February Daily Inspirational Thoughts

February Daily Inspirational Thoughts

FEBRUARY FIRST
Ben Jonson born 1574.
John Philip Kemble born 1757.
Arthur Henry Hallam born 1811.
George Cruikshank died 1878.

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It is not growing like a tree

In bulk, doth make man better be;

Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,

To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:

A lily of a day

Is fairer far in May,

Although it fall and die that night—

It was the plant and flower of Light.

In small proportions we just beauties see;

And in short measure life may perfect be.

—Ben Jonson.


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There are four things which are little upon the earth,

But they are exceeding wise:

The ants are a people not strong,

Yet they provide their food in the summer;

The conies are but a feeble folk,

Yet make they their houses in the rocks;

The locusts have no king,

Yet go they forth all of them by bands;

The lizard taketh hold with her hands,

Yet is she in king's palaces.

—Proverbs 30. 24-28.


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Creator of all, lead me to see the light, and instruct me that I may be able to reason. Guard me against spectacular endeavors, that I may be genuine. Amen.


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FEBRUARY SECOND
Candlemas Day.
Nell Gwynn born 1650.
Hannah More born 1745.
William Henry Burleigh born 1812.

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'Twas doing nothing was his curse—

Is there a vice can plague us worse?

The wretch who digs the mine for bread,

Or plows, that others may be fed,

Feels less fatigue than that decreed

To him who cannot think, or read.

Not all the peril of temptations,

Not all the conflict of the passions,

Can quench the spark of Glory's flame,

Or quite extinguish Virtue's name.

—Hannah More.


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Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife!

To all the sensual world proclaim,

One crowded hour of glorious life

Is worth an age without a name.

—Sir Walter Scott.


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He went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard.

—Matthew 20. 6, 7.


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Eternal God, who hath weighed the mountains and measured the seas, I pray that I may not be satisfied to wait in idleness, and let thy wisdom pass away from me as the days. Steady me in my weakness, and reveal to me my strength as I draw near and ask of thee. Amen.


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FEBRUARY THIRD
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy born 1809.
Horace Greeley born 1811.
Frederick William Robertson born 1816.
Sidney Lanier born 1842.

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My soul is sailing through the sea,

But the past is heavy and hindereth me.

The past hath crusted cumbrous shells

That hold the flesh of cold sea-mells

About my soul.

The huge waves wash, the high waves roll,

Each barnacle clingeth and worketh dole

And hindereth me from sailing.

—Sidney Lanier.


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To stand with a smile upon your face, against a stake from which you cannot get away—that no doubt is heroic. True glory is resignation to the inevitable. But to stand unchained, with perfect liberty to go away held only by the higher chains of duty, and let the fire creep up to the heart—that is heroism.

—F. W. Robertson.


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We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed.

—2 Corinthians 4. 8, 9.


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Gracious Father, thou knowest what I am and the condition of my life. May I seek thy will for me. Grant that I may never struggle for consolation through indulgence and indolence, but in my sorrow and failure may I reach out for thy enduring comfort. Amen.


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FEBRUARY FOURTH
Mark Hopkins born 1802.
W. Harrison Ainsworth born 1805.
Jean Richepin born 1849.
Thomas Carlyle died 1881.

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Life is not a May-game, but a battle and a march, a warfare with principalities and powers. No idle promenade through fragrant orange groves and green flowery spaces, waited on by coral muses, and the rosy hours; it is a stern pilgrimage through the rough, burning, sandy solitudes, through regions of thick-ribbed ice.

—Thomas Carlyle.


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For all sweet and pleasant passages in the great story of life men may well thank God; for leisure and ease and health and friendship may God make us truly and humbly grateful; but our chief song of thanksgiving must be always for our kinship with him, with all that such divinity of greatness brings of peril, hardship, toil, and sacrifice.

—Hamilton Mabie.


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Thy bars shall be iron and brass;

And as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

—Deuteronomy 33. 25.


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My Father, help me to choose the road that leads to my work, and may I not fail to reach it, by wandering away from it. Keep me in touch with the human side of life, holding in mind that "Truth and honesty are the noblest works of God." Amen.


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FEBRUARY FIFTH
Sir Robert Peel born 1788.
Ole Boreman Bull born 1810.
John Muir born 1810.
Dwight L. Moody born 1837.

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When a great man dies, then has the time come for putting us in mind that he was alive!

—Thomas Carlyle.


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If I practice one day, I can see the result. If I practice two days, my friends can see it. If I practice three days, the great public can see it.

—Ole Bull.


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Those who say they will forgive but can't forget an injury simply bury the hatchet while they leave the handle out, ready for immediate use.

—Dwight L. Moody.


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But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course.

—Acts 20. 24.


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Almighty God, if I am uncertain, and tremble at the crossroads in doubt of the right way, may I wait and be led by thee, and follow on, even if the way be dark and rough. May I be faithful and have thy presence as thou promised at the end. Amen.


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FEBRUARY SIXTH
Queen Anne of England born 1665.
Aaron Burr born 1756.
Sir Henry Irving born 1838.

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Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair. I encourage myself in the Lord my God and go forward.

—David Livingstone.


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To expect defeat is nine tenths of defeat itself.

—Marion Crawford.


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I do not see how any man can afford, for the sake of his nerves and his nap, to spare any action in which he can partake.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson.


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Art is a jealous mistress, she requires the whole man.

—Michael Angelo.


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Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

—1 Corinthians 16. 13.


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Almighty God, help me to have true conceptions, that my life may not be secured to needless purposes. May my soul be influenced by high ideals, and my work be the production of truth and not of selfishness. Protect me from evil that I may be kept pure and strong for my work. Amen.


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FEBRUARY SEVENTH
Millard Fillmore, New York, thirteenth President United States born 1800.
Sir Thomas More born 1478.
Charles Dickens born 1812.
Anne Radcliffe died 1823.
Sidney Cooper died 1902.

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Let no man turn aside ever so slightly, from the broad path of honor, on the plausible pretense that he is justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means.

—Charles Dickens.


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If evils come not, then our fears are vain;

And if they do, fear but augments the pain.

—Sir Thomas More.


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A human heart knows aught of littleness,

Suspects no man, compares with no one's ways,

Hath in one hour most glorious length of days,

A recompense, a joy, a loveliness;

Like eaglet keen, shoots into azure far,

And always dwelling nigh is the remotest star.

—William Ellery Channing.


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Teach me thy way, O Jehovah;

I will walk in thy truth:

Unite my heart to fear thy name.

—Psalm 86. 11.


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Gracious Father, I pray that thou wilt control my impulses, and protect me from false interpretations. May I have wisdom, and search for the high and holy ways. Help me to be patient for thy purposes, and may my relations to life be triumphant in thy standards. Amen.


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FEBRUARY EIGHTH
Samuel Butler born 1612.
John Ruskin born 1819.
General Sherman born 1820.
Jules Verne born 1828.
Richard Watson Gilder born 1844.

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If you want knowledge, you must toil for it; and if pleasure, you must toil for it. Toil is the law. Pleasure comes through toil, and not by self-indulgence and indolence. When one gets to love work his life is a happy one.

—John Ruskin.


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Whatever sceptic could inquire for,

For every why he had a wherefore.

—Samuel Butler.


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Through love to light! O wonderful the way,

That leads from darkness to the perfect day!

From darkness and from sorrow of the night

To morning that comes singing o'er the sea.

Through love to light! through light O God to Thee!

Who art the love, the eternal light of light!

—Richard Watson Gilder.


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We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

—John 9. 4.


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My Father, I pray that I may not weight my life with worthless efforts. May I be guided to the right work, and through the love of it find strength for my soul. Amen.


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FEBRUARY NINTH
C. F. Volney born 1757.
William Henry Harrison, Virginia, ninth President United States, born 1773.
Anthony Hope (Hawkins) born 1863.
George Ade born 1866.

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A man's own observation, what he finds good of, and what he finds hurt of, is the best physic to preserve health. But it is a safer conclusion to say, "This agreeth not well with me, therefore I will not continue it"; than to say, "I find no offense of this, therefore I may use it." For strength of nature in youth passeth over many excesses, which are owing a man till his age.

—Francis Bacon.


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Though man a thinking being is defined,

Few use the grand prerogative of mind.

How few think justly of the thinking few!

How many never think, who think they do!

—Jane Taylor.


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Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life.

—James 1. 12.


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Almighty God, I would learn that while thou art a forgiving Lord, nature has no mercy on them that break her laws. Forgive me for all my neglect, and help me to see the way in which thou hast through mercy led me. Give me the power to endure and the strength to resist temptation. May I seek to understand thy laws, that I may not fail through ignorance. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TENTH
Rev. Henry Hart Milman born 1791.
Charles Lamb born 1775.
Sir William Napier died 1860.

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Never let the most well-intended falsehood escape your lips; for Heaven, which is entirely Truth, will make the seed which you have sown of untruth to yield miseries a thousandfold.

—Charles Lamb.


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We cannot command veracity at will; the power of seeing and reporting truly is a form of health that has to be distinctly guarded, and as an ancient rabbi has solemnly said, "The penalty of untruth is untruth."

—George Eliot.


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The bat hangs upside down and laughs at a topsy-turvy world.

—Unknown.


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The lip of truth shall be established for ever;

But a lying tongue is but for a moment.

—Proverbs 12. 19.


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Lord God, give me the will to hold to the truth and the strength to help keep the world true; and may I help others to look up and catch the truth from the purest light. Amen.


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FEBRUARY ELEVENTH
Mary, Queen of England, born 1516.
Daniel Boone born 1735.
Lydia M. Child born 1802.
Washington Gladden born 1836.
Thomas A. Edison born 1847.

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Few, in the days of early youth,

Trusted like me in love and truth.

I've learned sad lessons from the years;

But slowly and with many tears;

For God made me to kindly view

The world that I was passing through.

And all who tempt a trusting heart

From faith and hope to drift apart,

May they themselves be spared the pain

Of losing power to trust again!

God help us all to kindly view

The world that we are passing through!

—Lydia M. Child.


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For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

—Isaiah 55. 12.


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Lord God, I pray that I may not rest my hope in self alone, but know that the greatest joy is in the hope of the world. Help me to have faith in mankind; and with a loyal heart and a brave spirit be as kind to the world as I can. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWELFTH
Dr. Cotton Mather born 1663.
Peter Cooper born 1791.
Abraham Lincoln, Kentucky, sixteenth President United States, born 1809.
Robert Charles Darwin born 1809.
George Meredith born 1828.

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With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds, ... to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

—Abraham Lincoln.


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The great moral combat between human life and each human soul must be single.... When a soul arms for battle she goes forth alone.

—Owen Meredith.


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According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon.

—1 Corinthians 3. 10.


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Almighty God, I thank thee for the courage that comes with a great life. Help me to be brave, even if it is only that others may be blest. May I lay a careful foundation and plan to build the best that I can afford. Amen.


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FEBRUARY THIRTEENTH
David Allan born 1744.
Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord born 1754.
Richard Wagner died 1883.

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A man is not his hope, nor yet his despair, nor yet his past deed. We know not yet what we have done; still less what we are doing. Wait till evening, and other parts of our work will shine than we had thought at noon, and we shall discover the real purport of our toil.

—Henry D. Thoreau.


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When you make a mistake don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom.... The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.

—Hugh White.


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He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

—Psalm 126. 6.


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My Father, help me to survey my life. Make me compassionate and considerate, that I may be qualified to promote that which is helpful. May I appreciate that what is worth keeping I can obtain from thee. Amen.


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FEBRUARY FOURTEENTH
Saint Valentine's Day.
Captain James Cook killed 1779.
Jean Ernest Reynaud born 1808.

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Oh! little loveliest lady mine,

What shall I send for your valentine?

Summer and flowers are far away;

Gloomy old Winter is king to-day;

Buds will not blow, and sun will not shine:

What shall I do for a valentine?

I've searched the gardens all through and through

For a bud to tell of my love so true;

But buds are asleep and blossoms are dead,

And the snow beats down on my poor little head:

So, little loveliest lady mine,

Here is my heart for your valentine.

—Laura E. Richards.


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Oh rank is gold, and gold is fair,

And high and low mate ill;

But love has never known a law

Beyond its own sweet will!

—John G. Whittier.


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Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God.

—1 John 4. 7.


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Loving Father, may I not fall to nodding in the balmy air of luxury and miss the messages of love. Arouse me, that I may give and take in the treasures of love as they come my way, and that they may not pass unnoticed. Amen.


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FEBRUARY FIFTEENTH
Galileo Galilei born 1564.
Louis XV born 1710.
S. Weir Mitchell born 1829.
Sir Frederick Treves born 1853.

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The night I know is nigh at hand,

The mists lie low on hill and bay,

The autumn sheaves are brown and dry,

But I have had the day.

Yes, I have had, dear Lord, the day.

When at thy call I have the night

Brief be the twilight as I pass

From light to dark, from dark to light.

—S. Weir Mitchell.


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If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small—too small to be worth talking about, for the day of adversity is its first real opportunity.

—Maltbie Babcock.


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Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

—Romans 8. 37.


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My Father, may my daily work not be the means of separating me from thee, but may I have thee for my companion through my work. Forbid that I should ever submit to despair from weakness of body, but that I may be blest and grow strong as my spirit lives in thee. Amen.


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FEBRUARY SIXTEENTH
Philip Melanchthon born 1497.
Gasper de Coligny born 1517.
Thomas Robert Malthus born 1766.
Ernst Heinrich Haeckel born 1834.

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Thy love shall chant its own beatitudes

After its own life working. A child's kiss

Set on thy sighing lips shall make thee glad.

A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;

A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;

Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense

Of service which thou renderest.

—Elizabeth B. Browning.


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Ask nothing more of me, sweet;

All I can give you I give.

Heart of my heart, were it more,

More would be laid at your feet:

Love that should help you to live,

Song that should help you to soar.

—Algernon Charles Swinburne.


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All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them.

—Matthew 7. 12.


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Lord God, I pray that I may not neglect the help and happiness that I may give with compassion and love. Make me strong in all the senses that answer to the call of humanity. Help me to guide and protect little children, and to care for the comforts of the old. Amen.


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FEBRUARY SEVENTEENTH
Kate Greenaway born 1846.
Michael Angelo Buonarroti died 1563.
Giordano Bruno burned at Rome 1600.
Molière died 1673.
Rose Terry Cooke born 1827.
Frances E. Willard died 1898.

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It is not much

To give a gentle word or kindly touch

To one gone down

Beneath the world's cold frown,

And yet who knows

How great a thing from such a little grows?

O, oftentimes,

Some brother upward climbs

And hope again

Uplifts its head, that in the dust had lain,

Gives place to morning's light.

—E. H. Divall.


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I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.

—Ezekiel 34. 16.


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My Father, may I not sorrow so that I fail to comfort the sorrowing, and may I not be so happy that I fail to see that others need to be glad. I thank thee for thy providences. May I serve thee in helping others to brighter lives. Amen.


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FEBRUARY EIGHTEENTH
Martin Luther died 1546.
George Peabody born 1795.
Wilson Barrett born 1846.

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A mighty fortress is our God,

A bulwark never failing:

Our helper he amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and power are great:

And, armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal.

—Martin Luther.


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Let us stand by our duty fearlessly and effectively. I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light that I have.

—Abraham Lincoln.


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Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

My God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge.

—Psalm 18. 2.


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Lord God, help me to lay my life in the rocks of thy foundation, and not in moving sands which are tossed from shore to shore. May I cling to the rock that was cleft for me and trust for thy care. Amen.


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FEBRUARY NINETEENTH
Copernicus born 1473.
Leonard Bacon born 1802.
W. W. Story born 1819.
Adelina Patti born 1843.

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So mine are these new fruitings rich,

The simple to the common brings;

I keep the youth of souls who pitch

Their joy in this old heart of things;

Full lasting is the song, though he

The singer passes; lasting too,

For souls not lent in usury,

The rapture of the forward view.

—George Meredith.


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All deep things are Song. It seems, somehow, the very central essence of us, Song; as if all the rest were wrappages and hulls! the primal element of us; of us, and all things.

—Thomas Carlyle.


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Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah.

—Isaiah 30. 29.


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Lord God, help me to feel the power of praise. "As words without thoughts never to heaven go," so the highest praises are never sung alone, but rendered with service and love. May I have the heart to sing thy praises far and near, and rejoice in him from whom all blessings flow. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWENTIETH
J. H. Voss born 1828.
Joseph Jefferson born 1829.
Mihaly Munkacsy (Michael Lieb) born 1844.

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Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.

—Voltaire.


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Lo, Spring comes forth with all her warmth and

love,

She brings sweet justice from the realms above;

She breaks the chrysalis, she resurrects the dead;

Two butterflies ascend encircling her head.

And so this emblem shall forever be

A sign of immortality.

—Joseph Jefferson.


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Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,

And afterward receive me to glory.

—Psalm 73. 24.


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Lord God, I pray that I may not neglect my soul in trying to fathom immortal life. If I may be hesitating between comfort and work, remind me of the greatness of the place which I started to reach. May I not grow weary of climbing and falter on the stair. Breathe upon me thy inspiration and love, that I may continue in faith all the way. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIRST
Edmund William Gosse born 1849.
Karl Czerny born 1791.
Cardinal John H. Newman born 1801.
Jean L. E. Meissonier born 1815.
Alice Freeman Palmer born 1855.

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Prune thou thy words, the thoughts control

That o'er thee swell and throng;

They will condense within thy soul,

And change to purpose strong.

—John H. Newman.


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Think truly, and thy thoughts

Shall the world's famine feed;

Speak truly, and each word of thine

Shall be a fruitful seed;

Live truly, and thy life shall be

A great and noble creed.

—Horatio Bonar.


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We ought to love everybody and make everybody love us. Then everything else is easy.

—Alice Freeman Palmer.


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Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rearward.

—Isaiah 58. 8.


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Almighty God, look upon me with pity; so often I have obeyed the thoughts that have been misleading and profitless. Make me more careful of what I think and say, and may I learn from my mistakes the forbidden paths. Help me to keep my mind in unity with thy will. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWENTY-SECOND
George Washington, Virginia, first President United States, born 1732.
James Russell Lowell born 1819.
Margaret E. Sangster born 1838.

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Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

—George Washington.


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Life is a sheet of paper white

Whereon each one of us may write

His word or two, and then comes night.

Greatly begin! though thou hast time

But for a line, be that sublime.

Not failure, but low aim is crime.

—James Russell Lowell.


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God keep us through the common days,

The level stretches white with dust,

When thought is tired, and hands upraise

Their burdens feebly since they must;

In days of slowly fretting care

Then most we need the strength of prayer.

—Margaret E. Sangster.


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Make level the path of thy feet,

And let all thy ways be established.

—Proverbs 4. 26.


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Lord God, help me to realize the influence of the individual life. And as I would care for my own, may I seek to do for others; and may I not criticize, but help all who are trying to make the world better. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWENTY-THIRD
Samuel Pepys born 1633.
George F. Handel born 1685.
George Frederick Watts born 1817.
John Keats died 1821.
Margaret Deland born 1857.

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Labor is life! 'tis the still water faileth;

Idleness ever despaireth, bewaileth:

Keep the watch wound, or the dark rust assaileth;

Flowers droop and die in the stillness of noon.

Labor is glory! the flying cloud lightens;

Only the waving wing changes and brightens,

Idle hearts only the dark future frightens,

Play the sweet keys, wouldst thou keep them in tune.

—Frances S. Osgood.


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KEATS

Palled death, with kisses ghostly,

Wooed and won him while too young,

And the world reveres him mostly,

For the songs he might have sung.

—Samuel A. Wood.


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Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.

—Isaiah 54. 2.


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Almighty God, I pray for the will to do my finest work. Disclose to me if I am being detained by serving selfishness in myself or in others. Lead me to what is right for me to do; and may I diligently tarry in it. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWENTY-FOURTH
Samuel Lover born 1797.
Robert Fulton died 1815.
George William Curtis born 1824.

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'Tis not to enjoy that we exist,

For that end only; something must be done;

I must not walk in unreproved delight

These narrow bounds, and think of nothing more,

No duty that looks further and no care.

—William Wordsworth.


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We weave our thoughts into heart-spun plans,

And weave secure for a fitful day,

But lose in the web of earthly things

The pattern of sublimity.

Shall days spring up as wild vines grow,

Unheeding where they climb or cling?

Consider, child, before you sow,

And wait not until harvesting.

—M. B. S.


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Jehovah is my strength and my shield;

My heart hath trusted in him, and I am helped:

Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;

And with my song will I praise him.

—Psalm 28. 7.


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Loving Father, command my judgment for the influences which I permit to come into my life. Grant that I may not delay my purposes for the lack of comforts which are so often made more than life. With thy strength may I be steadfast in what I would achieve. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIFTH
William Seely died 1521.
Sir Christopher Wren died 1723.
Jane Goodwin Austin born 1831.
Camille Flammarion born 1842.

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In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes. All other passions do occasionally good; but wherever pride puts in its word everything goes wrong.

—John Ruskin.


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He that is proud eats up himself: pride is his own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle; and whatever praises itself but in the deed, devours the deed in the praise.

—William Shakespeare.


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Save me alike from foolish pride

Or impious discontent;

At aught Thy wisdom hath denied,

Or aught Thy wisdom lent.

—Alexander Pope.


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A man's pride shall bring him low; But he that is of a lowly spirit shall obtain honor.

—Proverbs 29. 23.


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Heavenly Father, I pray that I may not let pride keep me down when it may be mine to be carried to the heights. With tenderness take me out of myself, that I may see how pride deceives, and destroys an humble spirit. Help me to master both stubbornness and pride. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWENTY-SIXTH
Christopher Marlowe (baptized 1564).
Victor Hugo born 1802.
Lord Cromer born 1841.
Thomas Moore died 1852.

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When I go down to the grave I can say, like so many others, I have finished my work; but I cannot say I have finished my life; my day's work will begin again the next morning. My tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes in the twilight to open in the dawn.

—Victor Hugo.


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There's nothing bright above, below,

From flowers that bloom to stars that glow,

But in the light my soul can see

Some feature of the Deity.

There's nothing dark below, above,

But in its gloom I trace God's love,

And meekly wait that moment when

His truth shall turn all bright again.

—Thomas Moore.


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Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants;

And none of them that take refuge in him shall be

condemned.

—Psalm 34. 22.


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Lord God, may I not only feel the need of thee when I am burdened with sorrow and care, but may I have need of thee in my pleasures and joys. I thank thee for thy gracious kindness, thy mercy and thy protection. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow born 1807.
Ellen Terry born 1848.
Mary F. Robinson born 1857.

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Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time—

Footprints that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's wintry main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

—Henry W. Longfellow.


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They are slaves who fear to speak

For the fallen and the weak;

They are slaves who will not choose

Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,

Rather than in silence shrink

From the truth they needs must think;

They are slaves who dare not be

In the right with two or three.

—James Russell Lowell.


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Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

—Matthew 5. 16.


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Merciful Father, help me to know that my shadow cannot fall without me, and that my footprints cannot be found where I have never trodden. I pray that thou wilt make me so familiar with the right path that it may be mine to have the privilege of leading others to the right places. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH
Montaigne born 1533.
Mary Lyon born 1797.
Sir John Tenniel born 1820.

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Soul, rule thyself; on passion, deed, desire,

Lay thou the laws of thy deliberate will.

Stand at thy chosen post, Faith's sentinel:

Though Hell's lost legions ring thee round with fire,

Learn to endure.

—Arthur Symonds.


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The confidence in another man's virtue is no slight evidence of a man's own, and God willingly favors such a confidence.

—Montaigne.


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Though a host should encamp against me,

My heart shall not fear:

Though war should rise against me,

Even then will I be confident.

—Psalm 27. 3.


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My Father, may I ever be kept in remembrance of my virtue, and may I be sensitive to its strength. As I go on my way, keep me within control of the impetuous desires of my nature, and in call of the duties and obligations of my daily life. Amen.


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FEBRUARY TWENTY-NINTH
Anne Lee born 1736.
G. A. Rossini born 1792.
John Landseer died 1852.

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Happy is he and more than wise

Who sees with wondrous eyes and clean

This world through all the gray disguise

Of sleep and custom in between.

—G. K. Chesterton.


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In the morning, when thou findest thyself unwilling to rise, consider with thyself presently, if it is to go about a man's work that I am stirred up. Or was I made for this, to lay me down, and make much of myself in a warm bed.

—Marcus Aurelius.


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Arise and be doing, and Jehovah be with thee.

—1 Chronicles 22. 16.


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Gracious Father, help me to take of the wealth of my day, while it is in season, and accessible. May I not be ignorant of the abundance in which I live, and be found in overwhelming regret. Forgive me for all that I have missed in life, and make me more watchful of that which is to come. Amen.