In the expectant poignancy of birth What raptures, what rare ecstasies we share-- Old,--ah, how old!--and yet forever new!_
CLINTON SCOLLARD.
O G.o.d, 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
_Work is the grand cure of all the maladies and miseries that ever beset mankind--honest work, which you intend getting done._
THOMAS CARLYLE.
_Thank G.o.d every morning when you get up that you have something to do which must be done whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and forced to do your best will breed in you temperance, self-control, diligence, strength of will, content and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know._
CHARLES KINGSLEY.
Kind Father and Friend, Thy presence has watched over us all our days and has been a comfort in all our labors. We thank Thee for Thy unwearied watching over us. May we at the dawn of this new day, come to our tasks with thanks in our hearts and a song on our lips. May all life"s stern duties and its perplexities get grace and beauty from our hallowed thoughts and sanctified resolves. We would ask that Thy free spirit be with us this day to give us hope and joy in our several tasks.
May the sweet peace of mind of those who learn to labor and to wait crown all our efforts. Dear Father, forgive our failures and keep us ever Thine. Amen.
CHARLES E. PETTY.
March 24
_Ah, the mis-takings and the mis-leavings; and all the ignorant beginning, when we can only lay up things for late wisdom to repent of!_
_Nothing really bad can ever happen.... I"ve meant right,--and I mean right now. I"ll do the best I can, and the Lord will take care of everybody._
MRS. A. D. T. WHITNEY.
Lord, Thou comest to us with light and life, forgive us for coming to Thee as aliens and beggars; daily Thou art our refuge and strength, and this should subtract our fear and multiply our confidence, comfort and consecration. Our needs are Thy opportunity; we have more sunshine than we can use, more love than we can repay and more revelation than we can translate. O may this satisfy us early and strengthen us through all our days. Alone we are very weak, but we are never alone; all of life is a company affair, for Thou art with us; help us to be as truly Thy children as Thou art our Father and Mother. Through our thinking, working and waiting may men see Thee and glorify Thee. O teach us to abide ever in Thy love, and help us to work some helpful miracle by the gates of need, and to see the rainbow of prophecy through earth"s tears and over its years. Amen.
ALAN R. TILLINGHAST.
March 25
_"Tis the fine souls who serve us, and not what is called fine society._
RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
_We find what we look for in the world. I have always been looking for the n.o.bler qualities in human beings, and I have always found them. There are great souls all along the highway of life, and there are great qualities even in the people who seem common and weak to us ordinarily._
ELLA WHEELER WILc.o.x.
Gracious Father, we thank Thee for the power Thou hast given us to labor for our own and others" advancement and happiness. As we begin this new day we trust in Thy bounty and would draw on Thy strength to sustain us in our toil. We thank Thee for the brave souls in every walk of life who have set us an example worthy to be followed. Many have been or are notable in the world for their fort.i.tude, honor and achievements; many others have been known to us but have been unheralded by men, and from all these we have ourselves been made more capable and faithful. By Thy grace may we be aided in emulating the good we see in others, and be able to make the world a little brighter because of Thy gift to us of this day. Amen.
FRANK S. RICE.
March 26
_An old, worn Harp that had been played Till all its strings were loose and frayed, Joy, Hate, and Fear, each one, a.s.sayed To play. But each in turn had found No sweet responsiveness of sound._
_Then Love the Master-player came With heaving breast and eyes aflame; The Harp he took all undismayed, Smote on its strings, still strange to song, And brought forth music sweet and strong._
PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR.
Heavenly Father, I pray Thee that Thou wilt help me to love to-day. Thou art Love and if Thou shalt fill my life there will be no room for hate and no room for fear, for "Perfect Love casteth out fear." As the Master stilled the waves in Galilee, so speak Thou peace to my soul, and bid all discord cease, that my whole life may be in tune with heaven, and may be one happy song. Love alone can bring harmony out of discord, love out of hate, trust out of fear, and music out of a worn-out, or a long unused or misused life. So let Love control the whole of my life for Jesus" sake. Amen.
B. L. JENNINGS.
March 27
_No stream from its source Flows seaward, how lonely soever its course, But some land is gladdened. No star ever rose Or set without influence somewhere. Who knows What earth needs from earth"s lowliest creature? No life Can be pure in its purpose and strong in its strife, And all life not be purer and stronger thereby._
OWEN MEREDITH.
If I am this day to touch other lives helpfully so that they may be gladdened and strengthened for truer and n.o.bler living, I shall need, my Father, not only a clear perception of myself in relation to that to which Thou dost call me, but also a clear vision of the Christ who would be felt through me, not only the impulse of a strong purpose but also the endowment of power by Thy spirit of power. That this may be, do Thou test my purpose by that of Thy son and fashion my life by His teaching, keeping my heart open always toward Thee. Amen.
F. H. WHEELER.
March 28
_I but open my eyes,--and perfection, no more and no less, In the kind I imagined, full-fronts me, and G.o.d is seen G.o.d, In the star, in the stone, in the flesh, in the soul and the clod.
And thus looking within and around me, I ever renew (With that stoop of the soul which in bending upraises it too) The submission of man"s nothing-perfect to G.o.d"s all-complete, And by each new obeisance in spirit, I climb to His feet._
ROBERT BROWNING.
Thou Infinite Spirit, we cannot understand Thee, yet we feel Thy presence within us and about us. We cannot unravel the mystery of Thy life, not even of our own lives, yet we feel ourselves linked as by chains of steel to Thyself. We are poor and ignorant and little and finite; Thou art great and strong and infinite, yet we cling to the thought that we are Thy children. Even in Thine infinity Thou stoopest to listen to us. Thou carest for us, lovest us. O Thou Father of our Souls, may we cling to Thee to-day and every day. We do not ask Thee to explain Thyself, but we do ask that in storm and sunshine, in adversity and in prosperity, and in every emergency we may keep our anchorage to Thee unbroken, and feel Thy presence with us. Amen.
GEORGE L. PERIN.
March 29
_I wonder why it is that we are not all kinder to each other than we are. How much the world needs it! How easily it is done!_
HENRY DRUMMOND.
_Let us awaken to the divine privilege of sharing the heartaches of our friends; of the meaning of good fellowship; of that independence of spirit that does not imitate; of courage and pride that can endure adversity with dignity, and without fear._
ANONYMOUS.