Infinite and Holy One, be with us in the beauty of this new day. May the dewy sweetness of the dawn Thou hast given to us be regarded as a token of Thy love for Thy children. As an atmosphere of joy and peace may be the thought of Thy consolation and Thy care. The delicate tints of Thy sky arching over us may we compare to the blue of a constancy that is divine, and which is freely shown to even the humblest and more erring of Thy flock. Bless us and guide us on our pilgrim way, and inspire our hearts and our hands to perform well their daily task. In His name do we ask it. Amen.
April 9
As I have walked in Alabama my morning walk,
I have seen where the she-bird—the mocking-bird sat on her nest in the briers hatching her brood,
I have seen the he-bird also,
I have paused to hear him near at hand inflating his throat and joyfully singing,
And while I paused it came to me that what he really sang for was not there only,
Nor for his mate nor for himself only, nor
All sent back by the echoes,
But subtle, clandestine, away beyond,
A charge transmitted and gift occult for those being born.
Walt Whitman.
Thou great Spirit of Life, Our Father, in heaven, and in the earth, with what myriad voices dost Thou speak to us, sometimes with the voice of thunder and sometimes with the voice of bird. Even the rocks and hills have their language. With every manifold voice Thou tellest us that we do not live nor work for a day only. The song and the word and the work of today have larger relations. They pass over into other days. We pray this morning that the thoughts we think, the words we speak, and the work we do may be so true that they may be fit for another day. So may we begin now to realize the meaning of Eternal Life. Amen.
April 10
If the stream had no quiet eddying place, could we so admire its cascade over the rocks? Were there no clouds, could we so hail the sky shining through them in its still calm purity?
The night is mother of the Day
The Winter of the Spring,
And ever upon old Decay
The greenest mosses cling.
Behind the cloud the starlight lurks,
Through showers the sunbeams fall:
For God, who loveth all His works,
Has left His Hope with all!