Leaves of Life

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER SIXTEENTH

John Selden born 1584.
François La Rochefoucauld born 1610.
George Whitefield born 1714.
Jane Austen born 1775.

So live that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan that moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.

--William Cullen Bryant.

As the wind extinguishes a taper but kindles the fire, so absence is the death of an ordinary passion, but lends strength to the greater.

--La Rochefoucauld.

If a man die, shall he live again?

--Job 14. 14.

Heavenly Father, with thy help may I enter into the hope that overcomes the fear of death. May my days be full of aspiration, and through faith may my life move toward the eternal and the sublime. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER SEVENTEENTH

Sir Roger L'Estrange born 1616.
Ludwig van Beethoven born 1770.
Sir Humphry Davy born 1779.
John Greenleaf Whittier born 1807.

The night is mother of the day,
The winter of the spring;
And ever upon old decay
The greenest mosses cling.
Behind the cloud the starlight lurks,
Through showers the sunbeams fall;
For God, who loveth all his works,
Has left his hope with all.

--John Greenleaf Whittier.


The sun set; but not his hope:
Stars rose; his faith was earlier up.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.


What I am I have made myself.

--Sir Humphry Davy.


Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
My flesh also shall dwell in safety.

--Psalm 16. 9.


My Father, may I never be content to pass by thy beautiful offerings and keep on in wretched despair. Save me if I may 'be inclining toward misery. Give me the spirit of repose, and help me to confide in thee as I daily seek the strength of thy love. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER EIGHTEENTH

Charles Wesley born 1708.
Lyman Abbott born 1835.
Samuel Rogers died 1855.
Sir Joseph John Thomson born 1845.

And let this feeble body fail,
And let it faint or die;
My soul shall quit this mournful vale,
And soar to worlds on high.
--Charles Wesley.

It were better to live an immortal life and be robbed of immortality hereafter by some supernal power, than to live the mortal, fleshly animal life, and live it endlessly. Who would not rather have a right to immortality than to be immortal without a right to be?
--Lyman Abbott.

So when a great man dies,
For years beyond our ken,
The light he leaves behind him lies
Upon the paths of men.
--Henry W. Longfellow.

But he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.
--Galatians 6. 8.

My Father, I pray that I may be spared the deprivations that may come from years spent in selfishness. Help me to realize before it is too late how little self can hold and how much remorse may accumulate. Help me to aspire to ideals that compel me to live an immortal life. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER NINETEENTH

Gustavus Adolphus born 1594.
Horatio Bonar born 1808.
F. Delsarte born 1811.
Mary A. Livermore born 1820.
J. M. W. Turner died 1851.

If a man is to be a pillar in the temple of his God by and by, he must be some kind of a prop in God's house to-day. We are here to support, not to be supported. No one can be a living stone on the foundations of the Spiritual House which is God's habitation without being a foundation to the stones above him.
--Maltbie Babcock.

Since trifles make the sum of human things,
And half our misery from our foibles springs;
Since life's best joys consist in peace and ease,
O let th' ungentle spirit learn from hence,
A small unkindness is a great offense.
--Hannah More.

He that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more.
--Revelation 3. 12.

My Father, grant that I may not deceive myself and expect big results from little efforts; nor be willing to receive assistance and refuse my support. May I not only be anxious to give others all that I can, and share their burdens, but may I be glad to help make fewer burdens for others to bear. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER TWENTIETH

Louis the Dauphin died 1765.
John Wilson Croker born 1780.
Cyrus Townsend Brady born 1861.

Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken.
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

--William Shakespeare.

I will not doubt the love untold
Which not my worth nor want hath bought,
Which wooed me young and wooes me old,
And to this evening hath me brought.

--Henry David Thoreau.

Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
--Jeremiah 81. 3.

Loving Father, teach me the secret of constancy, that none may ever be disappointed in me. May I not reckon what I give on recompense, but have the spirit of giving which has no measure for what it may receive in return. May I not be forgetful of thy love which will hold me to deeper reverence and devotion. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER TWENTY-SECOND

Franz Abt born 1819.
Thomas W. Higginson born 1823.
George Eliot died 1880.

Love and Pain
Make their own measure of all things that be.
No clock's slow ticking marks their deathless strain;
The life they own is not the life we see;
Love's single moment is eternity.

--Thomas W. Higginson.

Life is made stronger
Giving, receiving;
Love is made longer
Hoping, believing.

Life is made sweeter,
Truly worth living;
Love is completer,
Trusting, forgiving.

--M. B. S.

In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another.
--Romans 12. 10.

Loving Father, I thank thee that every morn breaks in a new day without the sadness of yesterday or the gladness of to-morrow. I pray that I may not lose the love and joy that it brings to-day. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER TWENTY-THIRD

Michael Drayton died 1631.
Robert Barclay born 1648.
James Sargent Storer died 1854.

When heaven endows you with all gifts, you are an incomplete being if you stay still in your corner instead of taking advantage of your real value.
--Marie Bashkirtseff.

Life, which ought to be a thing complete in itself, and ought to be spent partly in gathering materials, and partly in drawing inferences, is apt to be a hurried accumulation lasting to the edge of the tomb. We are put into the world, I cannot help feeling, to be rather than do.
--Arthur C. Benson.

Jehovah is the strength of my life.
--Psalm 27. 1.

Heavenly Father, I pray that thou wilt reverse my standards of life if I may be striving only for selfish gain. May I care for all that I could be, and may I care for where I should be found, but, most of all, may I care for what I really am. Help me to keep my mind on thee that I may find delight in doing thy will. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH

George Crabbe born 1754.
Kit Carson born 1809.
Matthew Arnold born 1822.
John Morley born 1838.
William Makepeace Thackeray died 1863.
+
Ah, friend, let us be true
To one another! For the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain,
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

--Matthew Arnold.

We take care of our health, we lay up money, we make our roof tight and our clothing sufficient, but who provides wisely that we shall not be wanting in the best property of all--friends?
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
--Proverbs 27. 6.

Gracious Lord, fill my life with the spirit of love and sacrifice. I bless thee for the deep fellowships and tender intimacies; and on the eve of this Christmas ask thy blessing for all, as my heart rings with joy for those whom I love. Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH

Christmas Day.
Sir Isaac Newton born 1642.
William Collins born 1721.
Father Taylor born 1794.

This is the month, and this is the happy morn,
Wherein the Son of heaven's eternal King,
Of wedded maid, and virgin mother born,
Our great redemption from above did bring.

--John Milton.

Christmas is here;
Winds whistle shrill,
Icy and chill,
Little care we;
Little we fear
Weather without,
Shelter'd about
The Mahogany tree.

--William M. Thackeray.

And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
--Luke 2. 10, 11.

Almighty God, I give honor and praise to express my joy for thy great love in the gift of thy Son, Jesus Christ. With a glad heart I wish all mankind "A merry Christmas," and may I ever remember, where the angels sang, "Peace on earth, good will toward men." Amen.

[Judy Harder]

DECEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH

Thomas Gray born 1716.
Mrs. Southworth born 1818.
Stephen Girard died 1831.

Let not ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor.

Nor you, ye proud, impute to those the fault,
If memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where, through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

--Thomas Gray.

Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty;
Neither do I exercise myself in great matters,
Or in things too wonderful for me.

--Psalm 131. 1.

Gracious Father, give me the courage to live my life, and the endurance to overcome the disappointments that may come to me. May I not be neglectful of the great opportunities of which I am privileged to take advantage. May I not be pretentious of what I have not done, or boastful of what I am, but with my best ability live in truth. Amen.