December 22
I see the wrong that round me lies,
I feel the guilt within,
With groan and travail cries
I hear the world confess its sin.
Within the maddening maze of things,
And tossed by storm and flood,
To one fixed stake my spirit clings:
I know that God is good.
I know not where his islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care.
John Greenleaf Whittier.
O Thou, without whose care a sparrow does not fall, who through the pathless sky dost guide the bird seeking its distant nest, Thy trusting children are safe in Thy dear love. We know not the way before us, but Thou dost know; our feet may stumble in rough paths, but Thou wilt hold us up. Glad in this confidence, may we begin the day with song and finish it, whatever may befall us, in the calm assurance that all things work for good. Give us patience in perplexity, hope amid our fears, and faith to trust Thy holy will as best. Thus walking in Thy love may we reach home at last to see our Saviour's face. Amen.
December 23
Wouldst make thy life go fair and square?
Thou must not for the past feel care;
Whatever thy loss, thou must not mourn;
Must ever act as if new-born.
What each day wants of thee, that ask;
What each day tells thee, that make thy task;
With pride thine own performance viewing,
With heart to admire another's doing;
Above all, hate no human being,
And all the future leave to the All-Seeing.
Goethe.
Dear Father, grateful for another new-born day, myself new-born, I greet Thee! Yesterday and all other yesterdays are in Thy keeping. This day is mine! For the failures of the past I care not, nor do I mourn the losses of the days gone by. Today I am new-born! Indeed, aspiring to Thy comprehensive wisdom, I may see my past and my present as one, and out of that past I may select—even from failures and losses—such experiences and lessons as will help me live the present—at least this one day which is mine!—more nobly, more fully, more usefully, more beautifully. May I, knowing myself to be Thy Child, respect myself as a creative spirit able to look upon its own work and to say: "Behold, it is good!" And above all, I pray: that, to-day and always, I may grow in grace and loving-kindness,—hating no one, but feeling, thinking, speaking, acting with good will towards all Thy creatures! This day is mine! The future I leave to Thee, All-Seeing Father! but feel myself Thy open-eyed and confident child. Amen.