Leaves of Life Part 31

--William Shakespeare.

Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Make level the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established.

--Proverbs 4. 25, 26.

My Father, give me a sense of nearness to thee when I may be faltering from weariness in well doing. May I hold to my determinations. Help me to know what is useless, that I may not give unnecessary energy, and to know what is worth while, that I may acquire strength through the power of truth. Amen.

APRIL SEVENTEENTH

Bishop Benjamin Hoadley died 1761.

Benjamin Franklin died 1790.

William G. Simms born 1806.

Shall I ask the brave soldier who fights at my side, In the cause of mankind, if our creeds agree?

Shall I give up the friend I have valued and tried, If he kneel not before the same altar as me?

--Thomas Moore.

I met a little Elf-man once, Down where the lilies blow.

I asked him why he was so small And why he didn't grow.

He slightly frowned, and with his eye He looked me through and through.

"I'm quite as big for me," said he "As you are big for you."

--John Kendrick Bangs.

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

--Isaiah 5. 21.

Loving Father, grant that I may not barter love with formalities, nor sacrifice love for customs. But, may I have a fellows.h.i.+p that is true and sincere, and that may be counted on, though all and for all. Amen.

APRIL EIGHTEENTH

Lord Jeffreys died 1689.

George Henry Lewes born 1817.

Sir Francis Baring born 1740.

Nor can I count him happiest who has never Been forced with his own hand his chains to sever, And for himself find out the way divine; He never knew the aspirer's glorious pains, He never earned the struggler's priceless gains.

--James Russell Lowell.

There is not time for hate, O wasteful friend.

Put hate away until the ages end.

Have you an ancient wound? Forget the wrong-- Out in my West a forest loud with song Towers high and green over a field of snow, Over a glacier buried far below.

--Edwin Markham.

Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.

--1 Timothy 6. 12.

Lord G.o.d, help me to realize the power of my life. I feel ashamed and alarmed when I think of the grievous wrongs I may have done for greed.

May I have delight in the struggles I have made for the ways of righteousness. Make me careful to avoid the things that debase life.

May I aspire for the highest and best. Amen.

APRIL NINETEENTH

Roger Sherman born 1721.

Lord Byron died 1824.

Lord Beaconsfield (Disraeli) died 1881.

Charles Darwin died 1882.

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes. --Disraeli.

One sees, and the other does not see; one enjoys an unspeakable pleasure, and the other loses that pleasure which is as free to him as the air....

The whole outward world is the kingdom of the observant eye. He who enters into any part of that kingdom to possess it has a store of pure enjoyment in life which is literally inexhaustible and immeasurable. His eyes alone will give him a life worth living.

--Charles W. Eliot.

Having eyes, see ye not?

--Mark 8. 18.

My Father, help me to realize that I cannot feel the joy that breathes through the early morning unless I am with it. May I see distinctly the glory of to-day. Help me to be watchful and keep my spirit awake, that I may receive thy revelations. Amen.

APRIL TWENTIETH