Leaves of Life Part 69

"My favorite is joy, Who brings with him his sister Peace, to stay The livelong day.

I love them both; but he Is most to me!"

And where are thy playmates now, O man of sober brow?

"Alas! dear joy, the merriest is dead, But I have wed Peace; and our babe, a boy Newborn, is joy."

--John B. Tabb.

Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it.

--Psalm 34. 14.

Lord G.o.d, may I realize more my dependence on thee for the joys of life. I pray that as I accept thy gifts I will not neglect to take the peace and happiness which thou dost give with them. Grant that I may have the bright hope and cheerful courage that is the experience of power and truth. Amen.

AUGUST TWENTY-EIGHTH

Johann W. von Goethe born 1749.

Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel born 1809.

Jones Very born 1813.

Count Lyoff (Leo) Tolstoy born 1828.

Sir Edward Burne-Jones born 1833.

Leigh Hunt died 1859.

All truly wise thoughts have been already thought a thousand times; but to make them truly ours we must think them over again honestly, till they take firm root in our personal experience.

--Goethe.

The light that fills thy house at morn Thou canst not for thyself retain; But all who with thee here are born It bids to share an equal gain.

The wave, the blue encircling wave, No chain can bind, no fetter hold; Its thunders tell of Him who gave What none can ever buy for gold.

--Jones Very.

And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them

--John 17. 22.

Father of love, I thank thee for thy daily love and for thy daily bread. May I feel that thy gifts are for all, and not mine to keep and store from those who are in need. Help me as I say, "Thy will be done to me," to so will it to others. Amen.

AUGUST TWENTY-NINTH

John Locke born 1632.

John Fawcett born 1768.

Frederick D. Maurice born 1805.

Oliver Wendell Holmes born 1809.

Maurice Maeterlinck born 1862.

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll!

Leave thy low-vaulted past!

Let each new temple, n.o.bler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown sh.e.l.l by life's unresting sea!

--Oliver Wendell Holmes.

We all live in the sublime. Where else can we live? That is the only place of life. Though you have but a little room, do you fancy that G.o.d is not there, too, and it is impossible to live therein a life that shall be somewhat lofty? Do you imagine that you can possibly be alone, that love can be a thing one knows, a thing one sees; that events can be weighed like the gold and silver of ransom?

--Maurice Maeterlinck.

My soul waiteth in silence for G.o.d only: From him cometh my salvation.

--Psalm 62. 1.

Loving Father, help me to live, that my spirit may always dwell in thy protecting love. Amen.

AUGUST THIRTIETH

Cleopatra died B. C. 30.

William Paley born 1743.

Julian A. Weir born 1852.

Thyself and thy belongings Are not thine own so proper as to waste Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.

Heaven doth with us as we with torches do, Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touched But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends The smallest scruple of her excellence, But, like a thrifty G.o.ddess, she determines Herself the glory of a creditor, Both thanks and use.

--William Shakespeare.

Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample.

--Philippians 3. 17.

My Father, I pray that I may not let my life become commonplace through habit. May I not be content to rest in my virtues and let the days pa.s.s neglected. Awaken my dull satisfactions to a desire to live for the greatest, that I may have the greatest to live for. Amen.