December 5
One old lady kept a sighing;
Said she wasn't young,
Didn't look as sweet's she used to,
Times were all unstrung;
Troubles doubled aches, and favors
Went a flying past,
Wrinkles stung like thorns, and eyesight
Kept a failing fast.
One old lady kept a saying
Life was like the spring,
Brighter blossoms always coming,
Birds around to sing;
Troubles came—and went; she let 'em,
Didn't count the throng.
Thanked the Lord 'most every morning
She'd been young so long!
Jessie M. Shaw.
Our Heavenly Father, wilt Thou forgive us for the sighs and tears and frowns and doubts of yesterday? Especially wilt Thou forgive us for all that was little and petty and mean? May we begin again today with larger vision, higher hope and nobler ambition. May there be no sighs for lost beauty, no grief over faded youth and no lamentation over lost fortune. Thankful and glad for what we have, may we find our joy in using it for some high end. So may we conserve the youth of the heart and the light of the soul. Amen.
December 6
There is never a sky of winter
To the heart that sings alway;
Never a night but hath stars to light,
And dreams of a rosy day.
The world is ever a garden
Red with the bloom of May;
And never a stormy morning
To the heart that sings alway!
Frank L. Stanton.
O Thou who art the Love, the Light, and the Life in whom is no discord, no darkness, no disease nor death; but who art ever radiating sympathy, vision and health; we give Thee hearty thanks for the consciousness of Thy abiding presence when we possess a humble and contrite spirit. May we ever remember that nothing but our own selfishness, pride, and forgetfulness can break this constant communion with Thee. Open our hearts just now for the inflow of the divine Love in order that we may pass it on to others today. Open our eyes today that we may see Thee everywhere striving against selfishness in the lives of all men. Fill us with Thy Life today in order that there may go out to others a heavenly harmony, a song, a symphony, that will dispel discord, darkness and disease; that will overcome evil with good. Amen.