Leaves of Life

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER SEVENTEENTH 

Queen Mary of England died 1558.
Joost van den Vondel born 1587.
George Grote born 1794.

There are evergreen men and women in the world, praise be to God!--not many of them, but a few. They are not the showy folk. (Nature is an old-fashioned shopkeeper; she never puts her best goods in the window.) They are only the quiet, strong folk; they are stronger than Fate. The storms of life sweep over them, and the biting frosts creep round them; but the winds and the frosts pass away, and they are still standing, green and straight. 

--Jerome K. Jerome.


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.



Gracious Lord, may I not spend most in equipment and forget the tides, which may desert me on the sands, or the rocks in the channels, which may crush the finest vessel. May I be prepared for the hard knocks if they come, but may I know how to keep clear of them. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER EIGHTEENTH 

Sir David Wilkie born 1785.
Louis J. M. Daguerre born 1789.
Cyrus Field born 1819.
William S. Gilbert born 1836.

If e'er when man had fallen asleep,
I heard a voice, "Believe no more,"
A warmth within the breast would melt
The freezing reason's colder part,
And like a man in wrath, the heart
Stood up and answered, "I have felt."
--Alfred Tennyson.

Faith is the deep want of the soul. We have faculties for the spiritual, as truly as for the outward world. God, the foundation of all existence, may become to the mind the most real of all beings. The believer feels himself resting on an everlasting foundation. 

--William Henry Channing.

And they said one to another, Was not our heart burning within us, while he spake to us in the way, while he opened to us the scriptures? 

--Luke 24. 32.

Lord God, save me from a hard and doubting heart. May I be trustful and come to thee in faith. All the days of my life may my lips sing thy praise as I unfold thy love and purposes. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER NINETEENTH 

Nicolas Poussin died 1665.
Albert Thorwaldsen born 1770.
James A. Garfield, Ohio, twentieth President United States, born 1831.
Mary Hallock Foote born 1847.
Count Lyoff (Leo) Tolstoy died 1910.

And son I live, you see,

Go through the world, try, prove, reject,

Prefer, still struggling to effect

My warfare; happy that I can

Be crossed and thwarted as a man,

Not left in God's contempt apart,

With ghastly smooth life, dead at heart,

Tame in earth's paddock, as her prize.

--Robert Browning.

Be good at the depths of you, and you will discover that those who surround you will be good even to the same depths. Therein lies a force that has no name; a spiritual rivalry that has no resistance. 

--Maurice Maeterlinck.

First of all, I must make myself a man; if I do not succeed in that, I can succeed in nothing. 

--James A. Garfield.

That we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error. 

--Ephesians 4. 14.

Eternal God, I thank thee for all the sterling elements that greaten the individual life. I pray that I may not desire to be kept a small creature, but seek to grow in wisdom and love, and qualify for mighty purposes and achievements. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWENTIETH 

Paul Potter born 1625.
Thomas Chatterton born 1752.
William Ellery Channing born 1818.
Sir Wilfred Laurier born 1841.

Then why, my soul, dost thou complain?

Why drooping seek the dark recess?

Shake off the melancholy chain,

For God created all to bless.

The gloomy mantle of the night,

Which on my sinking spirits steals,

Will vanish at the morning light,

Which God, my East, my Sun, reveals.

--Thomas Chatterton.


Lady, there is a hope that all men have--

Some mercy for their faults, a grassy place

To rest in, and a flower-strewn, gentle grave:

Another hope which purifies our race,

That when that fearful bourne forever past,

They may find rest--and rest so long to last.

I seek it not, I ask no rest forever,

My path is onward to the farthest shores.

--William Ellery Channing.


He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay;

And he set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

And he put a new song in my mouth.

--Psalm 40. 2, 3.

My Father, I pray that I may have patience to live through the difficulties of life. May I correct my faults, that they may not destroy my peace and take from me my strength; help me to center my life in brightness and hope. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWENTY-FIRST

Claude Lorraine died 1682.
Bryan Waller Procter (Barry Cornwall) born 1787.
Mary Johnston born 1870.

There is not a creature from England 's king

To the peasant that delves the soil,

Who knows half the pleasures the seasons bring

If he had not his share of toil.

--Barry Cornwall.

It may be proved, with much certainty, that God intends no man to live in this world without working; but it seems to me no less evident that he intends every man to be happy in his work. Now, in order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: they must be fit for it; and they must not do too much of it; and they must have a sense of success in it.

--John Ruskin.

Let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.

--Ephesians 4. 28.

My Father, if my work seems hard to-day, may I not cease working if I grow weary, but may my strength be renewed to continue my work. May the aim of my work be to please thee, and to help in the progress of humanity. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWENTY-SECOND 

Saint Cecilia martyred A. D. 230.
Sir Henry Havelock died 1857.
Justin M'Carthy born 1830.

Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot,

My garden makes a desert spot,

Sometimes a blight upon the tree

Takes all my fruit away from me;

And then with throes of bitter pain

Rebellious passions rise and swell;

And so I sing and all is well.

--Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Such songs have power to quiet

The restless pulse of care,

And come like benediction

That follows after prayer.

--Henry W. Longfellow.

Songs consecrate to truth and liberty.

--Percy Bysshe Shelley.

David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

--1 Samuel 16. 23.

Almighty God, I thank thee that thou wilt come to me as my heart cries for need. I bless thee that thou dost come to me as my lips sing thy praise. I pray that I may be saved from a cruel and cheerless heart, and be a sharer of the songs that are sung to the soul. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWENTY-THIRD 

Thomas Tallis died 1585.
Franklin Pierce , New Hampshire , fourteenth President United States, born 1804.
Marie Bashkirtseff born 1860.

Asleep, awake, by night or day,

The friends I seek are seeking me;

No word can drive my bark astray,

Nor change the tide of destiny.

The stars come nightly to the sky,

The tidal wave unto the sea;

Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,

Can keep my own away from me.

--John Burroughs.



If a man could make a single rose we would give him an empire; yet flowers no less beautiful are scattered in profusion over the world, and no one regards them.

--Martin Luther.

Let patience have its perfect work.

--James 1. 4.

My Creator, may I remember that after thou didst create the earth thou didst say it was good. May I love the fragrance and beauty of the flowers which were made to nourish the soul, and the fruits and herbs which were made to nourish the body. May my song of thanksgiving be new every morning, as I awake in the abundance of what thou hast prepared. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH

John Knox died 1572.
Baron Spinoza born 1632.
Grace Darling born 1815.
Frances Hodgson Burnett born 1849.

I waited long until the sky

Should give me of its blue

To weave and wear, and share, and weave

The very stars into.

The days they went, the years they went,

And left my hands instead

Another thing for wonderment,

The mending and the bread.

Ah me, and one must set a hand

To burnish up the task,

And hush and hush the old demand

A wakeful heart will ask.

But with a star's clear eye on me,

O, I can hear it said,

"What souls there be that only see

The mending and the bread!"

--Josephine P. Peabody.


The riches of a commonwealth

Are free, strong minds and hearts of health.

And more to her than gold or grain,

The cunning hand and cultured brain.

--John G. Whittier.



For the life is more than the food, and the body than the raiment.

--Luke 12. 23.



My Father, I pray that thou wilt help me, that I may not consume my life in preparing clothes and food for my body. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH 

Charles Kemble born 1775.
John Bigelow born 1817.
Paul Haupt born 1858.
John Kitto died 1854.

I will not kill or hurt any living creature needlessly, nor destroy any beautiful thing, but will strive to save and comfort all gentle life and guard and perfect all natural beauty on earth. I will strive to raise my own body and soul daily into all the higher powers of duty and-happiness, not in rivalship or contention with others, but for help, delight, and honor of others and for the joy and peace of my own life.

--John Ruskin.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.

--Isaiah 11. 9.

Lord God, I rejoice in the blessedness of peace. May I not try to force peace where cruelty has entered, but keep a watch for what may come into my life. I pray that if I may be in turbulence to-day, thou wilt quiet me with thy peace which knows no fear or wrong. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH 

Sir William Ware born 1594.

John Elwes died 1789.

John Loudoun Macadam died 1836.

I'd like a way
To change the clouds that bring us sorrow,
And build to-day a bright to-morrow;
To banish cares that tarry long,
And have the days like the blue-bird's song--
I'd like a way.
I'll find a way--
I'll set sail when the breeze is high,
And calmly drift when pleasure's nigh;
I'll steer a course afar from tears,
And take in joy the coming years--
I'll find a way.
I've lost the way!
Out through the gloom a beam of light
Looks like a purpose looming bright!
Up with the sail! I'll out to sea
And bring that purpose back with me,
Or go its way.
--M. B. S.

Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: He is gracious, and merciful, and righteous. 

--Psalm 112. 4.



My Father, I pray that I may not through indifference wander without a purpose, or through discouragement stumble through the darkness. May I be drawn to the light by the vision of hopeful and useful days. Amen.