The whole scheme of our voluntary actions, all that we do from morning to night of every day, is beyond doubt intrusted to our control. * * * And from our inmost consciousness we do know, that whatever we will, we can make ourselves execute whatever we approve; and strangle in its birth, whatever we abhor. To-morrow morning, if you choose to take up a spirit of such power, you may rise, like a soul without a past; disengaged from the manifold coil of willing usage. The coming hours are open yet, pure and spotless receptacles for whatever you may deposit there. * There they lie in non-existence still; ready to be organized by a creative spirit of beauty, or made foul with deformity and waste. Let us start up and live: here come the moments that cannot be had again; some few may yet be filled with imperishable good.-[J. Martineau.] * * * O Lord, our God, the Fountain of Light, and the Wellspring of all holy wisdom and knowledge; without whose aid our search after thee and thy ways is but tedious error and dangerous wandering from thee; assist us mercifully in our endeavors after thee; sanctifie our hearts unto obedience, that we may unfeignedly love thee, and worthily magnifie thy holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.-[Henry More.] For thou Lord hast made me glad through thy works: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works: and thy thoughts are very deep. I can do nothing without the help of God, and that even from moment to moment.-[St. Athanasius.] WITH THEE. Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh, When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee; Fairer than morning, lovelier than the daylight, Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee! Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows, As in the dawning o'er the waveless ocean Thine image in the waters of my breast. Still, still with Thee! As to each new-born morning A fresh and solemn splendor still is given, So doth this blessed consciousness, awaking, Breathe, each day, nearness unto Thee and heaven. When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber, So shall it be at last, in that bright morning MORNING HYMN. Now the shades of night are gone; Fill our souls with heavenly light; Keep our haughty passions bound; Keep us safe from every sin. [Episcopal Collection.] Daily ought we to renew our purposes, and to stir up ourselves to greater fervor, and to say, 66 Help me, my God! in this my good purpose and in thy holy service, and grant that I may now this day begin perfectly; for that which I have hitherto done is as nothing." If thou canst not continually recollect thyself, yet do it sometimes, at the least once a day,—namely, in the morning or at night.-[Thomas à Kempis.] To live with the invisible and in it, to make our dull common life, and the pictorial show that doth encompass it, the image of the character of God, the picture of his work in us and on the world, this is forever one of the noblest exercises of Christian faith.-[Brooke.] B PRAYER FROM ARCHBISHOP LEIGHTON. * O God, the spring of being and goodness, who hast stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, thy fingers setting them all with sweet and admirable order in a beautiful frame,} I beseech thee to accept the tribute of my unfeigned thanks for all thy love and goodness to me, for the many comforts and blessings with which thou hast supplied me; and in particular, that I am again risen up in health to see the light of another morning. I laid me down to sleep without my own care of myself,-yet no plague of darkness has hurt * for thou wert my keeper. * Every day brings with it a return of loving kindness and tender mercies. * * * God my King, my most loving and gracious Father, I would walk all the day long as in thy hand; yea, I will extol thee, I will bless thee, I will live unto thee forever and ever. Amen. me, * Touch my heart, O God, with thoughts of thy love; in my soul, thy temple, erect thou an altar of praise, of penitence, of thanksgiving. Hold me up this day above the mists of passion, of selfishness, of earthliness; increase in me this day desires after holiness; incline my heart unto thee, the God of my life. Give strength to my higher, my better self, against my lower nature, that is prone to gain the mastery, and save me for thy goodness' sake. The universe is but one great city, full of beloved ones, divine and human, by nature endeared to each other. [Epictetus.] MORNING PRAYER. So fit and useful is morning devotion, it ought not to be omitted without necessity. If God finds no place in our minds at that early and peaceful hour, he will hardly recur to us in the tumults of life. If the benefits of the morning do not soften us, we can hardly expect the heart to melt with gratitude through the day. If the world then rush in and take possession of us, when we are at some distance and have had a respite from its cares, how can we hope to shake it off when we shall be in the midst of it, pressed and agitated by it on every side?-[Channing.] That the period immediately after rising should be scrupulously consecrated to God; that the earliest thoughts of the day should be filled with God; that the homage of self-dedication should be renewed before starting on another pilgrimage; that we should listen to his small voice of warning or encouragement as it issues from his written word, or from the inner consciousness, or from the outer world; all this is so essentially bound up with the peace and holiness of the day, that one might almost say the two are inseparable. The tone and sentiment and feeling throughout the day are sure to take their coloring from the morning hour.-[Goulbrun.] I beseech thee, Lord, teach me to seek thee, and show thyself to the seeker, because I can neither seek thee unless thou teach me, nor find thee unless thou showest thyself to me.-[St. Anselm.] |