November 17
Do we not know that more than half our trouble is borrowed? Just suppose that we could get rid of all unnecessary and previous terror; just suppose that we could be sure of final victory in every conflict, and final emergence out of every shadow into brighter day; how our hearts would be lightened! How much more bravely we should work and fight and march forward! This is the courage to which we are entitled and which we may find in the thought that God is with us everywhere.
Henry Van Dyke.
O Gracious and Infinite Presence, Thou art the peace that dwells in the shade of night and the brightness and hope of this new day. We are gratefully conscious of the loving strength that stands ever ready to help. The call of the day's work is in our ears and the courage manfully to labor is in our hearts. Strengthen us, Father, when weariness of toil dissolves our noble resolutions; calm us when petty vexations distract from our holy purposes. May midday find us refreshed by Thy grace and eventide solaced by Thy benediction. And now as we go forth to duty let our hearts know no terror but the fear of wrong-doing and our minds no anxiety but the earnest desire to toil fruitfully. Grant that we may see beneath life's busy activities the great good Thou art working out among men and to this end learn to labor and to wait. Amen.
November 18
There is no thing we cannot overcome.
Say not thy evil instinct is inherited,
Or that some trait inborn makes thy whole life forlorn,
And calls down punishment that is not merited.
Back of thy parents and grandparents lies
The Great Eternal Will. That, too, is thine
Inheritance, strong, beautiful, divine,
Sure lever of success, for him who tries.
Pry up thy faults with this great lever, Will,
However deeply bedded in propensity,
However firmly set, I tell thee firmer yet
Is that strange power that comes from truth's immensity!
Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
O Eternal Goodness, help us now, as another morning dawns, to readjust ourselves to Thy purpose of blessing. We believe that the most certain, significant and permanent fact of the universe is that Thou art our Father. Thus we are the heirs of Thy sufficient grace. There is no curse of ancestry for him who knows Thee as His parent. There is no weakness of the flesh for him who, through touch with Thee, becomes strong in the spirit. Help us all through this day to deny the chain of every earthly folly and sin, to stand erect and free as becometh children of the Infinite. So, finding and using the wisdom of our Master, who, most of all men, gained success, may we overcome the world. Amen.