Leaves of Life

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER SIXTH & SEVENTH

James Gregory born 1638.
John Bright born 1811.
Sir George Williams died 1905.

Look full into thy spirit's self,
The world of mystery scan;
What if thy way to faith in God
Should lie through faith in man?

--John Bright.

Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of oneself and seeing and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another.

--Thomas Hughes.

Be perfected; be comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace: and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

--2 Corinthians 13. 11.

Lord God, I earnestly entreat thee to show me if I may be cramping the happiness in another's life by forcing in my selfishness and demands. May I understand that perfect gifts are those that come through loving sacrifice. Make me ashamed to ask for what I refuse or prefer not to give. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER EIGHTH

Edmund Halley born 1656.
John Milton died 1674.
Owen Meredith (Bulwer Edward Lytton) born 1831.

The morning drum-call on my eager ear
Thrills unforgotten yet! the morning dew
Lies yet undried along my field of noon.
But now I pause a while in what I do,
And count the bell, and tremble lest I hear
(My work untrimmed) the sunset gun too soon.

--Robert Louis Stevenson.

I fear
Life's many changes, not Death's changelessness.
So perfect is this moment's passing cheer,
I needs must tremble lest it pass to less.
Thus in fickle love of life I live,
Lest fickle life me of my love deprive.

--Owen Meredith.

And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore art thou thus fallen upon thy face?

Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow.

--Joshua 7. 10, 13.

Almighty God, help me in these fleeting days that I may not use my time to consider and hesitate, but be positive in my desires and pursue them. Grant that I may have the strength to hold each day precious, and live it more than consistently. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER NINTH

Mark Akenside born 1721.
William Sotheby born 1757.
Charles F. Thwing born 1853.

The victor's road is the easy way.
Straight it stretches and climbs to where
Fame is waiting with garlands gay
To wreathe the fighter who clambers there.
There's applause in plenty and gold's red gleam
For the man who plays on the winning team.

The loser travels a longer lane;
Level it leads to a lonely land.
There's little glory for him to gain
The voices mock him on either hand;
But the man who wins in the greater game
Is the man who, beaten, fights on the same.

--G. Rice.

The hero is not fed on sweets,
Daily his own heart he eats;
Chambers of the great are jails,
And head-winds right for royal sails.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

He thanked God, and took courage.

--Acts 28. 15.

O Lord, I pray that whether I may be successful in the sight of the world, or whether I may be successful in my own sacrifices, I may have the freedom of courage, and be master of my life. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TENTH

Martin Luther born 1483.
William Hogarth born 1697.
Oliver Goldsmith born 1728.
Johann von Schiller born 1759.
Joaquin Miller born 1841.
Henry van Dyke born 1852.

As faith, so is God.

--Martin Luther.

Learn the luxury of doing good.

--Oliver Goldsmith.

Love is the ladder by which we climb up to the likeness of God.

--Johann von Schiller.

And who will walk a mile with me
Along life's weary way?
A friend whose heart has eyes to see
The stars shine out o'er the darkening lea,
And the quiet rest at the end of the day--
A friend who knows and dares to say,
The brave sweet words that cheer the way
Where he walks a mile with me.

--Henry van Dyke.

And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two.

--Matthew 5. 41.

My Father, may I not dwell in the appearances of life, where I may grow selfish; but live in the realities of simplicity. May I not only seek those who may return me pleasure, but may I find delight in brightening the walk of a weary friend. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER ELEVENTH

Alfred de Musset born 1810.
Thomas Bailey Aldrich born 1836.
Rev. Joshua Brookes died 1821.

I'll not confer with Sorrow
Till to-morrow,
But joy shall have her way
This very day.

--Thomas Bailey Aldrich.

Shall we have ears on the stretch for the footfalls of sorrow that never come, but be deaf to the whirr of the wings of happiness that fill all space?

--Maurice Maeterlinck.

This day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, punishment will overtake, us; now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household.

--2 Kings 7. 9.

Loving Father, I pray that thou wilt help me to overcome unhappiness. May I not let depression overpower me, but claim the promises of joy that are open to every life. May I be blest by my own cheerfulness and encourage others to possess it. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWELFTH

Saint Augustine died A. D. 354.
Richard Baxter born 1615.
Amelia Opie born 1769.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton born 1815.
Thomas Lord Fairfax died 1671.

In life it is difficult to say who do you the most mischief--enemies with the worst intentions or friends with the best.

--Edward Bulwer.


The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel.

--William Shakespeare.


Where persons who ought to esteem and love each other are kept asunder, as often happens, by some cause which three words of frank explanation would remove, they are fortunate if they possess an indiscreet friend who blurts out the whole truth.

--Thomas B. Macaulay.


Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
Who did eat of my bread,
Hath lifted up his heel against me.

--Psalm 41. 9.


Lord God, help me to consider more carefully what I offer to my friends; and may I not be critical of what I receive from my friends. May I not be a hindrance instead of a help to those who would have my companionship. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER THIRTEENTH 

Sir John Moore born 1761.
Robert Louis Stevenson born 1850.
Sir John Forbes died 1861.

Little do we know our own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the True Success is to labor.
--Robert Louis Stevenson.

Whether thy work be fine or coarse, planting corn or writing epics, so only it be honest work, done to thine own approbation, it shall earn a reward to sense as well as to the thought.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Nature gives to labor; and to labor alone. In a very garden of Eden a man would starve but for human exertion.

--Henry George.

But let each man prove his own work, and then shall he have his glorying in regard of himself alone, and not of his neighbor.

--Galatians 6. 4.

My Father, make pure living clear to me, that I may not be deceived in my work; and may I not use my working hours searching for more suitable work, but may I be sure in what I am that I may feel secure in what I undertake to do. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER FOURTEENTH 

Bishop Hoadley born 1676.
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel born 1805.
Robert Smythe Hichens born 1864.

Give us, O give us, the man who sings at his work! Be his occupation what it may, he is better than any of those who follow the same pursuit in silent sullenness.
--Thomas Carlyle.

What doctor possesses such curative resources as those latent in a single ray of hope? The mainspring of life is in the heart. Joy is the vital air of the soul, and grief is a kind of asthma complicated by atony.
--Amiel.

I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live:

I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

--Psalm 104. 33.

Loving Father, restore the spirit of gentleness and meekness if it may be withered within me, that I may be contented. May I make it a habit to be happy over my work and cheerful about my duties. May I never lose the view of the glory of thy kingdom. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER FIFTEENTH

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, born 1708.
William Cowper born 1731.
Sir William Herschel born 1738.
Johann Lavater born 1741.
Richard Henry Dana born 1787.
Ida Tarbell born 1857.

The parting sun sends out a glow

Across the placid bay,

Touching with glory all the show--

A breeze! Up helm! Away!

Careening to the wind, they reach,

With laugh and call, the shore.

They've left their footprints on the beach,

But them I hear no more.

--Richard Henry Dana.


Art little? Do thy little well:

And for thy comfort know

The great can do their greatest work

No better than just so.

--Goethe.

But be thou an ensample to them that believe, in word, in manner of life, in love, in faith, in purity. 

--1 Timothy 4. 12.

Lord God, grant that if I may be complaining of what Providence has not sent me, I may not be neglecting what Providence has given me. May I not pause too long over what I have done, or over what I might have done, but may I be appreciative of what thou dost expect of me and endeavor to accomplish it. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER SIXTEENTH 

Tiberius born B. C. 42.
Gustavus Adolphus killed 1632.
Francis Danby born 1793.

Judge not the workings of his brain

And of his heart thou canst not see;

What looks to thy dim eyes a stain

In God's pure light may only be

A scar, brought from some well-won field,

Where thou would'st only faint and yield.

And judge none lost; but wait and see,

With hopeful pity, not disdain;

The depth of the abyss may be

The measure of the height of pain

And love and glory that may raise

The soul to God in after days!

-- Adelaide A. Procter.



I am more afraid of deserving criticism, than of receiving it. 

--William Gladstone.



Judge not, that ye be not judged. 

--Matthew 7.1.



Lord Jehovah, judge of all mankind, forbid that I should set myself as a judge of another's life, and neglect to live for the higher judgment of my own. May I not be absorbed in that which thrives in darkness, but live in the light of honesty and gentleness. Amen.