DECEMBER TWENTIETH

Louis the Dauphin died 1765.

John Wilson Croker born 1780.

Cyrus Townsend Brady born 1861.

      Love is not love
    Which alters when it alteration finds,
      Or bends with the remover to remove. 
    O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
      That looks on tempests and is never shaken. 
    It is the star to every wandering bark,
      Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

    —­William Shakespeare.

    I will not doubt the love untold
      Which not my worth nor want hath bought,
    Which wooed me young and wooes me old,
      And to this evening hath me brought.

    —­Henry David Thoreau.

    Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:  therefore with
    lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

    —­Jeremiah 81. 3.

Loving Father, teach me the secret of constancy, that none may ever be disappointed in me.  May I not reckon what I give on recompense, but have the spirit of giving which has no measure for what it may receive in return.  May I not be forgetful of thy love which will hold me to deeper reverence and devotion.  Amen.

DECEMBER TWENTY-FIRST

Jean Baptiste Racine born 1639.

Robert Moffat born 1795.

Laura Bridgman born 1829.

    To think and to feel constitute the two grand divisions of men and
    genius—­the men of reasoning and the men of imagination.

    —­Disraeli.

    Grow old along with me! the best is yet to be,
      The last of life, for which the first was made: 
    Our times are in his hand who saith, a whole I planned,
    Youth shows but half; trust God:  see all, nor be afraid!

    —­Robert Browning.

    But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth
    more and more unto the perfect day.

    —­Proverbs 4. 18.

Almighty God, I pray that I may have the grace to penetrate the deep things of life and test their truth and greatness.  May I have faith in thy power and train for the best which thou hast made possible for me to live.  Help me to think and feel aright, that I may be thine to-day, and in the days of to-morrow may I still be thine, ever keeping bright memories of past days.  Amen.

DECEMBER TWENTY-SECOND

Franz Abt born 1819.

Thomas W. Higginson born 1823.

George Eliot died 1880.

      Love and Pain
    Make their own measure of all things that be. 
    No clock’s slow ticking marks their deathless strain;
    The life they own is not the life we see;
    Love’s single moment is eternity.

    —­Thomas W. Higginson.

    Life is made stronger
      Giving, receiving;
    Love is made longer
      Hoping, believing.