Leaves of Life

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH

Horace died B. C. 8.
Marquise d'Aubigné Maintenon born 16324.
General Artemus Ward born 1727.
Fanny Kemble born 1809.
Alexandra Dumas died 1895.

Be this thy brazen bulwark of defense, to preserve a conscience void of offense, and never turn pale with guilt.

--Horace.


Is life a noxious weed which whirlwinds sow?
A useless flint o'er which the waters flow?
Not so!
A life well spent has not its weight in gold;
It is the clearest crystal earth doth hold,
A gem beside which suns seem dull and cold.

--Robert Louis Stevenson.


That they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed.

--1 Timothy 6. 19.


Lord God, I pray that my life may not be impoverished by neglect, nor burdened with indulgences, but that it may be kept in condition for high endeavors. Grant that I may never be content to rest in satisfaction and ease when I could struggle and accomplish a good work. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH

William Blake born 1757.
Anton G. Rubinstein born 1829
Washington Irving died 1859.

The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal, every other affliction to forget. Take warning by the bitterness of this thy contrite affliction over the dead, and henceforth be more faithful and affectionate in the discharge of thy duties to the living.

-- Washington Irving .


Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine;
Every grief and pine
Runs a joy with a silken twine.

--William Blake.


Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

--John 16. 20.


Heavenly Father, grant that I may not lose the kindness that I may give and receive to-day. I thank thee for the memories of yesterday, the hope of to-morrow, and the wisdom of to-day. May I have a vision of immortality that will keep me through the closest sorrow. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER TWENTY-NINTH

Sir Philip Sidney born 1554.
A. Bronson Alcott born 1799.
Wendell Phillips born 1811.
Louisa M. Alcott born 1832.

Truth is sensitive and jealous of the least encroachment of its sacredness.

--A. Bronson Alcott.


Faith that withstood the shocks of toil and time,
Hope that defied despair,
Patience that conquered care,
And loyalty whose courage was sublime;

Teaching us how to seek the highest goal,
To earn the true success;
To live to love, to bless,
And make death proud to take a royal soul.

--Louisa M. Alcott.

Nor is it
Wiser to weep a true occasion lost,
But trim our sails, and let old bygones be.

--Alfred Tennyson.


In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal.

--Titus 1. 2.


Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live in truth; and without fear of life or death live content in the faith of eternal life. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

NOVEMBER THIRTIETH

Peregrine White born New England 1620.
Jonathan Swift born 1687.
Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) born 1835.
Winston Churchill born 1874.

He gave it for his opinion that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.

--Jonathan Swift.


That man may last, but never lives,
Who much receives, but nothing gives;
Whom none can love, whom none can thank,--
Creation's blot, creation's blank.

--Thomas Gibbons.


Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.

--Luke 6. 38.


My Father, preserve my soul from all selfishness. May I delight in thy teaching as I trust in thy word. I pray that I may not only speak truthfully, but that I may leave the door of my spirit open, that truth may always enter and abide continually. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER FIRST

Dr. George Birkbeck died 1841.
Queen Alexandra born 1844.
R. W. Dale born 1829.
Ebenezer Elliott died 1849.

We would fill the hours with the sweetest things,
If we had but a day:
We should drink alone at the purest springs,
In our upward way:
We should guide our wayward or wearied will,
By the clearest light:
We should keep our eyes on the heavenly hills,
If they lay in sight:
We should be from our clamorous selves set free,
To work and pray:
And be what the Father would have us to be,
If we had but a day.

--Margaret E. Sangster.


Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

--Philippians 4. 8.


Gracious Father, help me to understand that my life grows out of what I put into my days. Forgive me for the unspoken words and the kind deeds which I kept for rare days, and had so few occasions to use. May I be as useful in kindness as I am in work, remembering that to thee every day is a golden day. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER SECOND

David Masson born 1822.
John Brown hanged, Charlestown , West Virginia 1859.
Hugh Miller died 1856.

The solitude of life is known to us all; for the most part we are alone, and the voices of friends come only faint and broken across the impassable gulfs which surround every human soul.

-- Hamilton Mabie.


To have an ideal or to have none, to have this ideal or that--this is what digs gulfs between men, even between those who live in the same family circle, under the same roof, or in the same room. You must love with the same love, think with the same thoughts as some one else if you are to escape solitude.

--Amiel.


The plans of the heart belong to man;
But the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah.

--Proverbs 16. 1.


Lord God, help me to take in the glory of life, that my spirit may never be lonely, even though I may have to be much alone. I pray that thou wilt spare me the loneliness and the solitude that may be brought on by selfishness. Make me considerate of others. May I soar above the disappointments and losses that may come to me, and stay where I may have thy companionship. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER THIRD

Samuel Crompton born 1753.
Sir Frederick Leighton born 1830.
Robert Louis Stevenson died 1894.

To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying "Amen" to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.

--Robert Louis Stevenson.


There is precious instruction to be got by finding we were wrong. Let a man try faithfully, manfully to be right. He will grow daily more and more right.

--Thomas Carlyle.


The hero is the man who is immovably centered.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.


Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water.

--Hebrews 10. 22.


Gracious Father, grant that I may not be content to follow through ignorance and indolence and be led to the lowly paths of life. Make my Hie positive; and from my surroundings may I look out and struggle to mount to the highest ideals, that I may be qualified to select the best in life. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER FOURTH

Cardinal Richelieu died 1642.
William Drummond died 1649.
Madame Recamier born 1777.
Thomas Carlyle born 1795.
John Kitto born 1804.

It is with a man's soul as it is with nature: the beginning of Creation is--Light. Till the eye have visions the whole members are in bonds. Divine moment, when over the tempest-tost Soul, as once over the wild-weltering Chaos, it is spoken: Let there be Light!

--Thomas Carlyle.


What in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That to the light of this great argument
I may assert eternal Providence
And justify the ways of God to men.

--John Milton.


For thou art my lamp, O Jehovah; And Jehovah will lighten my darkness.

--2 Samuel 22. 29.


My Lord, forgive me if I have allowed bitterness and misery to darken my life, for my soul yearns continually for the light. In thy compassion lead me to the "sunny side of the road where the beautiful flowers grow," that my path may be made bright and cheerful all the rest of the way. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER FIFTH

Martin Van Buren , New York , eighth President United States, born 1782.
Christina G. Rossetti born 1830.
Alice Brown born 1857.

A cold wind stirs the blackthorn
To burgeon and to blow,
Besprinkling half-green hedges
With flakes and sprays of snow.

Through coldness and through keenness,
Dear hearts take comfort so:
Somewhere or other doubtless
These make the blackthorn blow.

--Christina G. Rossetti.


There are some men and women in whose company we are always at our best. All the best stops in our nature are drawn out by their intercourse, and we find a music in our souls never there before.

--Henry Drummond.


And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.

--Hebrews 10. 24.


My Father, I thank thee for life. Make me sensitive to the unseen influences that bring thy messages. May I be led where great riches may be found through small kindnesses, and where I may learn from the meek the beauty of earth. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER SIXTH

General George Monk born 1608.
Warren Hastings born 1732.
Dr. Richard Barham born 1786.

That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it:
This high man, with a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
That low man goes on adding one to one,
His hundred's soon hit:
This high man, aiming at a million,
Misses an unit.
That, has the world here--should he need the next,
Let the world mind him!
This, throws himself on God, and unperplexed
Seeking shall find him.

--Robert Browning.


Hitch your wagon to a star.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.


When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek.

--Psalm 27. 8.


Almighty God, show me what thou hast given for me to do, that I may not leave undone that which is mine. Forgive me for useless planning and blind asking for the things which cannot be mine. I pray that my work may be honest work, well done, and acceptable for thy service. Amen.