Chapter L: A. Freeman

September 10

_Just whistle a bit if the day be dark
And the sky be overcast:
If mute be the voice of the piping lark,
Why, pipe your own small blast._

_And it's wonderful how o'er the gray sky-track,
The truant warbler comes stealing back.
But why need he come? for your soul's at rest,
And the song in the heart,--ah, that is best._

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the assurance that all things work together for good to them that love Thee. Help us to live this day in joyous faith in that promise. May we realize that behind all clouds the sun still shines, and that the Father's wisdom never errs, and his love never fails. Give us courage for this day's conflicts, grace for its trials, and strength for its duties. Guide our feet in the way of Thy commandments and fill our souls with the joy of Thy presence. May our lives no less than our lips praise Thee. Amen.

CHARLES F. RICE.

September 11

_For each true deed is worship; it is prayer,
And carries its own answer unaware.
Yes, they whose feet upon good errands run
Are friends of God, with Michael of the sun;
Yes, each accomplished service of the day
Paves for the feet of God a lordlier way.
The souls that love and labor through all wrong,
They clasp His hand and make the Circle strong;
They lay the deep foundation stone by stone,
And build into Eternity God's throne!_

EDWIN MARKHAM.

Our Heavenly Father, we, Thy children, turn to Thee in gratitude and hope for this new day of opportunity. May our high calling in Christ Jesus loom large before our eyes. Deliver us, we humbly beseech Thee, from making ourselves and our concerns chief in thought and effort. May we find our lives in saving those whose sky is dark, whose burdens are heavy, and whose faith is perishing. With zest, as do the angels, when we hear Thy Spirit's voice, may we turn and obey. To let these hours of service prove to us, not only that Thou art, but that Thou art the rewarder of them that diligently seek Thee. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

DEWITT S. CLARK.

September 12

_Good name, in man or woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed._

SHAKESPEARE.

God of all righteousness and charity, breathe upon me the spirit of thine own charity and righteousness, that I may deal worthily with the good name of every human being with whom I have to do. Help me, that I may bring no injury to the fair fame of any. May the law of kindness be in my lips, and the spirit of helpful justice in my heart. Inspire me to come, whenever I ought, to the rescue of the slandered, that I may deliver them into the liberty of human fellowship. And not to me alone, O God, but to all men, teach this divine lesson of fair judgment and sweet help, that they may live together as children in thy gracious family. Amen.

WILLIAM N. CLARKE.

September 13

_I searched for love in heart of city's hum;
I searched for love upon the shining sand
Of ocean beach; and then on towering cliffs I sung
A pleading song that love unto my heart might come;
But love came not._

_I searched for love no more, but labored sore
To ease those hearts whom sorrow'd touched before,
Faint hope that in sweet work I'd surely find
Some compensation for a fate unkind--
When, lo! love came._

BESSIE L. RUSSELL.

For love and life and light and breath and ease,
For work, success and hope, for power to please,
For conscience clear, for faith without alloy,
For common share in common human joy,
I thank Thee, gracious God!

For loneliness and shadow, sickness, care,
For failure, doubt, remorse, death, and despair,
For sleepless nights, for aching heart and brain,
For common share in common human pain,
I thank Thee, gracious God! Amen.

MARGARET WENTWORTH.

September 14

_In fallow fields the goldenrod
And purple asters beck and nod.
The milkweed launches fairy boats;
In tangled silver the cobweb floats.
Pervasive odors of ripening vine,
Fill the air like a luscious wine.
The gentian blooms on the browning waste;
With coral chains is the alder laced.
The blackbirds gather, and wheel and fly,
The swallows twitter a low "Goodbye!"_

SARA ANDREW SHAFER.

Father in Heaven, we love Thee, we cannot help it. Thy blessings around us on every side tell us of Thy love. Our love leaps involuntarily from our hearts responsive to these numberless delights. We thank Thee for the rich harvests that burden the fields, for the acres of beauty that reach over hill and through meadow, for the stars that make cheerful the night. Help us to bless Thee when the storms come to disappoint and destroy. May we realize that the tempest comes from the Good Father, that He has sent it, a great blessing in disguise. Great Father, help us to know and feel that everything coming from Thee is good. So may Thy Kingdom come to Thy children of earth. Amen.

CHARLES EDWARD DAVIS.

September 15

_Once, out of all the anguish and the sorrow of my heart,
I wrote a song, and put my pent-up passion in its art.
And the great world never heeded this soulful human groan,
For it bore a burden infinitely heavy of its own._

_Once, out of all the happiness and joy within my breast,
I made a little song and blithely sent it on its quest.
And the great world, with its infinitely many joys, divine,
Still had room and instant welcome for this little song of mine._

WILLIAM F. DIX.

O God, I thank Thee that Thou hast numbered me with the children of the day. O Immanuel, make Thy Presence to be a sun within me this day. May I dispel clouds or reveal the rainbows ever half-hidden in robes of mists. May I melt snows and bring spring-time freshets of joy. May I shed light that shall turn groans into songs. May I shine on till I shall stand before the Great White Throne that is encompassed with an unbroken rainbow, and take up the angelic music among that starry host of souls who have found the true "music of the spheres," and are:

"Forever singing as they shine,
'The hand that made us is divine.'"
Amen.

ELLIOTT F. STUDLEY.

September 16

_All is best, though we oft doubt
What the unsearchable dispose
Of highest wisdom brings about,
And ever best found in the close.
Oft He seems to hide His face,
But unexpectedly returns,
And to his faithful champion hath in place
Bore witness gloriously._

JOHN MILTON.

Our Father, we have ever dwelt in Thee, though sometimes we have forgotten it. While our eyes slept, it may be that to our spirit's sight a ladder was set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven, and on it Thy angels were ascending and descending to help us. Now again, O Father, comes to us from Thy hand of love the food and the tasks of a new day. Help us then to put away the error from which we fled or should have fled yesterday. This morning let us set up the stone of our Bethel that through the day we may be reminded in all we do, that Thou art in this place with us. Whether we see Thee or not, let us take courage and make this a day nearer Thee. Fill us with Jesus' own large sympathies for others, with Jesus' purpose to seek and to serve the right, and especially grant us Jesus' complete trust in Thy perfect goodness. In His name, we ask it. Amen.

MERRILL C. WARD.

September 17

_As far as earth is from the sky,
So Love is high.
Where Alpine lakes their vigils keep
Is Love more deep._

_In Nature there no boundaries are
That tell how far Love goes;
Love's measure, as each countless star,
God knows._

* * * * *

_One only thing we know: Love comes to stay;
Though God's to give, it is not even His
To take away._

MARIAN ALDEN.

O God, our Heavenly Father, we recognize our dependence upon Thee for the bounties of Thy never-failing Providence, and as we enter upon this new day to which Thou has safely brought us, we ask Thy help that we may receive it as a gift from Thee and may consecrate ourselves more perfectly in the least things as well as in the greatest, to Thy service. Help us to be faithful to all the duties and responsibilities of our lot. Deliver us from all useless discontent, all idle doubts and foolish fears. In all our dealings may we be simple and sincere. Strengthen us to do at every moment that which we feel to be right and good in Thy sight, and through loyal obedience to Thy will may we rise into a clearer vision of the things that belong to Thy heavenly kingdom. Amen.

WILLIAM H. FISH.

September 18

_Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am
thankful that thorns have roses._

ALPHONSE KARR.

_There are those who want to get away from all their past; who if
they could, would fain begin all over again. Their life seems one
long failure. But you must learn, you must let God teach you, that
the only way to get rid of your past is to get a future out of it._

PHILLIPS BROOKS.

Our Heavenly Father, the remembrance of Thee fills life with all that is most beautiful and bright. Our deepest sorrows, our most bitter experiences come when we forget Thee. No life can be a failure which strives to do Thy will. Sorrow may come to us, but just as an artist may darken a flower, in painting, before retouching it to make its color all the brighter, so we know that Thou, who givest color to the flowers, may for a season permit sorrow to darken our lives; but Thou art only in the midst of Thy work. At Thy retouch, life becomes the more beautiful. Help us to pray, not simply, "Lord, remember me," for it is not possible for Thee to forget Thy children; we pray "assist us to be always mindful of Thee." Amen.

E. MCP. AMEE.

September 19

_The sooner we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest a little
Eastern apothegm of Howard Hinton's the better: Two balls were
together in a box, a gold and a gilt ball. The gilt ball was
carefully done up in tissue paper, and securely wedged into one
corner; but the gold ball was loose, and went rolling about with
every movement of the box. "Oh, please, do take care of yourself!"
said the gilt ball, peeping out apprehensively from the folds of
the tissue paper. "Why, where's the harm?" answered the gold ball,
as it took a fresh lurch to an opposite corner. "Oh, how can you?"
cried the other; "you'll rub it off." "Rub what off?" asked the
gold ball.... The gold won't rub off.... Only the gingerbread
gilt._

ELLICE HOPKINS.

Heavenly Father, we hear the loving call of this new day and on the wings of the morning we would speed to the work and worship of the beautiful hours Thou hast given us. We thank Thee that Thou hast made us for the hurry of the market place as well as for the quiet of the home. May our own lives be brightened by contact with our fellowmen. May the pure gold of the Spirit of Christ be ours in purity of personal thought, in the benediction of words of strength and sweetness and in the varied service we may render our neighbors in the name of Jesus our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

JAMES F. ALLEN.

September 20

_O heart of mine, we shouldn't worry so!
What we've missed of calm we couldn't have, you know!
What we've met of stormy pain,
And of sorrow's driving rain,
We can better meet again,
If it blow!_

_For we know, not every morrow can be sad;
So, forgetting all the sorrow
We have had,
Let us fold away our fears,
And put by our childish tears,
And through all the coming years,
Just be glad._

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY.

Heavenly Father, Thy very name fills our hearts with confidence and peace. For we know that out of Thy Fatherly goodness all earthly providences are bestowed and administered for our good. So, for our unwilling submission, when Thou hast led us into hard and thorny pathways, we ask Thy generous forgiveness; and for our ingratitude when pleasure and prosperity have attended us, we entreat Thy tender patience. As Thou hast commanded us to rejoice in Thy salvation, may our hearts be filled with gladness to-day; and, as Thou hast counselled us that when we lack wisdom, we may ask of Thee, we beseech Thee to bestow upon us now and evermore the wisdom of cheerfulness and joy. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

EDMUND L. SMILEY.

September 21

_We all shrink, like cowards, from new duties, new
responsibilities. We do not venture to go out of the beaten track
of our daily life. Close to us, on each side of the road, are those
whom we might help or save with one good action, one kind word. But
we are afraid. We say: "I am not prepared; I am not ready; I have
not time; I am not qualified; find some better person; send some
one else." Perhaps we have only one talent, and, therefore, instead
of using it, we hide it, and when the Master comes we shall meet
him with the old answer: "I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent
in the earth. Lo! there thou hast that is thine."_

JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE.

From the base sin of selfishness, O Lord, deliver us. Teach us by Thy life of ministry and sacrifice for others that the more fully and willingly we lose ourselves in service for our fellowmen, the more surely we shall find ourselves in Thee. As we go forth this day in paths that Thou hast prepared for us, help us to so forget ourselves in acts of kindness and words of comfort that each one whom our lives may touch, may become thereby a happier, purer, stronger soul. Take Thou the care of these lives of ours, while, with Thee, in busy streets and crowded shops where greed is grasping and sin is lurking, we shall try to care for souls of others, who need the help that we might give. Then, at the eventide today or on the morrow, it will be our joy like Thine to find ourselves again in hearts made happy, in lives inspired, in souls redeemed. Amen.

GEORGE B. DEAN.

September 22

_Before God's footstool to confess
A poor soul knelt and bowed his head,
"I failed!" he wailed. The Master said,
"Thou didst thy best--that is success!"_

ANONYMOUS.

_Straight from the Mighty Bow, this truth is driven:
"They fail, and they alone, who have not striven."
Fly far, O shaft of light, all doubt redeeming,
Rouse men from dull despair and idle dreaming.
High Heaven's Evangel be, gospel God-given;
They fail, and they alone, who have not striven._

CLARENCE URMY.

We thank Thee, O God, for the light that reveals to us the divine estimate of life, that lifts the veil of mystery from struggle and sacrifice and enables us to interpret their meaning as elements of successful living. We praise Thee for the truth that assures us that we are in this world to win, to overcome, to be more than conquerors. We pray that we may be too busy to dream and too brave to doubt. Strengthen us for life's conflict, help us to carry our burdens cheerfully, fight courageously, strive lawfully, that we may be worthy to be counted among those who shall receive the crown of righteousness and hear at last the "Well done" of the Master. Amen.

GEORGE S. SCRIVENER.

September 23

_Be diligent and faithful, patient and hopeful, one and all of you;
and may we all know, at all times, that verily the Eternal rules
above us, and that nothing finally wrong has happened or can
happen._

THOMAS CARLYLE.

_If you entered the workshop of a blacksmith, you would not dare to
find fault with his bellows, anvils and hammers. If you had not the
skill of a workman, but the consideration of a man, what would you
say? "It is not without cause the bellows are placed there; the
artificer knew, though I do not know, the reason." You would not
dare to find fault with the blacksmith in his shop, and do you dare
to find fault with God in His world?_

ST. BERNARD.

We thank Thee, O loving Father, that we are not alone in the universe with longing for the higher life. There are a thousand revelations of Thee in our fellowmen. And when we cannot find Thee, for blindness, in nature or in ourselves, we can see Thee revealed in the lives heroic that surround us. In the abstract Thou art hard to find; in the lives of men Thou art always visible. We thank Thee that there is a contagion of rightness and that love is a vital seed that fills the world with its kind. We are fearful of love sometimes, fearing to waste it on a loveless world. Help us to see that every atom we give becomes an ocean to ourselves. Amen.

ALBERT C. GRIER.

September 24

_To be at all--what is better than that?
I think if there were nothing more developed, the clam in its callous
shell in the sand were august enough
I am not in any callous shell;
I am cased with supple conductors, all over
They take every object by the hand, and lead it within me;
They are thousands, each one with his entry to himself;
They are always watching with their little eyes, from my head to my feet;
One no more than a point lets in and out of me such bliss and magnitude,
I think I could lift the girder of the house away if it lay between me
and whatever I wanted._

WALT WHITMAN.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for all the delicate beauty as well as for the rugged strength of these bodies in which Thou hast set us to live. But more wonderful than the habitation of the soul is the soul itself. Thou hast made us a little lower than the angels, Thou hast crowned us with glory and honor, and we join reverently in the words of the great poet-prophet who said of man--"In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a God!" O Lord, we thank Thee for this great thought of our own life. Yet let us not be vain nor proud. We pray rather that we may be inspired to live so earnestly and so nobly that we shall prove our title now to all that we have dreamed as our natural birthright. So shall we feel ourselves to-day sons and daughters of God. Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

September 25

_I do believe the common man's task is the hardest. The hero has
the hero's aspiration that lifts him to his labor. All great duties
are easier than the little ones, though they cost far more blood
and agony._

PHILLIPS BROOKS.

_Thus man is made equal to every event. He can face danger for the
right. A poor, tender, painful body, he can run into flame or
bullets or pestilence, with duty for his guide.... I am not afraid
of accident as long as I am in my place.... Every man's task is his
life-preserver. The conviction that his work is dear to God and
cannot be spared, defends him._

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

O Thou Who art the giver of every good and perfect gift, help us better to understand the measure of Thy giving; that we count not those blessings only which make life smooth and easy and of tame comfort but the things that make life resolute and hearty, and that put to test the vigor of our souls, that give us chance to prove our high nobility and unfaltering courage; the things that build for the soul's fine substance of eternal worth--these are Thy blessings, too, for which we thank Thee. Give us entrance into Thine eternal living through strong activity and zest of life; that manhood have its eager challenge and womanhood its glowing opportunity to assert themselves as winning joy through bafflement and Thy strong peace that passeth not away, through steadfast consecration to high service. Amen.

GEORGE H. BADGER.

September 26

_If I can put one touch of a rosy sunset into the life of any man,
or woman I shall feel that I have worked with God. He is in no
haste; and if I do what I may in earnest I need not worry if I do
no great work. Let God make His sunsets; I will mottle my little
cloud. To help the growth of a thought that struggles toward the
light, to brush with gentle hand the earth stain from the white of
one snowdrop--such be my ambition._

GEORGE MACDONALD.

Help us, our Father, to know that we have here at hand all that we need to make this day what it ought to be; that we need not look afar, but in the duty of this present moment, in the opportunity to learn, to serve and thus to grow, which the morning offers, is all that is necessary to make this day sound and serviceable; in such a day we shall find enduring joy and from it Thou, the Giver of all days, wilt derive satisfaction, since it will do its full share in fulfilling Thy purpose. And may we see that if we make our todays what they should be Thou wilt take care of the tomorrows. Amen.

HERBERT E. BENTON.

September 27

_My neighbor hath a little field,
Small store of wine its presses yield,
And truly but a slender hoard
Its harvest brings for barn or board.
Yet tho' a hundred fields are mine,
Fertile with olive, corn and wine;
Tho' Autumn piles my garners high,
Still for that little field I sigh.
For ah! methinks no otherwhere
Is any field so good and fair.
Small tho' it be, 'tis better far
Than all my fruitful vineyards are,
Amid whose plenty sad I pine--
"Ah, would the little field were mine!"
Large knowledge void of peace and rest,
And wealth with pining care possest--
These by my fertile lands are meant.
That little field is called Content._

ROBERTSON TROWBRIDGE.

Heavenly Father, as prayed Thy servant of old, so we this morning repeat "Give us neither poverty nor riches." Help us this day, in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content. May no complaining word proceed out of our mouths. Above all may no murmuring thought lodge within us. So shall we rest in peace with Thee, and God, even our God, shall bless us. Yet, O Lord, forbid that we should remain satisfied with any portion, which our best effort, with Thine assistance, can improve. Then shall we grow in grace and more and more approach the stature of true men and women, in Christ Jesus. Amen.