Everywhere the gate of beauty
Fresh across the pathway swings,
As we follow truth or duty

Inward to the heart of things.

W. C. GANNett.

A tuft of light above the hill;
A windless silence, tense and chill;
A sharp, straight shaft of fire updrawn,
And, rose-clad, gold-clad, burst of dawn!

A gleam of consciousness in man,
A sure unfolding of Truth's plan,
An aspiration and faith's rest-
Lo, God's great light within the breast!
HARRIET Bartnett.

We thank Thee, our heavenly Father, that Thou hast again commanded the Light to shine out of darkness, and hast brought us to the beginning of another day in which to engage in the duties and the pleasures of life. Help us to realize that Thou hast made everything beautiful in its time, and so to conduct ourselves that, whether in the performance of our duties or the endurance of our trials or the enjoyment of our pleasures, we shall grow by sure degrees into the beauty of holiness, and our pathway be as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Amen.

EDWIN C. SWEETSER.

Who walks the world with soul awake

Finds beauty everywhere;
Though labor be his portion,
Though sorrow be his share,
He looks beyond obscuring clouds,
Sure that the light is there!

And if the ills of mortal life
Grow heavier to bear,
Doubt come with its perplexities
And whisper of despair,

He turns with love to suffering men
And lo! God, too, is there.

FLORENCE EARLE COATES.

Father, we thank Thee for the day and the night; for the storm and the sunshine; for the joys and the sorrows. Help us to remember life must have variety as certainly as a picture must have its lights and its shadows. Help us to keep our thoughts upon Thee and our fellow-men. Then will strength come with which we can endure all things. Then will we forget our own cares and struggles as we live lives of service. Make us not like the stagnant pool shut in to itself, but like the giving, flowing stream causing the flowers to bloom and giving forth refreshing life as it goes upon its way. May the flowers of hope and joy bloom where we go and humanity be made more comfortable. Amen. JOHNSTON MYERS.

To be alive in such an age!

With every year a lightening page
Turned in the world's great wonder book,
Whereon the leaning nations look.
When men speak strong for brotherhood,
For peace and universal good,
When miracles are everywhere
And every inch of common air
Throbs a tremendous prophecy
Of greater marvels yet to be.

To be alive in such an age ·
To live to it,

To give to it!

What if thy lips have drunk the lees?
Fling forth thy sorrow to the wind
And link thy hope with human kind.
The passion of a larger claim

Will put thy puny grief to shame.

Breathe the world thought, do the world deed,

Think hugely of thy brother's need.

And what thy woe, and what thy weal?

Look to the work the times reveal!

Give thanks with all thy flaming heart

Crave but to have in it a part.

Give thanks and clasp thy heritage –
To be alive in such an age.

ANGELA MORGAN.

Give us this day our daily bread, we pray,
And give us likewise, Lord, our daily thought,
That our poor souls may strengthen as they ought
And starve not on the husks of yesterday.

PHILLIPS BROOKS.

When nights are calm, and days are dear,
What can one do but sing?
When happiness is everywhere,
What can one do but sing?
The mountains melt along the sky,
The snowy pigeons circling fly,
A thousand visions kiss the eye,
What can one do but sing?

When hope is throned in the heart,
What can one do but sing?
When pity pleads, and sweet tears start,
What can one do but sing?
A thousand lights are in the sky,
A thousand thoughts about me fly,
A thousand visions kiss mine eye,
What can I do but sing?

ROBERT LOVEMAN.

Our Father who art in heaven, we thank Thee this morning that Thou dost give us songs even in the night. We thank Thee also that after the night comes the morning, that after the darkness comes the light and that after our doubts and fears come the clear skies and shining sun. Forgive us that we have ever doubted Thy goodness. Forgive us that we have complained and murmured when we should have been thankful and happy. Help us to begin this day with songs of praise, and to make it a joyous day for all who come within the circle of our influence. Thus may our smiles and sunshine and our singing make others glad. Amen.

WILLIAM BURT.

One day an old umbrella mender brought his skeleton frames and tinkering tools into the alley of my office. As he sat on a box in the sun, mending the broken and torn umbrella, I noticed that he seemed to take unusual pains, testing the cloth, carefully measuring and strongly sewing the covers.

"You seem extra careful," I remarked.

"Yes," he said, working without looking up; “I try to do good work."

"Your customers would not know the difference until you were gone," I persisted.

"No; I suppose not."

"Do you ever expect to come back?”

"No."

66

Then why are you so particular?”

the

"So that it will be easier for the other fellow next one who comes along," he answered simply. ANONYMOUS.

Help us to think of Thee, O God, who upholdest the universe and hearest the cry of the feeblest of Thy little ones. Inspire our every thought and purpose, that we may be Thy faithful servants, remembering that he who is faithful in the least is faithful also in much. In the fragment of time granted us this day may we do some work of healing and repair for those in need of help, which shall make the world a better place to live in, and bring heaven nearer to all men. Amen.

WILLIAM H. SPENCER.