Leaves of Life Part 17

--James Russell Lowell.

Even so let your light s.h.i.+ne before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

--Matthew 5. 16.

Merciful Father, help me to know that my shadow cannot fall without me, and that my footprints cannot be found where I have never trodden.

I pray that thou wilt make me so familiar with the right path that it may be mine to have the privilege of leading others to the right places. Amen.

FEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH

Montaigne born 1533.

Mary Lyon born 1797.

Sir John Tenniel born 1820.

Soul, rule thyself; on pa.s.sion, deed, desire, Lay thou the laws of thy deliberate will.

Stand at thy chosen post, Faith's sentinel: Though h.e.l.l's lost legions ring thee round with fire, Learn to endure.

--Arthur Symonds.

The confidence in another man's virtue is no slight evidence of a man's own, and G.o.d willingly favors such a confidence.

--Montaigne.

Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear: Though war should rise against me, Even then will I be confident.

--Psalm 27. 3.

My Father, may I ever be kept in remembrance of my virtue, and may I be sensitive to its strength. As I go on my way, keep me within control of the impetuous desires of my nature, and in call of the duties and obligations of my daily life. Amen.

FEBRUARY TWENTY-NINTH

Anne Lee born 1736.

G.A. Rossini born 1792.

John Landseer died 1852.

Happy is he and more than wise Who sees with wondrous eyes and clean This world through all the gray disguise Of sleep and custom in between.

--G.K. Chesterton.

In the morning, when thou findest thyself unwilling to rise, consider with thyself presently, if it is to go about a man's work that I am stirred up. Or was I made for this, to lay me down, and make much of myself in a warm bed.

--Marcus Aurelius.

Arise and be doing, and Jehovah be with thee.

--1 Chronicles 22. 16.

Gracious Father, help me to take of the wealth of my day, while it is in season, and accessible. May I not be ignorant of the abundance in which I live, and be found in overwhelming regret. Forgive me for all that I have missed in life, and make me more watchful of that which is to come. Amen.

MARCH

Spring still makes spring in the mind, When sixty years are told; Love makes anew this throbbing heart, And we are never old.

Over the winter glaciers, I see the summer glow, And through the wild-piled snowdrift The warm rosebuds below.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

MARCH FIRST

Alexander Balfour born 1767.

Frederick Francois Chopin born 1809.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens born 1848.

William Dean Howells born 1837.

Thy soul shall enter on its heritage Of G.o.d's unuttered wisdom. Thou shalt sweep With hand a.s.sured the ringing lyre of life, Till the fierce anguish of its bitter strife, Its pain, death, discord, sorrow, and despair, Break into rhythmic music. Thou shalt share The prophet-joy that kept forever glad G.o.d's poet-souls when all a world was sad.

Enter and live! Thou hast not lived before.

--S. Weir Mitch.e.l.l.

Return unto thy rest, O my soul; For Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee.

For thou hast delivered my soul from death, Mine eyes from tears, And my feet from falling.

--Psalm 116. 7, 8.

Almighty G.o.d, grant that I may never be so discouraged that I feel my life has been spent. Help me to so live, that I may not follow into hopeless days, but look for the bright and beautiful in to-morrow.

Forgive me for all that I have asked for and accepted through willful judgment, and make me more careful in selecting my needs. Amen.