Chapter M: Emory Wright

September 28

_Forenoon and afternoon and night--Forenoon
And afternoon and night,--Forenoon, and--what?
The empty song repeats itself. No more?
Yea, that is life. Make this forenoon sublime,
This afternoon a psalm, this night a prayer,
And time is conquered, and thy crown is won._

EDWARD ROWLAND SILL.

Help me, O Lord, if I shall see
Times when I walk from hope apart,
Till all my days but seem to be
The troubled week-days of the heart.

Help me to find, in seasons past,
The hours that have been good or fair,
And bid remembrance hold them fast,
To keep me wholly from despair.

Help me to look behind, before,
To make my past and future form
A bow of promise, meeting o'er
The darkness of my day of storm.
Amen.

PHOEBE CARY.

September 29

_The iris-pillar suggested the burning bush on Horeb. In Moses'
time, nature, in the regard of science, was a mere bush, a single
shrub. Now it has grown, through the researches of the intellect,
to a tree. The universe is a mighty tree; and the great truth for
us to connect with the majestic science of these days, and to keep
vivid by a religious imagination, is, that from the roots of its
mystery to the silver-leaved boughs of the firmament, it is
continually filled with God, and yet unconsumed._

T. STARR KING.

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who in all ages has been revealing Thyself to men as a God of righteousness and love, we approach Thy throne of grace this morning confessing our unworthiness and pleading Thy forgiving love. While humbling ourselves before Thee because of the consciousness of our unworthiness, we yet approach Thee, our Father, with filial trust and confidence, yea, with gladness of heart and holy boldness in the all-prevailing name of Jesus Christ our Lord. We bless Thee for Thy watchful care over us amid all the dangers, temptations and difficulties of the past. Truly Thou hast been with us, and although Thy people have often been surrounded by fire, the bush has not been consumed. In the future as in the past, be Thou our God and Guide and finally bring us into Thine everlasting Kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A. K. MACLENNAN.

September 30

_Would you like to hear what sort of questions the school-boys had
to answer eighteen centuries ago? Very well; you shall. A rabbi,
who lived nearly twenty years before Christ was born, set his
pupils thinking by asking them, "What is the best thing for a man
to possess?" One of them replied, "A kind nature;" another, "A good
companion;" another, "A good neighbor." But one of them, named
Eleazer, said, "A good heart." "I like your answer best, Eleazer,"
said the master, "for it includes all the rest."_

FRANCIS AUGUSTUS COX.

Our Father in heaven, we are happy to believe that Thou dost wish us to have the best. Thou dost teach us that the best possession we can have is a good heart, for out of the heart are the issues of life. Thou art the searcher of hearts,--if our hearts are hard Thou canst give us hearts of flesh, if they are sinful Thou canst create clean hearts within us. Even if they are desperately wicked Thou canst make them new. Grant us, therefore, Thy Holy Spirit we humbly beseech Thee, that our hearts may be pure and good. Thus may we ever possess the best possible treasure, and thus may we perfectly love Thee and worthily magnify Thy holy name. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

WILLARD T. PERRIN.

October 1

_Month of fruits and falling leaves,
Under thy opalescent skies
The vagrant summer idly lies,
While coming Autumn deftly weaves
Rare tints for tall ungarnered sheaves
Of goldenrod, kissing the eyes
Of purple asters as she dyes
The vine that swings beneath the eaves._

_And all the bending hedgerows seem
A Joseph's coat of colors. Hues
That shame the rainbow's royal arch
Set all the harvest fields a-gleam
With beauty, fresh with fragrant dews
To crown the season's onward march._

GEORGE W. SHIPMAN.

Author and Giver of every good and perfect gift whose infinite presence and power underlie all growth and life and activity, Who revealest Thyself in the varied forms of beauty which come so rapidly in the revolving year, in the green grass and blossoming roses and lilies and refreshing, fast-succeeding fruits, we thank Thee that Thou art now crowning the year with Thy goodness and inviting us to gather in from tree, garden, field, forest, mine, what will feed, clothe, protect us during the wintry season given us, free from arduous labors, to find enjoyment in books, music and social intercourse. These blessings remind us to present to Thee the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance. Amen.

CALVIN S. LOCKE.

October 2

_One answered, on the day when Christ went by,
"Lord, I am rich; pause not for such as I.
My work, my home, my strength, my frugal store,
The sun and rain--what need have I of more?
Go to the sinful who have need of Thee,
Go to the poor, but tarry not for me.
What is there Thou should'st do for such as I?"
And He went by._

_Long years thereafter, by a palace door,
The footstep of the Master paused once more
From whence the old voice answered piteously,--
"Lord, I am poor, my house unfit for Thee;
Nor peace nor pleasures bless my princely board,
Nor love nor health; what could I give Thee, Lord?
Lord, I am poor, unworthy, stained with sin,--"
Yet He went in._

MABEL EARLE.

We who are poor in spirit, turn to Thee who art the giver of every good and perfect gift, to hold out our empty hands and pray that Thou wilt make us rich. During the past days and years we have been out in Thy world striving for more things and then more things and yet more things, forgetful of the fact that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Now, realizing the poverty of our real lives, we ask Thee to bestow upon us those eternal riches which pertain to the human soul and possessing which we shall have treasure in that heaven within where moth and rust do not corrupt nor thieves break through and steal. So shall we be rich indeed. Amen.

FRANK OLIVER HALL.

October 3

_Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift.
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift.
Shun not the struggle; face it. 'Tis God's gift._

_Be strong!
Say not the days are evil,--who's to blame?
And fold the hands and acquiesce--O shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God's name._

_Be strong!
It matters not how deep intrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day how long,
Faint not, fight on! Tomorrow comes the song._

MALTBIE DAVENPORT BABCOCK.

O our Father, we thank Thee for this new morning. Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the same. Lift Thou upon us the light of Thy countenance and bid us go in peace. So shall we begin the day aright. With gentle skill Thou dost deal with us. Thou art not careless with us or hasty or impatient. Help us to be strong in Thee. May we be able to cast out of our lives everything that would grieve Thee and harm us. With a loving spirit may we serve Thee this day. May we be rooted and grounded in love. However hard the battle may go give us courage and confidence to believe that through Christ, strengthening us, we can do all things required of us. Lord, increase our faith. Amen.

J. E. HAWKINS.

October 4

_Nobody proves God's being. But, suddenly, one sees God is here.
One speaks and God answers. Thereafter all is sure._

EDWARD EVERETT HALE.

_There is nothing that so persuades us of the great realities of
moral and spiritual being as the man in whom God is manifest, the
type of our human nature at its best, and the indorsement of the
sublime faith that God in humanity is the supreme revelation of
Himself!_

HORATIO STEBBINS.

Blessed Father, as the morning light has triumphed in its struggle to overcome darkness, so Thou dost gently but irresistibly call us from slumber to the glories and duties of the new day. May we be strong in the sweet assurance that the unfolding hours are full of blessing because Thou art caring for us. Help us to do Thy will by enabling us to minister to those around us. May the words of our mouth and the industry of our hands reveal Thy guiding love. Enable us to order our ways by the habit of trust that we have learned through Thy constancy. Wilt Thou disappoint our fears, steady our hearts, and show us the way of obedience, peace and service that we may realize the good through the day and rejoice in it, as disciples of Christ. Amen.

JAMES D. CORBY.

October 5

_Thou knowest not what argument
Thy life to thy neighbor's creed hath lent;
All are needed by each one;
Nothing is good or fair alone._

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

_Men will not be content to live every man for himself, nor to die
every man for himself. In work, in art, in study, in trade--in all
life, indeed, the children of God, called by a Saviour's voice,
will wish to live in the common cause. They will live for the
common wealth,--this is the modern phrase. They will bear each
other's burdens,--this is the phrase of Paul. They will live in the
life of love. And it will prove true as it was promised, that all
things are added to the community which thus seeks the Kingdom of
God and His Righteousness._

EDWARD EVERETT HALE.

Eternal God, who dost still create the light, and make the morning and the evening of our days, by Thy light we look to Thee. In Thy light we worship Thee. Gird us with strength to work with Thee to bring Thy Kingdom in. May we lose and find ourselves again in the larger whole of life by ministering to others' needs; by bearing others' burdens; by sharing their joys and tears and the common fruits of toil, thus making our life and faith in Thee become their own. Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it; and let Thy beauty and Thy glory be upon us forever and ever. Amen.