O, Thou who dwellest in the light, help Thy children this morning to see the light of Thy truth and feel the warmth of Thy love. We thank Thee for the open doors of opportunity for helpful service; for the exhibition of kindness and for growth in the kingdom of Heaven. May we clearly see the way to the Eternal life and have strength to walk therein. May we so welcome Thy truth that we shall be free from error and sin. May Thy wisdom so guide our energies that we shall reach after greater perfection. May the evening of this day find us more in harmony with God than we now are. And may the evening of life find us rich in the treasures of heaven. Amen.
April 30
True worth is in being, not seeming;
In doing each day that goes by,
Some little good—not in the dreaming
Of great things to do by and by,
For whatever men say in blindness,
And spite of the fancies of youth,
There's nothing so kingly as kindness,
And nothing so royal as truth.
We get back our mete as we measure:
We cannot do wrong and feel right;
Nor can we give pain and gain pleasure,
For justice avenges each slight.
The air for the wing of the sparrow,
The bush for the robin and wren,
But always the path that is narrow
And straight for the children of men.
Alice Cary.
Almighty Father, who with every morning dost give us a new day and with each day some fresh duty, mercifully equip us for every task that awaits us! Give us eyes to see, and hearts to love the truth and right, and the disposition that makes every duty a delight, and the doing of good to others a sacred privilege. Save us this day from angry passions and low desires. Forgive us when we are selfish; recall us when we go astray; save us from wronging ourselves by thinking ill of others, and in all places and to all people give us the mind which was in Christ Jesus. Amen.
May 1
To the Woods:—Whoso goeth in your paths readeth the same cheerful lesson, whether he be a young child or a hundred years old, comes he in good fortune or in bad, ye say the same things, and from age to age. Ever the needles of the pine grow and fall, the acorns on the oak, the maples redden in autumn and at all times of the year the ground pine and the pyrola bud and root under foot. What is called fortune and what is called time by men, ye know them not. Men have not language to describe one moment of your life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson.