January 3
Build on resolve, and not upon regret,
The structure of Thy future. Do not grope
Among the shadows of old sins, but let
Thine own soul's light shine on the path of hope
And dissipate the darkness. Waste no tears
Upon the blotted record of lost years,
But turn the leaf, and smile, oh, smile, to see
The fair white pages that remain to thee.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
O Thou All-persuasive God, who dost speak within the souls of men in language which the heart interprets as its own! enlarge our trust in that better self which beckons us, that we may be led out of the lingering darkness of regret, out of the shadow of embittered memory into the brightness of a new resolve where we may see Thy face. Smile upon us in the smiling day; in the joy of strength renewed, and opportunity reborn; in the beauty of the promise each hour whispers to us as it passes by. So fill us with Thyself that each new day shall mean new life led by the glory of those hopes which do not fade at evening. Amen.
January 4
We of our age are part, and every thrill that wakes
The tremulous air of Life its motion in us makes.
The imitative mass mere empty echo gives
As walls and rocks return the sound that they receive.
But as the bell, that high in some cathedral swings,
Stirred by whatever thrill, with its own music rings,
So finer souls give forth, to each vibrating tone
Impinging on their life, a music of their own.
W. W. Story.
O living and loving One, brighter than the morning and fairer than the day, from Thee we come, to Thee we turn, who art more than Father and Mother to us all. Our times are in Thy hand. Thou, who hast set the sun and stars in the sky, hast appointed our place and part in this human world. May Thy light lead and Thy love win us into the harmonies of law and grace, that we may become responsive to every touch of nature, every whisper of truth, every appeal of humanity. So prepare us to serve our generation in the spirit of Him who has taught us to do Thy will on earth as it is done in heaven. Amen.