Part 7

Our dear Father in Heaven: for this day help us to be good. All through the long night Thou hast watched over us. Under Thy wing have we been sheltered as the chickens under the wing of the mother. Now that light has come we will help Thee to keep this world sweet and bright and clean. Help us to be true to this our promise; we resolve to be patient, steadfast, cheerful, kindly, sturdy, and good. Our Father, we need Thee. We want to walk in Thy way. Help us, for we are Thy children. Amen.

WILLIAM CHANNING BROWN.

April 14

_The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder; a waif, a nothing, no man. Have a purpose in life, if it is only to kill and divide and sell oxen well, but have a purpose; and having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you._

THOMAS CARLYLE.

_Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine own self be true And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man._

SHAKESPEARE.

Almighty God, at the commencement of this day's work may we look on high, and measure everything we are about to do by the scale of eternity. Keep us from all littleness; may we not be turned aside by things that are insignificant and unworthy. Help us, we beseech Thee, to make the glory of our life commensurate with the splendors of our privileges. May we live life in a great spirit, realizing that there is no duty so simple, no position so humble, but that we may show forth the grandeur of trust, and obedience toward Thee. May the great and holy purpose we cherish find its expression as we cooperate with the divine purpose. Amen.

J. H. BARKER.

April 15

_'Twas one of those charmed days When the genius of God doth flow, The wind may alter twenty ways, A tempest cannot blow; It may blow north, it still is warm; Or south, it still is clear; Or east, it smells like a clover farm; Or west, no thunder fear._

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

Father of Lights, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift, we thank Thee for the morning and for the sunshine. We rejoice in the light, but when it is hidden from us, we are thankful that in the upper air above our clouded morning it still fills Thy heavens. Thou gavest us good things while we slept, and now, refreshed by Thy Spirit, may we go forth to our appointed tasks with cheerful obedience and joyful expectation. If trial and trouble await us, or if, in the heat of the day the burden seems too great, may we still be comforted, because we put our trust in Thee. Amen.

GEORGE BATCHELOR.

April 16

_But spring-wind, like a dancing psaltress, passes Over its breast, to waken it, rare verdure Buds tenderly upon rough banks between The withered tree-roots and the cracks of frost, Like a smile striving with a wrinkled face; The grass grows bright, the boughs are swol'n with blooms Like chrysalids impatient for the air, The shining dors are busy, beetles run Along the furrows; ants make their ado; Above, birds fly in merry flocks, the lark Soars up and up, shivering for very joy; Afar the ocean sleeps; white fishing gulls Flit where the sand is purple with its tribe Of nested limpits; savage creatures seek Their loves in wood and plain--and God renews His ancient rapture._

ROBERT BROWNING.

O Lord, who givest to mankind liberally, and upbraidest not, we thank Thee for the blessings Thou bestowest from day to day. We thank Thee for this material world, now clad in its garment of Northern beauty, for the great sun which all day pours down his light upon the waiting and the grateful world, and for the earth underneath our feet. We bless Thee for the grass, bread for the cattle, its harvest of use spread everywhere, and for the various beauty which here and there spangles all useful things which Thine eye looks down upon. May we use this world of matter to build up the being that we are to a nobler stature of strength and of beauty. Amen.

THEODORE PARKER.

April 17

_O brothers all! come near And hear A bird's Melodious dreaming set to words, and flung The spring's new leaves and tender buds among, For very joy of life, and hope, and love In a world made broad enough For all God's creatures to be merry in, With joyous clash and din, And yet too small For any greed at all! Lo! deep and sure Is cut this truth in heaven's book of gold: Out of one mother in the garden old Were born the rich and poor._

MAURICE THOMPSON.

Our Father, may we begin this day with a song in our hearts,--a song as rich and full and free as the bird sings at the earliest dawning of the sun's light,--a song so attuned with infinite life and hope and love that it must be sung. Thou giver of abundance unto the rich and poor alike, help our souls to mount unto the highest reaches of living thoughts and generous deeds, that we may give unto others as Thou givest. Unfettered by unholy passions and freed from the spirit of greed, may we feel the unity of the bonds of a universal brotherhood, and be just and true, honest, and helpful in all our dealings with all men this day. Amen.

HENRIETTA G. MOORE.

April 18

_O spring, of hope and love and youth and gladness Wing-winged emblem! Brightest, best and fairest! Whence comest thou when with dark Winter's sadness The tears that fade in sunny smiles thou sharest? Sister of Joy! thou art the child who wearest Thy mother's dying smile, tender and sweet: Thy mother Autumn, for whose grave thou bearest Fresh flowers, and beams like flowers, Disturbing not the leaves which are her winding-sheet._

SHELLEY.

God unchanging, and still the creator of the seasons, we look up to Thee, as the springtide works out the miracle of the resurrection from the sleeping forms of the past season, in confidence and in trust that ever Thou wilt bless us with a nobler, holier, sweeter, more wholesome life, as the seasons come and go. The resources of trusting hearts are always reinforced and reinvigorated by contact with Thy life, Thy power, Thy goodness and Thy love. Out of the winter of our discontent, we enter the springtime of love, that leads us forward in confidence through the glad summer of growth to the soul's fruition and the place of rest and peace in our Father's Home beneath Thine everlasting Love. Amen.

FRANCIS A. GRAY.

April 19

_One sound always comes to the ear that is open; it is the steady drum-beat of Duty. No music in it, perhaps,--only a dry rub-a-dub. Ah, but that steady beat marks the time for the whole orchestra of earth and heaven! It says to you: "Do your work,--do the duty nearest you!" Keep step to that drum-beat, and the dullest march is taking you home._

GEORGE S. MERRIAM.

O Thou great impelling Spirit, whom we see manifest in all the world, as we open our eyes to the light of another morning, may we be as responsive to Thy influence as the sun and the flowers which brighten our way. May we be very sensitive to Thy promptings as we go about our day's work. May we be very quick to do the things Thou wouldst have us do. May we give ourselves to Thy service without reserve. When again the night shades draw about us, may our hearts be filled with deepest gratitude for all the experiences of the day, and, deep within, may our spirits be conscious of Thy approving benediction, "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter Thou into the joy of Thy Lord." Amen.

FRANK LINCOLN MASSECK.

April 20

_Thyself and thy belongings Are not thine own so proper as to waste Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee. Heaven doth with us as we with torches do Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touched But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends The smallest scruple of her excellence But like a thrifty goddess, she determines Herself the glory of a creditor, Both thanks and use._

SHAKESPEARE.

Father, with faith and confidence in Thee we begin the day's duties, with a blithe song upon our lips, expressing the melody of our souls, thanking Thee for opportunities for work, and thought and love. We ask not for more blessings but to be more worthy of those we have, using and not abusing them. May our minds be open to Thy truth, and hearts to Thy love, and when received may we be almoners of both to the waiting world. May we keep by giving Thy love abundantly, and grow through the glory of self-sacrifice. Give us the heart, O God, to sanctify our work and to lift it above drudgery into the divinest service, and give us strength to perform it. Amen.

U. S. MILBURN.

April 21

_A man is simple where his chief care is the wish to be what he ought to be; that is honestly and naturally human. We may compare existence to raw material. What it is matters less than what it is made of; as the value of a work of art lies in the flowering of a workman's skill. True life is possible in social conditions the most diverse and with natural gifts the most unequal. It is not fortune or personal advantage, but our training them to account, that constitutes the value of life. Fame adds no more than does length of days; quality is the thing._

CHARLES WAGNER.

Heavenly Father, our eyes are ever toward Thee. We do not pray for the things of the world. Teach us to walk in Thy truth. Though our days be few, may our lives be hopeful and cheerful. Though our bodies be frail, may we be invincible in spirit. All Thy children are immortal, but it is for us to attain the eternal life. May we know Thee through Jesus. Then days and hours and minutes will disappear in the liberty and glory and peace of the life eternal. Then poverty of worldly goods will be forgotten in the riches of the Spirit. Then the cares of the world that now is will be lost in the joy of the life that is to be. Amen.

REIGNOLD K. MARVIN.

April 22

_A little sun, a little rain, A soft wind blowing from the west-- And woods and fields are sweet again And warmth within the mountain's breast._

_So simple is the earth we tread, So quick with love and life her frame, Ten thousand years have dawned and fled. And still her magic is the same._

STOPFORD A. BROOKE.

Gracious God, we thank Thee for the gift of sight whereby we behold the marvels of the outer world. But greater is our gratitude for the inner sight, the power to see things as they ought to be. If we but look deep enough, we find Thy central laws ever at the heart of all life. With such insight, apparent confusion shall not bewilder us, life's cares shall not harden us, the world's show cannot dazzle us. Give us, we pray Thee, unceasing ability to wonder and admire, which brings perpetual youth; to hope, to believe, to trust; to rest content in working with Thee, the Eternal One, Lord of the seasons, this is our heart's desire. Amen.

EDWARD A. HORTON.

April 23

_"What is the secret of your life?" asked Mrs. Browning of Charles Kingsley; "tell me, that I may make mine beautiful too." He replied, "I had a friend." Somewhere in her "Middlemarch," George Eliot puts it well: "There are natures in which, if they love us, we are conscious of having a sort of baptism and consecration; they bind us over to rectitude and purity by their pure belief about us; and our sins become the worst kind of sacrilege, which tears down the invisible altar of trust."_

WILLIAM C. GANNETT.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for all the sweet and sacred influences of life. Music comes with its invisible fingers to weave a magic charm around our souls;--the home with its love is ours,--but we thank Thee to-day for the sweet and saving influence of friendship,--for the counsel and fellowship of those who are wise and good and faithful to us. We would not walk alone--we would find strength in the strength of others, and faith in other's faith. Let us cherish such fellowships and give back to those, who love us, love again. Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

April 24

_Live in the sunshine, don't live in the gloom, Carry some gladness the world to illume. Live in the brightness, and take this to heart; The world will seem gayer if you'll do your part. Live on the housetop, not down in the cell; Open air Christians live nobly and well. Live where the joys are, and, scorning defeat, Have a good-morrow for all whom you meet. Live as a victor, and triumphing go Through this queer world, beating down every foe. Live in the sunshine, God meant it for you! Live as the robins, and sing the day through._

MARGARET SANGSTER.

O God, our heavenly Father, Thou who givest us the sunshine of this new day, Thou who art the God of life and light, we ask Thy help and Thy strength as we again go out to our separate duties and cares. Help us to fill this day with good deeds, to give cheer and comfort to all we meet. May our lips be clean. May our hearts be pure. And when the even time comes, may it find us conscious that we have put no cloud upon the day, that we have walked through its hours true disciples of the Master who went about doing good. Amen.

WILLIAM H. MORRISON.

April 25

_To weigh the material in the scales of the personal, and measure life by the standard of love; to prize health as contagious happiness, wealth as potential service, reputation as latent influence, learning for the light it can shed, power for the help it can give, station for the good it can do--to choose in each case what is best on the whole, and accept cheerfully incidental evils involved; to put my whole self into all that I do, and indulge no single desire at the expense of myself as a whole; to crowd out fear by devotion to duty, and see present and future as one; to treat others as I would be treated, and myself as I would my best friend; and to recognize God's coming kingdom in every institution and person that helps men to love one another._

WILLIAM DEWITT HYDE.

For the dear love that kept us through the night, And gave our senses to sleep's gentle sway, For the new miracle of dawning light, Flushing the east with prophecies of day, We thank Thee, O, our God!

For the fresh life that through our being flows, With its full tide to strengthen and to bless, For calm, sweet thoughts, upspringing from repose, To bear to Thee their song of thankfulness, We praise Thee, O, our God!

Thou knowest our needs, Thy fulness will supply Our blindness--let Thy hand still lead us on, Till, visited by the dayspring from on high, Our prayer, one only, "Let Thy will be done," We breathe to Thee, O, God! Amen.

W. H. BURLEIGH.

April 26

Is it not possible, then, that the hindrances which arrest our progress, and the obstacles that lie broadly in our path, are the divinest agents of help which our Creator could give us? The painful struggles to overcome and remove them develop in us strength, courage, self-reliance, and heroism. They are the hammer and chisel that release the statue from the imprisoning marble,--the plow and the harrow that break up the soil, and mellow it for the reception of the seed that shall yield an abundant harvest. Perfection lies that way.

MARY A. LIVERMORE.

We seek Thy face anew this day, O our Father, and ask Thee that Thou wilt help us to live our lives in constant communion with Thee. Let us see Thee at every turn in the way. Let us find Thy hand in all our duties, all our meditations, all our intercourse with men, all our doings and all our deeds. Help us to make Thee our counsellor every hour. Help us to undertake nought without Thy blessings, to finish nought without Thy benediction. Morning and evening may we turn in prayer to Thy throne. At every meal may we seek Thy grace and give Thee thanks. So may we find the blessing of them that abide in Thy house. Amen.

J. COLEMAN ADAMS.

April 27

_I think the sweetest thought, the very central idea, of the revelation of the character of God to me, is this: that He does everything out of His supreme will. There is no one thing that I can say with more heartiness, or that has in it more echoes of joy, than "Thy will be done." If anything works righteousness in me or in you, it is God. The nature of God is fruitful in generosity. He is so good that He loves to do good, and loves to make men good, and loves to make them happy by making them good. He loves to be patient with them, and to wait for them, and to pour benevolence upon them, because that is His nature._

HENRY WARD BEECHER.

Father, we thank Thee for the blessing. We know what are our privileges, we know what are our duties, and we are before Thee again to consecrate this day in all its glory and beauty to Thee, the Father of perfect Love. Thou wilt be with us as we strive to be with Thee. Thou wilt make us strong when we are weak. Thou wilt make us see where we are in darkness. Thou wilt send us forth on Thine infinite mission to the world. Boys or girls, men or women, here we are, the living children of the living God, sent forward by Thee to proclaim it that all may be one as Christ Jesus with Thee and Thou with Him, that this world may be perfected into one, that men may know that Thou art Father and what the Father has given us to do, that each one of us may lift up what has fallen down, that each one may open the eyes that are blind and the ears that are deaf, that each one of us may proclaim the gospel of Thy perfect love. This is our prayer and our hope, in Christ Jesus. Amen.

EDWARD EVERETT HALE.

April 28

_With every rising of the sun, Think of your life as just begun._

_The past has shrived and buried deep, All yesterdays; there let them sleep._

_Nor seek to summon back one ghost Of that innumerable host._

_Concern yourself with but today. Woo it, and teach it to obey_

_Your will and wish. Since time began Today has been the friend of man;_

_But in his blindness and his sorrow, He looks to yesterday and tomorrow._

_You, and today! a soul sublime, And the great pregnant hour of time,_

_With God himself to bind the twain! Go forth, I say, attain, attain!_

ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.

Infinitely wise and loving Father, our minds and hearts reach out to Thee in this morning hour thankful that the rest of the night has prepared us for the work of the new day, and that the light brings the call to service. The past cannot be recalled, but today is ours. I and today, with God and in the Spirit of Jesus! Priceless privilege! Grant us, O Father, to use it for Thee, for humanity and "In His name." Amen.

SAMUEL GILBERT AYERS.

April 29

_Life is full of new beginnings. Some change may come, something is sure to come, to close one chapter and begin another. Life is planned just so, ... that there should be a break from former link and habit, often from imperfection and mistake, and a clear, clean start for the fulfilment of the best one has grown to, even in desire, unhampered by the poorest one has ever happened to be, or to get credit for._

MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.

O, Thou who dwellest in the light, help Thy children this morning to see the light of Thy truth and feel the warmth of Thy love. We thank Thee for the open doors of opportunity for helpful service; for the exhibition of kindness and for growth in the kingdom of Heaven. May we clearly see the way to the Eternal life and have strength to walk therein. May we so welcome Thy truth that we shall be free from error and sin. May Thy wisdom so guide our energies that we shall reach after greater perfection. May the evening of this day find us more in harmony with God than we now are. And may the evening of life find us rich in the treasures of heaven. Amen.

ANDREW WILLSON.

April 30

_True worth is in being, not seeming; In doing each day that goes by, Some little good--not in the dreaming Of great things to do by and by, For whatever men say in blindness, And spite of the fancies of youth, There's nothing so kingly as kindness, And nothing so royal as truth._

_We get back our mete as we measure: We cannot do wrong and feel right; Nor can we give pain and gain pleasure, For justice avenges each slight. The air for the wing of the sparrow, The bush for the robin and wren, But always the path that is narrow And straight for the children of men._

ALICE CARY.

Almighty Father, who with every morning dost give us a new day and with each day some fresh duty, mercifully equip us for every task that awaits us! Give us eyes to see, and hearts to love the truth and right, and the disposition that makes every duty a delight, and the doing of good to others a sacred privilege. Save us this day from angry passions and low desires. Forgive us when we are selfish; recall us when we go astray; save us from wronging ourselves by thinking ill of others, and in all places and to all people give us the mind which was in Christ Jesus. Amen.

JOHN CUCKSON.

May 1

_To the Woods:--Whoso goeth in your paths readeth the same cheerful lesson, whether he be a young child or a hundred years old, comes he in good fortune or in bad, ye say the same things, and from age to age. Ever the needles of the pine grow and fall, the acorns on the oak, the maples redden in autumn and at all times of the year the ground pine and the pyrola bud and root under foot. What is called fortune and what is called time by men, ye know them not. Men have not language to describe one moment of your life._

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

Thou God of Nature and of the human heart, we thank Thee for our human relations, but we thank Thee also for our kinship with the birds. We thank Thee for that instinct which makes us to sympathize with the mating of the bird lovers and for that music of the heart which makes us to love the song of the birds. We pray this morning for a life so simple and natural that we shall be able to enter into sympathetic relations with everything that lives--the flowers of the garden, and the field--the bees that sip the flowers' honey, and the bird that makes her nest among the trees. If Thou speakest to men in the glory of the heavens, Thou speakest also in the manifold voices of all Thy loving creatures. May our ears be trained to hear Thee when Thou speakest thus. Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

May 2

_Hail bounteous May, that doth inspire Mirth and youth, and warm desire; Woods and groves are of thy dressing, Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing, Thus we salute thee with our early song, And welcome thee and wish thee long._

JOHN MILTON.

Almighty and All-loving Father, who dost make all the earth to rejoice in the brightness of returning springtime, fill our hearts with like joy and renewal. Graciously awaken in us the life that the cold or care or trouble or sorrow of the world often has caused to fade and go out. As our eyes behold all this outward beauty and glory, give unto us that spiritual vision by which we behold the beauty and glory of divine things. Then when the springtime of our life passes with the summer and the summer ripens into the autumn, and our work is done, may we bring unto Thee the harvest of spiritual riches. Amen.

JAMES DENORMANDIE.

May 3

_Success! It is won by a patient endeavor, Energy's fire, and the flame-glow of Will; By grasping the chance with a "Now, now or never!" Urging on, on! while the laggard stands still._