Leaves of Life Part 35

Chevalier de Bayard killed 1524.

Sir John Lubbock born 1834.

James Montgomery died 1854.

David Livingstone died 1873.

We scatter seeds with careless hands, And dream we ne'er shall see them more; But for a thousand years Their fruit appears In weeds that mar the land.

--John Keble

And there came up a sweet perfume From the unseen flowers below, Like the savor of virtuous deeds, Of deeds done long ago.

--Mrs. Southey.

Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.

--John 12. 3.

My Father, I pray that it may be mine to have the recollection of happy deeds, and not the memory of unkept promises. Help me to remember that one act is worth a thousand intentions, and that memory is the storehouse that supplies old age. Make me careful of my memory, that it may not be burdened. Amen.

MAY

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet, Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs, But, in the embalmed darkness, guess each sweet Wherewith the seasonable month endows The gra.s.s, the thicket, and the fruit tree wild; White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine; Fast-fading violets covered up in leaves; And mid-May's wildest child, The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine, The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.

--John Keats.

Such a starved bank of moss Till that May morn, Blue ran the flash across: Violets were born.

--Robert Browning.

MAY FIRST

Arbor Day.

Joseph Addison born 1672.

Arthur, Duke of Wellington, born 1769.

If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.

--Joseph Addison.

He who plants a tree, he plants love; Tents of coolness spreading out above Wayfarers, he may not live to see.

Gifts that grow are best; Hands that bless are blest; Plant-life does the rest!

Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree, And his work his own reward shall be.

--Lucy Larcom.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

--Psalm 1. 3.

My Creator, give me joyful eyes for joyful nature. May I be alive to the gentle influences of a May day which bring new experiences to all who may receive them: and may I serve thee by unfolding to others the love of truth, the love of good, and the love of beauty. Amen.

MAY SECOND

Leonardo da Vinci died 1519.

Robert Hall born 1764.

Jerome K. Jerome born 1859.

William Henry Hudson born 1862.

Without a false humility; For this is love's n.o.bility,-- Not to scatter bread and gold, Goods and raiment bought and sold; But to hold fast his simple sense, And speak the speech of innocence, And with hand and body and blood, To make his bosom-counsel good.

He that feeds man serveth few; He serves all who dares be true.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Small service is true service while it lasts: Of humblest friends scorn not one: The daisy, by the shadow it casts, Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.

--William Wordsworth.

Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; Yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear.

--Job 11. 15.

Heavenly Father, I would be thankful for the blessings I am inclined to forget. Give me a heart of grat.i.tude, and forbid that I should hold my friends for material gain or selfish ends. May I through the truthfulness of my lips, and the honor of my acts, be a necessary friend. Amen.

MAY THIRD

Niccolo Machiavelli born 1469.

Thomas Hood died 1845.