September Daily Inspirational Thoughts

September Daily Inspirational Thoughts

SEPTEMBER FIRST
Edward Alleyn born 1566.
Lydia Sigourney born 1791.
James Gordon Bennett, Sr., born 1795.
William Stanley Jevons born 1835.

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O ye, who proudly boast,

In your veins, the blood of sires like these,

Look to their lineaments. Dread lest ye lose

Their likeness in your sons. Should mammon cling

Too close around your heart, or wealth beget

That bloated luxury which eats the core

From manly virtue, or the tempting world

Make faint the Christian purpose in your soul,

Turn ye to Plymouth Rock, and where they knelt

Kneel, and renew the vow they breathed to God.

—Lydia Sigourney.


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Educate children without religion, and you make a race of clever devils.

—Duke of Wellington.


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Remember his covenant for ever,

The word which he commanded to a thousand generations.

—1 Chronicles 16. 15.


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O Lord of wisdom, kindle me with a love for true knowledge, that I may strive, in the moments I have now, to culture my life. Not by might, not by power, but by thy spirit, O Lord, may I learn and teach thy children. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER SECOND
John Howard born 1726.
Henry George born 1839.
George R. Sims born 1842.
Eugene Field born 1850.
Newell Dwight Hillis born 1858.

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And thus we sat in darkness,

Each one busy in his prayer;

"We are lost!" the captain shouted,

As he staggered down the stair.

But the little daughter whispered,

As she took his icy hand,

"Isn't God upon the ocean,

Just the same as on the land?"

—Eugene Field.


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Happiness is through helpfulness. Every morning let us build a booth to shelter some one from life's fierce heat. Every noon let us dig some life-spring for thirsty lips.

—Newell Dwight Hillis.


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Jehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him,

To all that call upon, him in truth.

—Psalm 145. 18.


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Heavenly Father, may I live that my spirit may never feel lost from thee; and when I am in great need of thee, even unto death, may I know that thou art very near. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER THIRD
Oliver Cromwell died 1658.
George Lillo died 1739.
Bishop James Harrington born 1847.
Sarah Orne Jewett born 1849.

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Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee:

Corruption wins not more than honesty.

Still in thy right hand carry peace,

To silence envious tongues. Be just and fear not:

Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,

Thy God's and truth's; then if thou fallest, O Cromwell,

Thou fallest a blessed martyr.

—William Shakespeare.


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Surely, the only true knowledge of our fellow man is that which enables us to feel with him, which gives us a fine ear for the heart-pulses that are beating under the mere clothes of circumstance and opinion.

—George Eliot.


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With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love.

—Ephesians 4. 2.


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Lord, give thy people consistency of judgment, one heart, and mutual love; and go on to deliver them, and with the work of the reformation; and make the name of Christ glorious in the world. Teach those who look too much on thy instruments to depend more upon thyself. Pardon the folly of this short prayer: Even for Christ's sake. And give us a good night, if it be thy pleasure. Amen.

—Prayer by Oliver Cromwell, just before death.


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SEPTEMBER FOURTH
Pindar, poet, born B. C. 522.
William E. Dodge born 1805.
Phoebe Cary born 1824.
Sir Wilfred Lawson born 1829.

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I ask not wealth, but power to take

And use the things I have, aright;

Not years, but wisdom that shall make

My life a profit and delight.

—Phcebe Gary.


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Another day may bring another mind,

A mind to learn when there is none to teach;

To follow when no leader we can find;

To enjoy when good is now beyond our reach.

A better mind, but not a better time,

A mind to will, but not a time to do

What had been done, if we in life's bright prime,

When God was ready, had been ready too.

—Thomas T. Lynch.


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Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.

—2 Timothy 2. 15.


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My Father, help me to have lofty thoughts, and may I not be content until they are carried into purpose. Help me to conquer that which will keep me from an act of happiness, and grant that by thinking of that which is pure, and doing that which is good, I may be made helpful and true. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER FIFTH
Catherine Parr died 1548.
Cardinal Richelieu born 1585.
Robert Fergusson born 1750.
Giacomo Meyerbeer born 1791.
Richard C. Trench born 1807.

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Be patient! O, be patient! Put your ear against the earth;

Listen there how noiselessly the germ o' the seed has birth—

How noiselessly and gently it upheaves its little way,

Till it parts the scarcely broken ground, and the blade stands up in day.

Be patient! O, be patient!—though yet our hopes are green,

The harvest fields of freedom shall be crowned with sunny sheen.

Be ripening! be ripening—mature your silent way,

Till the whole broad land is tongued with fire on freedom's harvest day.

—Richard C. Trench.


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And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

—James 1. 4.


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Gracious Father, help me to see the truth as thou hast made it, and may I not be indifferent to the beauty and patience of the earth's revelations. May I not mistake indolence for patient ambition, which I would have for anxious hours, and which I need for my heart's desires. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER SIXTH
Moses Mendelssohn born 1729.
Marquis de Lafayette born 1757.
Jane Addams born 1860.

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God will not seek thy race,

Nor will he ask thy birth;

Alone he will demand of thee,

What hast thou done on earth?

—Persian.


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One dreams of the time when the interest and capacity of each person shall be studied with reference to the industry about to be undertaken.

—Jane Addams.


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Honor is purchased by deeds we do, honor is not won, until some honorable deed is done.

—Sir Christopher Marlowe.


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In diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.

—Romans 12. 11.


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Gracious Father, wilt thou bring to my mind and heart the important things which are needed in preparing life. Help me to use the strength that is given to me for to-day, that I may not have to give to-morrow to learning what I should have known. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER SEVENTH
Queen Elizabeth born 1533.
Comte de Buffon born 1707.
Victorien Sardou born 1831.
Hannah More died 1833.
John G. Whittier died 1892.

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Side by side

In the low sunshine by the turban stone

They knelt; each made his brother's woe his own,

Forgetting, in the agony and stress

Of pitying love, his claim of selfishness;

Peace, for his friend besought, his own became;

His prayers were answered in another's name;

And when at last they rose up to embrace,

Each saw God's pardon in his brother's face.

—John G. Whittier.


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My care is like my shadow in the sun,

Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it;

Stands and lies by me, does what I have done,

This too familiar care does make me rue it.

No means I find to rid him from my breast,

Till by the end of things it be suppressed.

—Queen Elizabeth.


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Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

—Galatians 6. 2.


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Lord God, help me to look for those who are in need of help. Forgive me for my failures, and may I gather up my broken promises and try to redeem them. I ask for thy forgiveness, as I ask that thou wilt help me to forgive them who may have trespassed against me. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER EIGHTH
Richard Coeur de Lion born 1157.
A. W. Schlegel born 1767.
Antonin Dvorak born 1841.

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All service ranks the same with God,—

With God, whose puppets, best and worst,

Are we: there is no last nor first.

—Robert Browning.


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Thou needest not man's little life of years,

Save that he gather wisdom from them all;

That in thy fear he lose all other fears,

And in thy calling heed no other call.

Then shall he be thy child to know thy care,

And in thy Self the eternal Sabbath share.

—Jones Very.


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He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul;

But he that is careless of his ways shall die.

—Proverbs 191. 6.


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My Lord, forbid that I should want to live to be known only for power and pride. Help me to strive for that which is helpful and lovely. May I never be restrained from thee, but delight to follow in thy way. Help me to be obedient to thy laws, that I may learn thy truths. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER NINTH
Battle of Flodden.
James the Fourth of Scotland killed 1513.
Luigi Galvani born 1737.

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Then welcome each rebuff

That turns earth's smoothness rough,

Each sting that bids nor sit, nor stand but go!

Be our joys three-parts pain!

Strive and hold cheap the strain;

Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge the throe.

—Robert Browning.


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Life without industry is guilt; and industry without art is brutality.

—John Ruskin.


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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, help me as I start this day to remember how easy it is to drive the peace from it. May I do my best to keep it, and defy any indolence or disposition, that may make me spoil it. May I lay me down at night in peace and sleep because of the contentment that has filled the hours. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TENTH
William the Conqueror died 1087.
Dr. Thomas Sheridan died 1788.
Mungo Park born 1771.
Mrs. Godwin (Mary Wollstonecraft) died 1797.

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Let the wind blow east, west, north, or south, the immortal soul will take its flight to the destined point.

—Thomas Sheridan.


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He is void of true taste who strives to have his house admired by decorating it with showish outside; but to adorn our character by gentleness of a communicative temper is a proof of good taste and good nature

—Epictetus.


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Let fortune empty her whole quiver on me.

I have a soul that, like an empty shield,

Can take it all, and verge enough for more.

—Thomas Dryden.


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The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto his heavenly kingdom.

—2 Timothy 4. 18.


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Almighty God, I bless thee that it is thou who brought me to live on earth; and I rejoice that it is thou who wilt judge my life when thou takest me away. May I be saving thy rich gifts that I may not be found poor; and may I be worthy to receive thine inheritance and hear thee say, "Well done." Amen.


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SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH
Battle of Marathon B. C. 490.
William Lowth born 1661.
James Thomson born 1700.

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But what is virtue but repose of mind,

A pure ethereal calm, that knows no storm;

Above the reach of wild ambitious wind,

Above the passions that this world deform.

—James Thomson.


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And if I pray, the only prayer

That moves my lips for me

Is, "Leave the heart that now I bear,

And give me liberty!"

Yes, as my swift days near their goal,

'Tis all that I implore;

In life and death, a chainless soul

With courage to endure.

—Emily Brontë.


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Cast not away therefore your boldness, which hath great recompense of reward.

—Hebrews 10. 35.


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Tender Father, may I pause this morning to look at that which I keep uppermost in my life; and if it may not be worthy of thy esteem, may I be bold enough to revise my ideals. With thy compassion may I free my heart and mind of all unworthiness, and be given endurance to restore the empty places. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWELFTH
Jean-Philippe Rameau born 1693.
Griffith Jones died 1786.
Charles Dudley Warner born 1829.

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Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires, but according to our powers.

—Amiel.


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How good is man's life, the mere living! how fit to employ

All the heart and the soul and the senses for ever in joy!

—Robert Browning.


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Do something! No man is born with a mortgage on his soul; but every man is born a debtor to Time. Meet this obligation before you find too late that your life is impoverished and you cannot redeem it.

—M. B. S.


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Let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.

—Ephesians 4. 28.


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My Father, what I have left out of my life I know I cannot recover now. I pray that I may give the best to what is left. Make me deliberate, that I may prove my earnestness. Make me industrious, that I may use my best resources to develop my life and further thy kingdom. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER THIRTEENTH
William Cecil born 1520.
Michael de Montaigne died 1592.
General Wolfe died 1759.
Charles James Fox died 1806.

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And thou, O river of to-morrow, flowing

Between thy narrow adamantine walls,

But beautiful, and white with waterfalls

And wreaths of mist, like hands the pathway showing;

I hear the trumpets of the morning blowing.

It is the mystery of the unknown

That fascinates us; we are children still,

Wayward and wistful; with one hand we cling

To the familiar things we call our own,

And with the other, resolute of will,

Grope in the dark for what the day will bring.

—Henry W. Longfellow.


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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth.

—Job 5. 17.


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Almighty God, I pray that thou wilt help me to correct my life to-day that I may know a better way to-morrow; and may I be mindful and try to do right. Grant that I may be patient and kind if I may be sick or in need, and always keep uppermost the faith of deliverance and eternal care. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER FOURTEENTH
Alighieri Dante died 1321.
Alexander Baron von Humboldt born 1769.
Julia Magruder born 1854.
Charles Dana Gibson born 1867.

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Since it is Providence that determines the fates of men, their inner nature is thus brought into unison. There is such harmony, as in all things of nature, that one might explain the whole without referring to a higher Providence. But this only proves the more clearly and certainly this higher Providence, which has given existence to this harmony.

—Wilhelm von Humboldt.


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The good mariner, when he draws near the port, furls his sails and enters it softly; so ought we to lower the sails of our worldly operations, and turn to God with all heart and understanding.

—Dante.


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Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God;

Thy judgments are a great deep:

O Jehovah, thou preservest man and beast.

—Psalm 36. 6.


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My Father in heaven, may I hear thy voice to-day! May I be quiet as I listen to thee. Above the clamor of the crowd may I hear thee calling me. May I hear thee in my joys and in my sorrows; in my work and in my leisure. May I listen to thee oftener, that I may be familiar with thy ways. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER FIFTEENTH
James Fenimore Cooper born 1789.
Louis Joseph Martel born 1813.
Porfirio Diaz born 1830.
William Howard Taft, Ohio, twenty-sixth President United States, born 1857.

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Friendship is one of the cheapest and most accessible of pleasures; it requires no outlay and no very serious expenditure of time or trouble. It is quite easy to make friends, if one wants to... There is surely no greater pleasure in the world than to feel one is needed, welcomed, missed, and loved.

—Arthur C. Benson.


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"Friendship is love without his wings."

—William H. Taft (from Byron).


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Without sympathy, in the highest sense of intellectual penetration, kindness may be a folly, and intended aid, oppression.

—John Ruskin.


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He that maketh many friends doeth it to his own destruction; but there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

—Proverbs 18. 24.


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My Father, may I know the delight of true friendship which is responsive and sincere. May I never feel so secure in myself that I will cease to want friends, or be so dependent on others that I will be continually seeking them. May I understand the value of having a stanch friend and of being one. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER SIXTEENTH
Gabriel D. Fahrenheit died 1736.
W. Augustus Muhlenberg born 1796.
Francis Parkman born 1823.

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Yes, to this thought I hold with firm persistence—

The last result of wisdom stamps it true:

He only earns his freedom and existence

Who daily conquers them anew.

—Goethe.


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For thee hath been dawning

Another blue day;

Look how thou let it

Slip empty away.

—Goethe.


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Happy the man, and happy he alone,

Who can call to-day his own:

He who, secure within, can say,

"To-morrow, do thy worst, for I have lived to-day."

—John Dryden.


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Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee.

—Isaiah 60. 1.


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Gracious Father, help me to be alert this morning and select the noblest that is in to-day. May I be diligent and not find in the evening that I have been unworthy of the day. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER SEVENTEENTH
Samuel Prout born 1783.
Dr. John Kidd died 1851.
Walter Savage Landor died 1864.

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In the hour of distress and misery the eye of every mortal turns to friendship; in the hour of gladness and conviviality, what is your want? It is friendship. When the heart overflows with gratitude or with other sweet and sacred sentiment, what is the word to which it would give utterance? A friend.

—Walter Savage Landor.


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The hurried quest of some people to get hold of new friends is so perpetual that they never have time to get acquainted with anyone.

—M. B. S.


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Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not;

And go not to thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity:

Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off.

—Proverbs 27. 10.


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My Lord and my Friend, I pray that my sympathy may be sincere and comforting, and with a glad heart I may bring rejoicing to my friends. May I learn from thee how I may be a permanent friend. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER EIGHTEENTH
Trajan, Roman emperor, born 1584.
James Shirley born 1596.
Samuel Johnson born 1709.
Joseph Story born 1779.

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There is no greater happiness than to be able to look on a life usefully and virtuously employed: to trace our own purposes in existence by such tokens that excite neither shame nor sorrow.

—Dr. Johnson.


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The perfect poise that comes-from self-control,

The poetry of action, rhythmic, sweet—

The unvexed music of the body and soul

That the Greeks dreamed of, made at last complete.

Our stumbling lives attain not such a bliss;

Too often, while the air we vainly beat,

Love's perfect law of liberty we miss.

—Annie Matheson.


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Brethren, I have lived before God in all good conscience until this day.

—Acts 23. 1.


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Heavenly Father, may I not confuse my life with rebellion, but through thy guidance find peace. Help me through the perplexities that may keep me from the quietness of to-day. Keep me in sight of the great plan of life, that I may grow steadfastly toward thee. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER NINETEENTH
Battle of Poitiers 1356.
Hartley Coleridge born 1796.
President Garfield died 1881.

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Be not afraid to pray—to pray is right.

Pray if thou canst, with hope; but ever pray

Though hope be weak, or sick with long delay;

Pray in the darkness, if there be no light.

Far is the time, remote from human sight,

When war and discord on earth shall cease:

Yet every prayer for universal peace

Avails the time to expedite.

—Hartley Coleridge.


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More things are wrought by prayer

Than the world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice

Rise like a fountain for me night and day.

For what are men better than sheep or goats

That nourish a blind life within the brain,

If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer

Both for themselves and those who call them friend?

For so the whole world is every way

Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.

—Alfred Tennyson.


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Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving.

—Colossians 4. 2.


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O Lord, give me the desire to pray, and teach me to pray as thou wouldst have my needs. Sustain me, that I may overcome my weaknesses, and strengthen me, that I may have thine approval. May I be reverent and unselfish as I come to thee in prayer. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWENTIETH
Battle of Salamis B. C. 480.
Alexander the Great born B. C. 356.
Robert Emmet died 1803.
David Ross Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby) born 1833.

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'Tis weary watching wave by wave,

And yet the tide heaves onward;

We climb, like corals, grave by grave,

That pave a pathway sunward.

We're driven back, for our next fray

A newer strength to borrow;

And where the vanguard camps to-day,

The rear shall rest to-morrow.

—Gerald Massey.


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Be like the bird, that, pausing in her flight

A while on boughs too slight,

Feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings,

Knowing that she hath wings.

—Victor Hugo.


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Trust in Jehovah, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.

—Psalm 37. 3.


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Eternal God, help me to realize that life is not only endless but, whether I live in love and obedience, or wait in neglect and indifference, that I can never separate myself from thee. May I be diligent in worthy endeavors to do my best for thee. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FIRST
Girolamo Savonarola born 1452.
Emperor Charles V died 1558.
Sir Walter Scott died 1832.

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It is the secret sympathy,

The silver link, the silken tie,

Which heart to heart and mind to mind

In body and in soul can bind.

—Sir Walter Scott.


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No action, whether foul or fair,

Is ever done, but it carves somewhere

A record, written by fingers ghostly,

As a blessing or a curse, and mostly

In the greater weakness or greater strength

Of the acts which follow it.

—Henry W. Longfellow.


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And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do.

—Judges 7. 17.


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Loving Father, may I remember that from the beginning, all things were created beautiful and were given for love. I pray that I may be willing to be guided to the beautiful things of life and receive from them the delight of thy love. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SECOND
Peter Simon Pallas born 1741.
Michael Faraday born 1791.
Theodore Edward Hook born 1788.

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Man learns to swim by being tossed into life's maelstrom and left to make his way ashore. No youth can learn to sail his life-craft in a lake sequestered and sheltered from all the storms, where other vessels never come. Skill comes through sailing one's craft amidst rocks and bars and opposing fleets, amidst storms and whirls and counter currents.

—Newell Dwight Hillis.


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O, a trouble's a ton or a trouble's an ounce,

Or a trouble is what you make it!

And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,

But only—how did you take it?

—Edmund C. Vance.


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And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

—Hebrews 6. 15.


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Tender Father, may I not encourage the disposition to enlarge and make much of the troubles and disappointments of life, and make light of the joys and privileges. I pray that I may keep a large place for happiness. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWENTY-THIRD
Karl Theodore Körner born 1791.
Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen born 1848.
Wilkie Collins died 1889.
M. F. H. De Haas died 1895.

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When over the fair fame of friend or foe

The shadow of disgrace shall fall; instead

Of words to blame, or reproof of thus and so,

Let something good be said.

Forget not that no fellow-being yet

May fall so low but love may lift his head;

Even the cheek of shame with tears is wet

If something good be said.

—Author unknown.


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The right Christian mind will ... find its own image wherever it exists; it will seek for what it loves, and draw out of all dens and caves, and it will believe in its being, often when it cannot see it; and so it will lie lovingly over the faults and rough places of the human heart, as the snow from heaven does over the hard, and black, and broken mountain rocks.

—John Ruskin.


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To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his friend.

—Job 6. 14.


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Lord God, grant that after years of climbing I may not find the mist in my soul has dulled the vision of thy glory. Keep me from the habit of looking for faults, and missing the virtues in others. Forbid that I should be so occupied in taking measure of other lives that I neglect to measure my own. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH
John Marshall born 1755.
Zachary Taylor, Virginia, twelfth President United States, born 1784.
S. R. Crockett born 1860.

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Get the truth once uttered, and 'tis like

A star newborn that drops into its place,

And which, once circling in its placid round,

Not all the tumult of the earth can shake.

—James Russell Lowell.


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If you would be well spoken of, learn to speak well of others. And when you have learned to speak well of them, endeavor likewise to do well to them; and reap the fruit of being well spoken of by them.

—Epictetus.


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He that slandereth not with his tongue,

Nor doeth evil to his friend,

Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor;

He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

—Psalm 15. 3, 5.


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Lord God, I bless thee for the lives of men and women who are willing to be led by the truth, and who are worthy to follow thee. I pray that thou wilt make me truthful, and keep me steadfast, that none may go astray by the uncertainty of my way. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH
William Romaine born 1714.
Felicia D. Hemans born 1793.
W. M. Rossetti born 1829.

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Not as the conqueror comes,

They, the true-hearted, came;

Not with the roll of the stirring drums,

And the trumpet songs of fame:

Amidst the storm they sang,

And the stars heard and the sea;

And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang

To the anthem of the free.

Ay, call it holy ground,

The soil where first they trod;

They have left unstained what there they found—

Freedom to worship God.

—Felicia D. Hemans.


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But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid.

—Micah 4. 4.


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Eternal God, may I look to the Pilgrims and learn that to pray by faith with the heart is not to pray by faith of the imagination. Help me to pray, and have faith to struggle for that which I would rightfully have. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH
Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood born 1750.
Dr. Mary Walker born 1832.
Irving Bacheller born 1859.
Frederic William Faber died 1863.

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God is never so far off as even to be near—

He is within: Our spirit is the home he holds most dear.

To think of him as by our side is almost as untrue

As to remove his throne beyond the starry blue.

—F. W. Faber.


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Nearer, my God, to thee,

Nearer to thee!

E'en though it be a cross

That raiseth me;

Still all my song shall be—

Nearer, my God, to thee,

Nearer to thee!

—Sarah F. Adams.


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My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

—Job 27. 6.


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My Father, may I consider the place in which I stand: and may I not be deceived in thinking I am near thee while I am living far away. Teach me the way to draw nearer to thee each day, until my spirit may continually dwell with thee. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH
George Cruikshank born 1792.
Samuel Francis Dupont born 1803.
Aimé Millet born 1819.
Henri Frédéric Arniel born 1821.

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The man who has no refuge in himself, who lives, so to speak, in his front rooms, in the outer whirlwind of things and opinions, is not properly a personality at all; ... he is one of a crowd.

—Amiel.


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Happy the heart that keeps its twilight hour,

And in the depths of heavenly peace reclined,

Loves to commune with thoughts of tender power—

Thoughts that ascend, like angels beautiful.

—Paul Hamilton Hayne.


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The art of meditation may be exercised at all hours and in all places; and men of genius in their walks, at table, and amidst assemblies, turning the eye of the mind inward, can form an artificial solitude; retired amidst a crowd, calm amidst distractions, and wise amidst folly.

—Disraeli.


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Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.

—Psalm 4. 4.


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Heavenly Father, save me from being so poor in spirit, that I will have to be sustained by the bright spirits of others. May I be continually refreshed by the spirit of life that may be found at all times. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH
Francis Turner Palgrave born 1824.
Frances E. Willard born 1839.
General John D. French born 1852.
Mary Anderson born 1859.

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Unless there is a predominating and overmastering purpose to which all the accessories and incidents of life contribute, the character will be weak, irresolute, uncertain.

—Frances E. Willard.


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Life is not an idle ore,

But iron dug from central gloom,

And heated hot with burning fears,

And dipt in baths of hissing tears,

And battered with the shocks of doom

To shape and use.

—Alfred Tennyson.


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He that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.... A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

—James 1. 6, 8.


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O God, help me to be positive. May I not want to be in so many places, and in so many things, that I can never be found in anything. Help me to know that a purpose secured is worth many attempts, and that to have a character I must build it. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER TWENTY-NINTH
Pompey killed B. C. 48.
Robert Lord Clive born 1725.
Horatio Nelson born 1758.

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O strange and wild is the world of men

Which the eyes of the Lord must see—

With continents, inlands, tribes, and tongues,

With multitudes bond and free!

All kings of the earth bow down to him,

And yet—he can think of me.

For none can measure the mind of God

Or the bounds of eternity,

He knows each life that has come from him,

To the tiniest bird and bee,

For the love of his heart is so deep and wide

That it takes in even me.

—Mary E. Allbright.


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Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father: but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

—Matthew 10. 29, 30.


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Almighty God, cause me to look out this morning, and open wide my eyes, that I may see what great preparation thou hast made that I might live. May I be ashamed to start wrong and be unworthy of the glory of this day. Amen.


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SEPTEMBER THIRTIETH
George Whitefield died 1770.
William Hutton born 1723.
John Dollond died 1761.

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Up, up, my soul, the long-spent time redeeming;

Sow thou the seeds of better deeds and thought;

Light other lamps while yet thy lamp is beaming—

The time is short.

Think of the good thou might'st have done when brightly

The suns to thee life's choicest season brought;

Hours lost to God in pleasure passing lightly—

The time is short.

If thou hast friends, give them thy best endeavor,

Thy warmest impulse, and thy purest thought,

Keeping in mind and words and action ever—

The time is short.

—Elizabeth Prentiss.


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What is your life? For ye are a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

—James 4. 14.


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Loving Father, help me to realize that I am not living in the right way nor the right place if I am discontented, or happy in trifles and untruth. Help me to find my place, and with thy help may I stand firm and confident. Amen.