October 20
_I pluck an acorn from the greensward, and hold it to my ear and this is what it says to me: "By and by the birds will come and nest in me. By and by I will furnish shade for the cattle. By and by I will provide warmth for the home in the pleasant fire. By and by I will be shelter from the storm to those who have gone under the roof. By and by I will be the strong ribs of the great vessel, and the tempest will beat against me in vain, while I carry men across the Atlantic." "O foolish little acorn, wilt thou be all this?" I ask. And the acorn answers, "Yes, G.o.d and I."_
LYMAN ABBOTT.
Almighty G.o.d, we believe that Thou art present and controlling in all the operations of Nature. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without Thy notice. All life is of Thy giving. Plants, animals, and worlds alike are governed by Thy laws. We realize in some measure Thy Omnipotence. We should fear to draw near to Thee if Thou hadst not revealed Thyself to us in Jesus Christ as a G.o.d of love. Thou, O G.o.d, art love. We believe that Thou wilt give to all Thy children eternal life. As from the acorn comes the oak, clothed in royal beauty, seemingly life from death, so from what seems death shall our immortal spirits rise to dwell forever with Thee. We adore Thee, O G.o.d. We love Thee for Thy goodness and Thy love shown to us. Be gracious unto us and bless us for our Saviour"s sake. Amen.
CYRUS NORTHROP.
October 21
_I suppose every day of earth, with its hundred thousand deaths and something more of births,--with its loves and hates, its triumphs and defeats, its pangs and blisses, has more of humanity in it than all the books that were ever written, put together. I believe the flowers growing at this moment send up more fragrance to heaven than was ever exhaled from all the essences ever distilled._
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
Our Heavenly Father, Thou art in all nature and in all human history. If we really know our world and our fellowmen and ourselves, we shall know Thee. As we enter upon the work of this new day, we pray that we may feel Thy presence with us. Thou art never far away from us; we cannot get away from our world, and we cannot fly from ourselves. Thou art with Thy world and Thou art with Thy children. We ask not so much for Thy presence, as for the consciousness of Thy presence. May we learn to know Thee in the world about us and in the secret places of our own hearts.
Then shall all life be fragrant and beautiful and this day somewhat divine. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
October 22
_The best thing to take people out of their own worries, is to go to work and find out how other folk"s worries are getting on._
MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.
_Socrates thought that if all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence every one must take an equal portion, most persons would be content to take their own and depart._
PLUTARCH.
Our Father in Heaven, the light of this new day is the light of Thy countenance, therefore we rejoice. In Thy sunshine our souls find strength for the burdens Thou dost give, and even through Thy shadows we reach the peace which pa.s.seth understanding. Yet Thou art comfort to us that we may comfort the troubled and the distressed with the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted. Set Thou our feet in the paths of service. Make us, we pray Thee, glad ministers of Thy mercy, and in binding up the wounds of others may we have balm for our own. By this day, may we grow in patience and power, and in the knowledge of Thy love. Amen.
LEON O. WILLIAMS.
October 23
_Life has a thousand pages--love and scorn, Hope and adventure, poverty and sin, Despair and glory, loneliness forlorn, Age, sorrow, exile, all are writ therein--; And on each page, however stern or sad, Are words which gleam upon the crabbed scroll, Revealing words, that make our spirits glad, And well are worth the study of the soul.
We may not lightly shrink from any leaf, For on it may be writ the word we need.
G.o.d turns the page--whatever joy or grief He opens for us, let us wisely read._
PRISCILLA LEONARD.
Fill our souls with Thy light, O G.o.d, that we may ever hope. Give us the poise of endless progress. Make our souls free and joyous as the bird"s wing. Give us the courage of our convictions in all places, under all conditions. Make us brave. Take away all forms of fear, whether of man, of nature, or of Thee, and make us feel that each is our mighty friend, but Thou supreme over all, faithful each moment to our being, in ten thousand sweet, true, tender, life-giving, life-sustaining ministries.
Teach us to look for Thee everywhere, and to see Thy order, and Thy beauty, facing all things Heavenward. May our ideals be perfect holiness, perfect strength, perfect love, perfect service. Make our faith great in the higher estate, where our faculties, only dawning here, shall rise in a glorious morning of the soul. Amen.
A. N. ALCOTT.
October 24
_Suppose a kindly word of mine Could lift the clouds and bring sunshine; Am I my brother"s keeper?_
_Suppose the weary worker toils, For scanty pittance delves and moils; Am I my brother"s keeper?_
_Suppose in penury and fear My neighbor see the wolf draw near; Am I my brother"s keeper?_
_Perhaps--who knows?--perhaps I"m not!
Self-centred soul! hast thou forgot The marvel of our common lot, The mystic tie that binds us all Who dwell on this terrestrial ball, Stupendous hope of time and song, The bourne for which the ages long?
How hard our hearts must seem to Thee, Exhaustless Fount of Charity!_
HENRY NEHEMIAH DODGE.
We thank Thee, our Father, for the light of a new day and for its opportunities of service for Thee and Thy great Cause. We rejoice that Thou dost not only set duty clearly before us, but also dost grant power to perform it. May we realize not only that we are "our brother"s keeper," and that our lives are helpful or harmful every day, but may we be increasingly grateful that we may every day by Thy grace be fellow-helpers and workers together with G.o.d. Amen.
WILLIAM FULL.
October 25
_It is of no use to dispute about the Indian Summer. I never found two people who could agree as to the time when it ought to be here, or upon a month and day when it should be decidedly too late to look for it. It keeps coming. For my part, I think we get it now and then, little by little, as "the Kingdom" comes. That every soft, warm, mellow, hazy, golden day, like each fair, fragrant life, is a part and out-crop of it; though weeks of gale and frost, or ages of cruel worldliness and miserable sin may lie between._
MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.
Vouchsafe Thy blessing, O Heavenly Father, upon this morning service of thanksgiving and prayer. We thank Thee that each year Thou sendest seed-time and harvest, to us Thy children. For the beauty and bounty of the Autumn, for all Thy material gifts, for friends and home, and for our precious Christian faith, we are deeply grateful to Thee. Give us the attentive mind, the receptive heart, that we may see Thy providence and love in every event of life. Banish fear and doubt from our minds.
Guard us from all temptations. May the Spirit of Christ abide in our hearts, and enable us to glorify Thee in all our works and lives. In its power and glory may Thy Kingdom come, and remain upon the earth forever.
Amen.
ELBERT W. WHITNEY.
October 26
_Pleasant smiles, gentle tones, cheery greetings, tempers sweet under a headache or a business care or the children"s noise; the ready bubbling over of thoughtfulness for one another, and the habits of smiling, greeting, forbearing, thinking in these ways; it is these above all else which makes one"s home "a building of G.o.d; a house not made with hands," these that we hear in the song of "Home, Sweet Home."_
WILLIAM C. GANNETT.
Almighty Father, the light of another day breaks in upon our lives, to reveal to us unfinished tasks and unsought duties. The sorrows and joys of the coming day are hidden from our sight, enswathed in the folded hours of toil. But Thou knowest all our heedless ways and tempers that chafe from impatience; Thou seest the measure of our needs and dost consider our desires. Give unto us the consciousness of Thine everlasting arms about us. And then when the shadows lengthen and the twilight hushes the hum of toil, our spirits shall know no weariness and bear no stain. Give ear unto this our morning prayer, O Thou Light of Light. Amen.
FRANCIS TREADWAY CLAYTON.
October 27