Leaves of Life Part 28

APRIL SIXTH

Albert Durer died 1528.

James Mill born 1773.

Jean Baptiste Rousseau born 1669.

Even if the sacrifices which are made to duty and virtue are painful to make, they are well repaid by the sweet recollections which they leave at the bottom of the heart.

--Jean B. Rousseau.

I am the man of a thousand loves, A thousand loves have I; And all my loves are white-winged doves, That into my soul would fly.

I am the man of a thousand friends Of tuneful memory; And each of them spends the delicate ends Of a brilliant day with me.

And all my gifts are magical words That sing sweet songs to me; And the sensitive words are caroling birds In the garden of imagery.

--Edwin Leibfreed.

Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.

--Revelation 2. 10.

Loving Father, I bless thee for thy love and ministry. May I enter into a broader conception of sharing thy gifts. May I not seek thy blessings to keep, but to use for renewed inspiration. Amen.

APRIL SEVENTH

Saint Francis Xavier born 1506.

William Wordsworth born 1770.

William Ellery Channing born 1780.

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die!

The child is Father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.

--William Wordsworth.

A self-controlled mind is a free mind, and freedom is power. I call that mind free which jealously guards its intellectual rights and powers. I call that mind free which resists the bondage of habit, which does not live on its old virtues, but forgets what is behind, and rejoices to pour itself forth in fresh and higher exertions.

--William Ellery Channing.

That ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, that after G.o.d hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

--Ephesians 4. 23, 24.

Lord G.o.d, give me the power to control my mind and heart, that I may not be a slave to habits that may keep me from eternal love and blessedness. May I have sympathy and compa.s.sion for others, and cherish thy tenderness and mercy as I hold it in my daily life. Amen.

APRIL EIGHTH

Petrarch crowned 1341.

William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, born 1580.

David Rittenhouse born 1732.

If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life from aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.

--Emily d.i.c.kinson.

The most solid comfort one can fall back upon is the thought that the business of one's life is to help in some small way to reduce the sum of ignorance, degradation, and misery on the face of this beautiful earth.

--George Eliot.

Make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself.

--Philippians 2. 2, 3.

My Father, take away the spirit, if I may be inclined to keep the best, and to be always seeking my portion. May I have the desire to share with those who have less, and to give to those who may have more, whether it be of bread or love. Amen.

APRIL NINTH

Fisher Ames born 1758.

John Opie died 1807.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti died 1882.

Gather a sh.e.l.l from the strown beach And listen at its lips; they sigh The same desire and mystery, The echo of the whole sea's speech.

And all mankind is this at heart-- Not anything but what thou art: And Earth, Sea, Man are all in each.

--Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

And as, in sparkling majesty, a star Gilds the bright summit of some glory cloud; Brightening the half-veil'd face of heaven afar; So when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud, Sweet Hope! celestial influence round me shed, Waving the silver pinions o'er my head.

--John Keats.