January 14

_A German allegory tells of two little girls. They had been playing together in a strange garden, and soon one ran in to her mother full of disappointment. "The garden's a sad place, mother." "Why, my child?" "I've been all around, and every rose-tree has cruel, long thorns upon it!" Then the second child came in breathless. "O Mother, the garden's a beautiful place!" "How so, my child?" "Why, I've been all around, and every thorn-bush has lovely roses growing on it!" And the mother wondered at the difference in the two children._

ANONYMOUS.

Divine Spirit and Soul of this day! We rejoice in its accomplished and its prophetic beauty and wealth which even our undisciplined hearts and minds may readily perceive, but may we increase the joy of its activities and its whole divine meaning by a deeper appreciation of its ministry to the disciplined life we bear. If there shall be fortunes in its pa.s.sing which we would not choose, if there shall be encountered any experiences we would shun, may we remember that our reverses only emphasize our successes, that our sorrows intensify our joys, that even the humiliation and shame of the "far country" add divine meaning to the Father's House where wait the sandals and robes and rings for the comfort and beauty that are yet to be. May we learn that the thorn protects the rose, that the flaming sword turning in all directions protects the Tree of Life in every Eden of the world. May we remember that every great and good fortune of life is guarded by a seeming hostility which bears in its soul the secret of a lasting benevolence appointed for our own good. Amen.

E. L. REXFORD.

January 15

_We are haunted by an ideal life, and it is because we have within us the beginning and the possibility of it. G.o.d is our continual incitement because we are His children. So the ideal life is in our blood and never will be still. We feel the thing we ought to be beating beneath the thing we are. Every time we see a man who has attained our ideal a little more fully than we have it wakens our languid blood and fills us with new longings._

PHILLIPS BROOKS.

O G.o.d, we thank Thee each morning for ideals which appeal to us with such persistence that we have no peace unless we pursue them. Even in our seeming indifference we are ill at ease, because Thy voice calling to us disturbs our fancied content. We are not satisfied with ourselves nor with our attainments. "We shall be satisfied only when we wake in Thy likeness." Weary though we often are in our service yet we thank Thee that Thou relentlessly pursuest us with even greater and higher demands. Help us in our onward and upward plodding. Revive our failing spirits. Lead us ever on. Help us to realize that "in our patience we shall win our souls." We pray as followers of Jesus Christ. Amen.

THEODORE A. FISCHER.

January 16

_O Singer of today, this glorious hour Is all for you and me--what shall it give To us, and ask of fate--what splendid power In brain and hand, what glorious right to live Among our fellows and to war with sin?

What quickening of the pulse as we aspire To claim our right, and risk earth's joys to win, To conquer self, and force it through the fire!

Give us this force, dear G.o.d, and evermore Give us a deepening love of all our fellowmen; Give us new insight--courage to explore With all the tenderness of human ken The lowliest heart that beats in human kind, Its glory and its soul to seek and find!_

WILLIAM ORDWAY PARTRIDGE.

O Soul of all souls! Baptize us afresh this morning into the l.u.s.tral waters that we may devoutly thank Thee that Thou art and that Thou dost clearly reveal Thyself to Christian souls through Thy Son, as the Father of the great brotherhood of mankind. So wait upon us that we shall go forth to this day's duties resolved upon so living as to render the morning glad, the noon redolent with merciful activity, and the evening full of praise. Thus quickened and enlarged the night will afford rest and recuperation fitting us to welcome the morrow, still hoping, loving, progressing, obedient to the sainted call, "Up higher," being incessantly recompensed with the coveted refrain, "Well done." Amen.

S. H. MCCOLLESTER.

January 17

_There is one topic peremptorily forbidden to all well-bred, to all rational mortals, namely, their distempers. If you have not slept or if you have slept, or if you have headache, or sciatica, or leprosy or thunder stroke, I beseech you, by all angels, to hold your peace, and not pollute the morning, to which all the housemates bring serene and pleasant thoughts, by corruption and groans._

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

Our Father, when we remember the mult.i.tude of Thy mercies our hearts are filled with peace and praise and we are ashamed to murmur and complain.

Turn our thoughts toward the love and joy that this day holds for us; its opportunities, its privileges and victories. Let the morning light dispel the shadows on our faces and the fears in our hearts. Thou hast glorified us and will glorify us again. Help us to be grateful for the rose that smiles amidst the thorns and the light that ever shines behind the clouds. Grant that the spirit of trust may prevail in us and send us on our way with power to conquer. Amen.

ABRAM CONKLIN.

January 18

_Simplicity is a state of mind. It dwells in the main intention of our lives. A man is simple when his chief care is the wish to be what he ought to be, that is, honestly and naturally human. And this is neither so easy nor so impossible as one might think. At bottom it consists in putting our acts and aspirations in accordance with the law of our being, and consequently with the Eternal Intention which willed that we should be at all. Let a flower be a flower, a swallow a swallow, a rock a rock, and let a man be a man, and not a fox, a hare, a hog, or a bird of prey; this is the sum of the whole matter._

CHARLES WAGNER.

Dear Heavenly Father, we rejoice in the awakening of body and soul to new activities. We thank Thee for the gift of divinity in the soul and for opportunity to give it expression. We would be true to ourselves, knowing we can thus alone be true to Thee. O G.o.d, hush the voice of evil pa.s.sion. Quicken every n.o.ble aspiration. Grant the vision of Thy holy love that Thy image within us may remain clear in the turmoil of our life. We pray Thee stir the heart and mind that both may grow up to the full stature of man as it was in Jesus, our Saviour. Amen.

L. WARD BRIGHAM.

January 19

_G.o.d has put the keys to His kingdom into your own hands. Your intelligence is a key, your affection is a key, your conscience is a key. With these keys you are to unlock the great doors of life, and gain access to its heavenly treasures._

JAMES M. PULLMAN.

Master of life, as Thou hast opened our eyes to see the sun, open the eyes of our hearts to see the splendor of Thy law. And even as Thou dost bring to birth, through the marriage of our eye and the sun, all the beauty of this visible world, so through the union between our hearts and Thy holy will, create a world rejoicing in the beauty of truth and justice and peace. Lead us this day deeper into the mystery of Thy life and our life and make us interpreters of life to our fellows, through Him who by His death opened for us the book of life, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

HENRY S. NASH.

January 20

_A noiseless, patient spider, I mark'd how on a little promontory it stood isolated, Mark'd how to explore the vacant, vast surrounding, It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself, Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them._

_And you, O my soul, where you stand, Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of s.p.a.ce, Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them, Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold, Till the gossamer threads you fling catch somewhere O my soul._

WALT WHITMAN.

Thou Infinite Spirit, we are glad of all human relationships. We are thankful for all companionship with nature. We rejoice in the fellowship with books, yet like the child who grows tired with every plaything and every childish task and lonely for a mother's love, we look to Thee with an infinite longing. In our effort to solve the problems of life, we throw our web of life hither and thither, but it will not hold. Only when at last we have thrown the thread of faith to Thee, shall the ductile anchor hold. Our Heavenly Father, as we go forth into this day, may we not leave Thee for any dream or phantom, but may we walk with Thee all day long, and find in Thee the answer to every longing and the solution of every problem. Though we may not see, we may trust and wait.

Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

January 21

_Do not think of your faults, still less of others' faults; in every person who comes near you, look for what is good and strong; honor that; rejoice in it; and as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes._

RUSKIN.

_With a clear sky, a bright sun, and a gentle breeze, you will have friends in plenty; but let fortune frown, and the firmament be overcast, and then your friends will prove like the strings of the lute, of which you will tighten ten before you find one that will bear the stretch and keep the pitch._

GOTTHOLD.

Dear Father, may the new day bring some fresh and inspiring thought of Thyself. May it give some tender communion with the universe, kindling into beauty as Thy smile shines through. May we make and keep a few dear friends. May some good book enrich the pa.s.sing hours. May love flow through all acts, and the star of hope shine in all shadows. And trusting Thee supremely, may we humbly do our best that good may abound on earth. Amen.

JOSEPH H. CROOKER.

January 22