Leaves of Life Part 88

--Deuteronomy 5. 33.

Almighty G.o.d, help me to make my life refulgent while I have the abundance of summer, that I may not find the November of life bleak and barren. Help me to live in the realities of life, that I may gain energy and repose, to use for the lonesome and anxious hours. May I be watchful for the conditions that thwart life, and with patience wait for the awakening of truth. Amen.

NOVEMBER SECOND

Marie Antoinette born 1755.

Field-Marshal Radetzky born 1766.

James Knox Polk, North Carolina, eleventh President United States, born 1795.

Overmastering pain--the most deadly and tragical element in life--alas! pain has its own way with all of us; it breaks in, a rude visitant, upon the fairy garden where the child wanders in a dream, no less surely than it rules upon the field of battle, or sends the immortal war-G.o.d whimpering to his father; and innocence, no more than philosophy, can protect us from this sting.

--Robert Louis Stevenson.

My hopes retire; my wishes as before Struggle to find their resting place in vain; The ebbing sea thus beats against the sh.o.r.e; The sh.o.r.e repels it; it returns again.

--W.S. Landor.

Yet Jehovah will command his loving-kindness in the day-time, And in the night his song shall be with me.

--Psalm 42. 8.

Loving Father, I bless thee for thy goodness and tender mercy which is over all. May I trust thy provision and love through all circ.u.mstances, and as I trust myself to thee may I have faith to believe that thou wilt give me strength for what I may have to endure, and believe that thou wilt care for me, as thou dost care for all.

Amen.

NOVEMBER THIRD

Lucan born A.D. 39.

William Cullen Bryant born 1794.

Francis D. Millet born 1846.

John Watson (Ian Maclaren) born 1850.

Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie (John Oliver Hobbes) born 1867.

Whither, midst falling dew, While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue Thy solitary way!

Vainly the fowler's eye Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong, As, darkly painted on the crimson sky, Thy figure floats along.

He who, from zone to zone, Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread alone, Will lead my steps aright.

--William Cullen Bryant.

For Jehovah your G.o.d dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until ye were pa.s.sed over.

--Joshua 4. 23.

Almighty G.o.d, help me to guard against gratification that leads to disappointment, that I may not miss the true way. I pray that thou wilt lift me in my weakness, and carry me over the rough and discouraging places, that I may be made strong in thy loving care, and be able to continue alone. Amen.

NOVEMBER FOURTH

Guido Reni born 1575.

James Montgomery born 1771.

Edmund Keane born 1787.

Ernest Howard Crosby born 1856.

Eugene Field died 1895.

Keep me, I pray, in wisdom's way, That I may truths eternal seek; I need protecting care to-day-- My purse is light, my flesh is weak.

--Eugene Field.

No one could tell me where my Soul might be, I searched for G.o.d, but G.o.d eluded me.

I sought my brother out, and found all three.

--Ernest H. Crosby.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he will direct thy paths.

--Proverbs 3. 6.

My Father, may I not face the going down of the sun to-day, looking at life, in a mirror that reflects my own privileges and prejudices, but may I see it as it is, known to those who are living to make it better. May the days to come prove my sincerity in wanting the truth that I might live by it, and help to do good with it. Amen.

NOVEMBER FIFTH

Hans Sachs born 1494.

Dr. John Brown born 1715.

Benjamin Butler born 1818.