May 26

_The Lord beareth your murmurings, which ye murmur against Him_.--EX. xvi.

8.

Without murmur, uncomplaining In His hand, Leave whatever things thou canst not Understand.

K. R. HAGENBACH.

One great characteristic of holiness is never to be exacting--never to complain. Each complaint drags us down a degree, in our upward course.

If you would discern in whom G.o.d's spirit dwells, watch that person, and notice whether you ever hear him murmur.

GOLD DUST.

When we wish things to be otherwise than they are, we lose sight of the great practical parts of the life of G.o.dliness. We wish, and wish--when, if we have done all that lies on us, we should fall quietly into the hands of G.o.d. Such wishing cuts the very sinews of our privileges and consolations.

You are leaving me for a time; and you say that you wish you could leave me better, or leave me with some a.s.sistance: but, if it is right for you to go, it is right for me to meet what lies on me, without a wish that I had less to meet, or were better able to meet it.

R. CECIL.

May 27

_He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much_.--LUKE xvi, 10.

_The Lord preserveth the faithful_.--PS. x.x.xi. 23

The trivial round, the common task, Would furnish all we ought to ask; Room to deny ourselves; a road To bring us, daily, nearer G.o.d.

J. KEBLE.

Exactness in little duties is a wonderful source of cheerfulness.

F. W. FABER.

The unremitting retention of simple and high sentiments in obscure duties is hardening the character to that temper which will work with honor, if need be, in the tumult or on the scaffold.

R. W. EMERSON.

We are too fond of our own will. We want to be doing what we fancy mighty things; but the great point is, to do small things, when called to them, in a right spirit.

R. CECIL.

It is not on great occasions only that we are required to be faithful to the will of G.o.d; occasions constantly occur, and we should be surprised to perceive how much our spiritual advancement depends on small obediences.

MADAME SWETCHINE.

May 28

_Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness_.--COL. I. 11.

G.o.d doth not need Either man's works or His own gifts; who best Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best; His state Is kingly; thousands at His bidding speed, And post o'er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait.

J. MILTON.

We cannot always be doing a great work, but we can always be doing something that belongs to our condition. To be silent, to suffer, to pray when we cannot act, is acceptable to G.o.d. A disappointment, a contradiction, a harsh word, an annoyance, a wrong received and endured as in His presence, is worth more than a long prayer; and we do not lose time if we bear its loss with gentleness and patience, provided the loss was inevitable, and was not caused by our own fault.

FRANcOIS DE LA MOTHE FeNELON.

May 29

_Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises_.--HEB. vi. 12.

Where now with pain thou treadest, trod The whitest of the saints of G.o.d!

To show thee where their feet were set, The light which led them shineth yet.

J. G. WHITTIER.

LET us learn from this communion of saints to live in hope. Those who are now at rest were once like ourselves. They were once weak, faulty, sinful; they had their burdens and hindrances, their slumbering and weariness, their failures and their falls. But now they have overcome. Their life was once homely and common-place. Their day ran out as ours. Morning and noon and night came and went to them as to us. Their life, too, was as lonely and sad as yours. Little fretful circ.u.mstances and frequent disturbing changes wasted away their hours as yours. There is nothing in your life that was not in theirs; there was nothing in theirs but may be also in your own. They have overcome, each one, and one by one; each in his turn, when the day came, and G.o.d called him to the trial. And so shall you likewise.

H. E. MANNING.

May 30

_And thus this man died, leaving his death for an example of a n.o.ble courage, and a memorial of virtue, not only unto young men, but unto all his nation_.--2 MAC. vi. 31.

_Zebulon and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field_.--JUDGES v. 18.

Though Love repine, and Reason chafe, There came a voice without reply,-- 'Tis man's perdition to be safe, When for the truth he ought to die.

R. W. EMERSON.

Some say that the age of chivalry is past. The age of chivalry is never past, so long as there is a wrong left unredressed on earth, or a man or woman left to say, "I will redress that wrong, or spend my life in the attempt." The age of chivalry is never past, so long as we have faith enough to say, "G.o.d will help me to redress that wrong; or, if not me, He will help those that come after me, for His eternal Will is to overcome evil with good."

C. KINGSLEY.