Leaves of Life For Daily Inspiration

Excerpt

Janus am I; oldest of potentates;
Forward I look, and backward, and below
I count, as god of avenues and gates,
The years that through my portals come and go.
I block the roads, and drift the fields with snow;
I chase the wild fowl from the frozen fen;
My frosts congeal the rivers in their flow,
My fires light up the hearths and hearts of men.
—Henry W. Longfellow.

JANUARY FIRST

• Bartolome Esteban Murillo, baptized 1618.
• Paul Revere born 1735.
• Betsy Ross born 1752.
• Maria Edgeworth born 1767.
• Arthur Hugh Clough born 1819.

Old things need not be therefore true,
O brother men, nor yet the new;
Ah! still awhile the old thought retain,
And yet consider it again!
We! what do we see? each a space
Of some few yards before his face;
Does that the whole wide plan explain?
Ah, yet consider it again!
Alas! the great world goes its way,
And takes its truth from each new day;
They do not quit, nor can retain,
Far less consider it again.
—Arthur Hugh Clough.

There are two sorts of content; one is connected with exertion, the other habits of indolence. The first is a virtue; the other a vice.

—Maria Edgeworth.

Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me:
Let them bring me unto thy holy hill,
And to thy tabernacles.
—Psalm 43. 3.

Almighty God, lead me in the search for life. Teach me what is important and what is unimportant; what is false, and what is true. Remove the hindrances that keep me from the worthiest deeds, and grant that I may have the peace that comes with surrender of self to thy will. Amen.

• General James Wolfe born 1727.
• Colonial flag first raised 1776.
• Mary Carey Thomas born 1857.

To what profit we could use the time for our present task that we spend in impatient waiting and wondering over the future! So often the future is just one step up from the present, but some of us miss it by preferring to wait for an elevator.

—M. B. S.

Prepare to live by all means, but for heaven's sake do not forget to live. You will never have a better chance than you have at present. You may think you will have, but you are mistaken.

—Arnold Bennett.

He that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night; while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him. He that lives on hope will die fasting.

—Benjamin Franklin.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.

—Ecclesiastes 9. 10.

Gracious Father, my heart burns with shame when I think how much I claim, and how little I am. I pray that my body may not cast a shadow to-day, and cloud the light of my life to-morrow. Cleanse the windows of my soul that I may take in thy glory. Amen.

JANUARY THIRD

• Marcus Tullius Cicero born B. C. 106.
• Martin Luther excommunicated 1521.
• Douglas Jerrold born 1803....