MAY TWENTY-FOURTH

Jean Paul Marat born 1744.

Stephen Girard born 1750.

Sir Robert Adair born 1763.

Queen Victoria born 1819.

Caroline Fox born 1819.

    I see my way as birds their trackless way. 
    I shall arrive! what time, what circuit first,
    I ask not:  but unless God send his hail
    Or blinding fireballs, sleet, or stifling snow,
    In some time, his good time, I shall arrive: 
    He guides me and the bird.

    —­Robert Browning.

    To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws—­that is
    what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him, and calm and
    unspoiled when the world praises him.

    —­Honore Balzac.

    But whoso putteth his trust in Jehovah shall be safe.

    —­Proverbs 29. 25.

Lord Jehovah, all goodness, tenderness, and forbearance that are in my life have come from thee.  May I not lose them in self, but by them make possible happiness and endurance for others.  Amen.

MAY TWENTY-FIFTH

Ralph Waldo Emerson born 1803.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (George) born 1803.

Dr. William Paley died 1805.

William Henry Channing born 1810.

    Hast thou named all the birds without a gun? 
    Loved the wild rose, and left it on the stalk? 
    At rich men’s tables eaten bread and pulse? 
    Unarmed faced danger with a heart of trust? 
    And loved so well a high behavior,
    In man or maid, that thou from speech refrained,
    Nobility more noble to repay? 
    O, be my friend and teach me to be thine!

    —­Ralph Waldo Emerson.

    What the superior man seeks is in himself;
    What the small man seeks is in others.

    —­Confucius.

    Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger;
    And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go.

    —­Proverbs 22. 24.

Lord God, may I live for the pure and upright, and have the blessedness of a rejoicing heart.  May I yearn for the secrets of nature.  Grant that my life may not seek destruction, but tenderly find and protect life.  Amen.

MAY TWENTY-SIXTH

The Venerable Bede died 735.

Count Nicolas Ludwig Zinzendorf born 1800.

Capel Lofft died 1821.

Let us disengage ourselves from care about the passing things of time; let us soar above our worldly possessions.  The bee does not less need its wings when it has gathered an abundant store, for if it sink in the honey, it dies.

    —­Saint Augustine.

    Perhaps if we could penetrate nature’s secrets, we should find that
    what we call needs are more essential to the well-being of the world
    than the most precious grain or fruit.