Part 18

Gracious Father, give me the courage to live my life, and the endurance to overcome the disappointments that may come to me. May I not be neglectful of the great opportunities of which I am privileged to take advantage. May I not be pretentious of what I have not done, or boastful of what I am, but with my best ability live in truth. Amen.

DECEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH

Jacques Bernoulli born 1654.

Johann Kepler born 1571.

Charles Lamb died 1834.

There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better or worse, as his portion; that, though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given him to till.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Knowing ourselves, our world, our task so great, Our time so brief, 'tis clear if we refuse The means so limited, the tools so rude To execute our purpose, life will fleet, And we shall fade, and leave our task undone.

--Robert Browning.

Study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands.

--1 Thessalonians 4. 11.

Lord God of life, give me the desire to learn, and the wisdom to live in my best. May I not fail to culture my mind and heart and make life productive and worthy. Help me to see the mistakes that I have made in the past, and in the year that is approaching not only try to avoid them, but try to make amends for them. Amen.

DECEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH

Catherine M. Sedgwick born 1789.

Woodrow Wilson, Virginia, twenty-seventh President United States, born 1856.

Thomas B. Macaulay died 1859.

The government might be serviceable for many things. It might assist in a hundred ways to safeguard the lives and the health and promote the comfort and happiness of the people; but it can do these things only if they respond to public opinion, only if those who lead government see the country as a whole, feel a deep thrill of intimate sympathy with every class and every interest in it.

--Woodrow Wilson.

The hearts of men are their books; events are their tutors; great

## actions are their eloquence.

--Thomas B. Macaulay.

Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Jehovah do that which seemeth him good.

--2 Samuel 10. 12.

Lord God, I pray that my estimate of life may not be as I take it, but as thou hast given it for peace and prosperity. Teach me my duty to my country, and make me useful in uplifting and serving humanity. Amen.

DECEMBER TWENTY-NINTH

Thomas a Becket died 1170.

Andrew Johnson, Tennessee, seventeenth President United States, born 1808.

William E. Gladstone born 1809.

Margaret Bottome born 1827.

Pauline O. Louise, Queen of Roumania (Carmen Sylva), born 1843.

Christina G. Rossetti died 1894.

One example is worth a thousand arguments.

--William E. Gladstone.

One day at a time! That's all it can be No faster than that is the hardest of fate, And days have their limit, however we Begin them too early or stretch them late.

--J.R. Miller.

He lives happy and master of himself Who can say, as each day passes on, I have lived! no matter whether to-morrow The great Father shall give us a clouded sky or a clear day.

--Horace.

Give us this day our daily bread.

--Matthew 6. 11.

Eternal God, guard me against the love of praise, that I may not lose the sense of duty. Start me for the right places and give me strength with my days, that I may press toward their possession. Deliver me from drifting when it is mine to pull against the tide, that I may not be carried out of my course. Shield me from the storms that may gather about me, and bring us all to the desired haven safe in thy keeping. Amen.

DECEMBER THIRTIETH

Titus born A.D. 40.

William R. Alger born 1822.

Rudyard Kipling born 1865.

God of our fathers, known of old, Lord of our far-flung battle line, Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine: Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget--lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust In reeking tube and iron shard; All valiant dust that builds on dust, And guarding calls not thee to guard: For frantic boast and foolish word, Thy mercy on thy people, Lord! Amen.

--Rudyard Kipling.

But thou shalt remember Jehovah thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.

--Deuteronomy 8. 18.

Almighty God, as I come to thee wilt thou forgive me for the errors I have made, and for the promises that I have broken. Help me to be as true as the holly that keeps itself red through the snow. Remind me of my opportunities as I breathe in thy blessings, "Lest I forget!" Amen.

DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST

New Year's Eve.

John Wycliffe died 1384.

Battle of Wakefield 1460.

Charles Marquis Cornwallis born 1738.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease, Ring out the narrow lust of gold: Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace.

--Alfred Tennyson.

Let every dawn of morning be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close.

--John Ruskin.

The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

--Romans 13. 12.

My Father, as I look to the past days, I feel much of my happiness and much of my misery has come from my own choice. May I be more watchful of my standards and less wasteful of my time, and keep a poise in life that will leave a memory of well-spent days. For the year that has passed and for its blessings I thank thee. Amen.

End of Project Gutenberg's Leaves of Life, by Margaret Bird Steinmetz