, the only source of all-availing strength. Let us not be dismayed by the powers of this world or busy ourselves in vain ambitions seeking the praise of men, but may we seek that Divine approval which is of more worth than all the favors of earth. Make us brave and strong to follow in the way of Thine appointment, and grant that we may so sincerely feel and act in the busy times of this day that when the evening comes no wasted hours may be laid to our charge. Amen.

EDWARD M. BARNEY.

March 13

_You are in God's world; you are God's child. Those things you cannot change; the only peace and rest and happiness for you is to accept them and rejoice in them. When God speaks to you, you must not believe that it is the wind blowing or the torrent falling from the hill. You must know that it is God. You must gather up the whole power of meeting Him. You must be thankful that life is great and not little. You must listen as if listening were your life. And then, then only can come peace. All other sounds will be caught up into the prevailing richness of that voice of God. The lost proportions will be perfectly restored. Discord will cease; harmony will be complete._

PHILLIPS BROOKS.

Almighty God! We thank Thee for the peace and comfort of the night; for the new day and all the hope and peace and promise that it brings to us. Help us that with glad faces and joyous hearts we may take up its every privilege and duty, doing, in the spirit of the Master every good and helpful thing our hands find to do. And when the evening shall have come may we look back on a day of plenty, service, and peace, retiring to our rest with songs in our hearts and thanksgiving on our lips because Thy blessings have been on this, as on all other days new every morning and fresh every evening. Amen.

GEORGE MAYO GERRISH.

March 14

_It is the first mild day of March: Each minute sweeter than before, The red-breast sings from the tall larch That stands beside our door._

_There is a blessing in the air, Which seems a sense of joy to yield, To the bare trees and mountain bare, And grass in the green field._

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

Our Father, we wake each morning refreshed and thankful for the joy of living; for the air we breathe, the things we see, the sounds of nature's sweetest harmonies and all the beauty which surrounds our earthly life. May the wonders of the earth speak to us in witness of Thy love. Let springing-grass and opening flower remind us of the new life which is ours through the resurrection of our Lord. His blessing like the light of the sun runs everywhere, carrying with it morning and hope, springtime and gladness. The joy is in the song of the birds, the murmur of the waters, the children's laughter and the song of happy hearts. Attune our hearts to notes of praise and make us glad upon the earth until Thou bringest us to perfect and unshadowed joys where we shall see Thee as Thou art and be like Thee. Amen.

J. W. STEPHAN.

March 15

_As to equality and inequality, all the beauty and glory of life come from inequalities. If we were all Beethovens or Shakespeares or marvelous in any one direction, life would be unbearable. Who shall tell me if an Easter lily is the equal of a rose, or if either is equal to an oak or a pine? The question of equality is out of the court. The one thing we need to do is to cultivate the finest and sweetest things in us; and then, whether we are one of the California big trees or the violet in a valley, we shall help on the beauty and glory of the earth._

ROBERT COLLYER.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the manifold beauties of Thy universe, the revelations of Thyself to Thy children. For those large wonders which stir men's minds and rouse their souls to awe, we thank Thee, but not less for the little things of life, filling their places well, and showing daily to the seeing eye that without them Thy universe could not be complete. Help us to grasp the lesson that they teach. If Thou hast given to us the great place, we thank Thee, but we thank Thee not less for the homely task, the humble duty, for it is all necessary to Thy plan. Help us, day by day, with stronger purpose, larger consecration, to fill our place, to do Thy will, in His name. Amen.

GEORGE F. FORTIER.

March 16

_There must be a way of taking worry rightly, so that it shall do us good and not harm. Worry, rightly taken, should train to quietness, humility, patience, gentleness, sympathy. It ought not to eventuate (though it naturally does) in making others suffer because we are uncomfortable; in making us a source of painful worry to others because we are worried ourselves._

A. H. K. BOYD.

Father of Love, Thy blessing it is which gives us another day. Help us to put before its cares the spirit that will banish care, to find in its beginning the power that will make labors happy and its ending sweet, and so to open our hearts to Thy light that no gloom of night shall linger round our way. If heaviness there be in ours or others' lives may every wholesome cheer make it less sore. If remembered faults and follies quench a better hope, send Thy patience and Thy will to be our courage and fresh resolve. Through all the noisy world may the secret music of Thy law swell in our breasts and every step keep time with its glorious march. Amen.

JOHN DAY.

March 17

_Therefore to whom turn I but to Thee, the ineffable Name? Builder and maker, Thou, of houses not made with hands! What, have fear of change from Thee who art ever the same! Doubt that Thy power can fill the heart that Thy power expands! There shall never be one lost good! What was, shall live as before; The evil is null, is nought, is silence implying sound; What was good, shall be good, with, for evil, so much good more; On the earth the broken arcs; in the heaven, a perfect round._

ROBERT BROWNING.

We thank Thee, O God, that each morning brings us fresh assurance of Thy wisdom and goodness--that the days have taught us to believe in Thee and to trust Thee as our perfect Friend. We are glad that we can face the day in the faith that Thou art sufficient to the needs of the day--to all the needs of all Thy children. In this trust, we beseech Thee, make us more and more to rejoice in life and its high privileges. Help us to go on our way with gladness and peace in our hearts--to worship Thee hourly by honest work, by faithful service, by kind words, by helpful deeds, and so, to find life good by doing something to make it good. Amen.

FLINT M. BISSELL.

March 18

_"If I were you," she said, "I should not worry. Just make up your mind to do better when you get another chance. One can't do more than that. That is what I shall think of: that God will give each of us another chance, and that each one of us will take it and do better--I and you and everyone. So there is no need to fret over failure, when one hopes one may be allowed to redeem that failure later on. Besides which life is very hard. Why, we ourselves recognize that. If there be a God, some intelligence greater than human intelligence, He will understand better than ourselves that life is very hard and difficult, and He will be astonished not because we are not better, but because we are not worse. At least, that would be my notion of a God. I should not worry if I were you. Just make up your mind to do better if you get the chance and be content with that."_

BEATRICE HARRADEN.

O Lord, how often we have failed--how weak and frail we are--we have groped and stumbled along the pathway of life and have been defeated over and over again. Yet in the light of Thy providence and Thy love in spite of all defeats, we take heart and face the day with hope. In Thine economy no failure is ever final--we rejoice that Thou openest before us another opportunity. Let us be brave and earnest to seize the opportunities of these passing hours. Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

March 19

_To every life there comes a time supreme: One day, one night, one morning, or one noon, One freighted hour--one moment opportune, One rift through which sublime fulfilments gleam; One time when fate goes tiding with the stream, One Once in balance 'twixt Too Late, Too Soon-- And ready for the passing instant's boon That shall in favor tip the wavering beam. Ah! happy he who, knowing how to wait, Knows also how to watch and how to stand On life's broad deck alert, and at the prow, To seize the happy moment big with fate From Opportunity's extended hand When the great clock of Destiny strikes Now!_

MARY ASHLEY TOWNSEND.

Our heavenly Father! Thou art the Author of all our days, and all our times and seasons are hid in the unfolding mystery of Thy Thought and Purpose. It is not given to us to know what a day or an hour may bring forth, but the opportune moments come, ways are opened before us to larger life and usefulness and privilege and duty. May we, by faithfulness, and watchfulness, and the readiness of those on duty, be prepared for each divinely offered opportunity. Surrounded by blessings, may we live to bless. Ministered unto, may we minister. Grateful to Thee, may we show our gratitude by service. In Thy name, Amen.

DWIGHT M. HODGE.

March 20

_Put out of your thought the past whatever it may be; let go even the future with its golden dream and its high ideal; and concentrate your soul in this burning, present moment. For the man who is true to the present is true to his best; and the soul that wins the ground immediately before it, makes life a triumph._

OZORA STEARNS DAVIS.

Almighty Giver of every good, we come to Thee amid the joys of a new morning, with its new blessings and opportunities. We would dedicate this day to Thy service. We would forget the past and waste not our time in idle dreaming of to-morrow, but with consecrated zeal we would apply ourselves to the tasks Thou hast appointed us for this present hour. Thy hand is ever opened to let down the tokens of Thy love. May all that is best within us rise up in answer, and may we be dedicated anew to our upbuilding in righteousness and the fulfilment of our duties to one another. May we this day follow the footsteps of the Christ and prove ourselves His faithful disciples! Amen.

R. PERRY BUSH.

March 21

_I believe that today is better than yesterday, and that tomorrow will be better than today._

GEORGE F. HOAR.

_Make yourselves nests of pleasant thoughts, bright fancies, faithful sayings; treasure-houses of precious and restful thoughts, which care cannot disturb nor poverty take away from you,--houses built without hands for your souls to live in._

JOHN RUSKIN.

Dear Father in heaven, around Thy name cluster the most sacred and holy affections. Thy name, indeed, is above every name infinite in love, and awakening in each heart a sense of filial gratitude. At this morning hour, therefore, we are mindful of the tie that binds us to Thee, that provides a nesting-place for pleasant and restful thoughts, that makes duty less irksome, home-love more tender, sacrifice more willing, and character more noble. In this spirit we pray Thee, O Father, send us forth to the labor which awaits us, only to realize, under Thy Providence, that this is the best day of our life, and full of assurance and rejoicing for a still better tomorrow. In the light of faith, hope and love do we ask and offer all. Amen.

WILBURN D. POTTER.

March 22

_Scarce tangible may be the first glad sign, Yet how it shakes us with a vernal thrill! The voice of the south wind behind the hill; Or an elusive bird-note faint and fine; A flush at dawn along the wan sky-line; A lyrical exuberance in the rill; A something working its mysterious will Both in majestic hole and tenuous vine!_

_It is the vernal spirit. In the earth It throbs and pulses; quickens in the air; And permeates all nature thro' and thro'. In the expectant poignancy of birth What raptures, what rare ecstasies we share-- Old,--ah, how old!--and yet forever new!_

CLINTON SCOLLARD.

O God, how good Thou art! All Thy works praise Thee. The world is filled with Thy glory. This dawning Springtime brings Thee very near every responsive heart. Thou art the fountain of life. We see Thee in bursting bud and incipient bloom. We hear Thee in the rapture of birds and in the new-found gladness of sun-kissed rivulets. May we, the children of Thy love, be new born into a deeper spirituality,--a richer life! May the beauty of the Spirit breathing through our hearts call forth the latent goodness that slumbers there! Speak through us the music of Thy love. Perfume us with the odors of Thy heavenly grace, and may we walk this day in tune with Thee! Amen.

JOSEPH COOPER.

March 23