LEAVES OF LIFE

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH EIGHTEENTH

    * William Byrd died 1674.
    * John C. Calhoun born 1782.
    * Grover Cleveland, New Jersey, twenty-second President United States, born 1837.

My minde to me a kingdom is:
Such perfect joy therein I finde
As far exceeds all earthly blisse
That God or nature hath assignede.
--William Byrd.

Teach your proud will to make those nobler choices
Which bring to soul and heart enduring health.
Deafen your ears to those contending voices,
Look in your heart, learn your own being's wealth.
Its resources vast, its undiscovered treasure
Waiting for these same idle hands to mine.
Learn that the grandest of Nature's creations
May not be bounded by man's limitations.
--Rose E. Cleveland.

But he is in one mind, and who can turn him?
And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
--Job 23. 13.

Almighty God, grant that I may never succumb to the controlling influences of the body, and lose the power of my mind. May I guard the dictates of my heart and keep my mind in command to obey thy will. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH NINETEENTH

 

    * David Livingstone born 1813.
    * Alice French (Octave Thanet) born 1850.
    * William Jennings Bryan born 1860.

Isn't it interesting to get blamed for everything? But I must be thankful in feeling that I would rather perish than blame another for my misdeeds and deficiencies.

--David Livingstone.

Criticism is helpful. If a man makes a mistake, criticism enables him to correct it; if he is unjustly criticized, the criticism helps him. I have had my share of criticism since I have been in public life, but it has not prevented me from doing what I thought proper to do.

--William Jennings Bryan.

For himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee. So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.

--Hebrews 13. 5, 6.

Loving Father, I thank thee that thou art the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; and I am glad I cannot receive from thee the slights and wounds that I may give or receive from my friends. May I be considerate and more forgiving, and by my sincerity be worthy of the purpose which I pursue. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH TWENTIETH

    * Publius Ovidius (Ovid) born B. C. 43.
    * Sir Isaac Newton died 1727.
    * Karl August Nicander born 1799.
    * Henrik Ibsen born 1828.

Whoever is not with me in the essential things of life, him I no longer know--I owe him no consideration.

--Henrik Ibsen.

Only he who lives in truth finds it. The deepest truth is not born of conscious striving, but comes in the quiet hour when a noble nature gives itself into the keeping of life, to suffer, to feel, to think, and to act as it is moved by a wisdom not its own.

--Hamilton Mabie.

Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God.

--Philippians 3. 13, 14.

Lord God, I thank thee for the silent ways of revelation which bring hopeful communion with thee. Help me to be composed, that my life may not create a noise and my soul miss the messages that come from the depths of truth and love. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH TWENTY-SECOND

    * Sir Anthony Vandyke born 1599.
    * Caroline Sheridan Norton born 1808.
    * Johann Goethe died 1832.
    * Dr. Farrar, Dean of Canterbury, died 1903.
    * Rosa Bonheur born 1822.

Red Love still rules the day, white Faith enfolds the night,
And hope, green-mantled, leads the way by the walls of the City of Light.
Therefore I walk as one who sees the joy shine through
Of the other Life behind our life, like the stars behind the blue.
--Dean Farrar.

There can be no greater delight than is experienced by a man who, by his own unaided resources, frees himself from the consequences of error: Heaven looks down with satisfaction upon such a spectacle.

--Goethe.

Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold a land that reacheth afar.

--Isaiah 33. 17.

Lord God, help me to remember that I may not only be forgiven for my transgression, but with thy help I may be led away from the wrong. May I be content to follow where thou dost lead. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH TWENTY-THIRD

    * Pierre Savant La Place born 1749.
    * Schuyler Colfax born 1823.
    * Richard A. Proctor born 1837.

Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together; that at length they may emerge, full-formed and majestic, into the daylight of life.... Nay, in thy own mean perplexities, do thou thyself but hold thy tongue for one day; on the morrow how much clearer are thy purposes and duties!

--Thomas Carlyle.

Deliberate much before you say and do anything; for it will not be in your power to recall what is said or done.

--Epictetus.
Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth;
Keep the door of my lips.
--Psalm 141. 3.

My Lord, make me a lover of the truth. Make me careful of my thoughts, and the words I would speak, that I may not think selfishly and speak cruelly, but keep myself holy unto thee. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH TWENTY-FOURTH

    * Queen Elizabeth died 1603.
    * Fanny Crosby born 1820.
    * Henry W. Longfellow died 1882.
    * Sir Edwin Arnold died 1904.

Every quivering tongue of flame
Seems to murmur some great name,
Seems to say to me "Aspire!"
No endeavor is in vain;
Its reward is in the doing,
And the rapture of pursuing
Is the prize of vanquished gain.
--Henry W. Longfellow.

Never be sad or desponding
If thou hast faith to believe;
Grace for the duties before thee
Ask of thy God and receive.
--Fanny Crosby.

I spread forth my hands unto thee:
My soul thirsteth after thee, as a weary land.
--Psalm 143. 6.

Almighty God, make me conscious of my weaknesses, and make me ashamed of my indulgences. Give me a victory over self; and may I consider more what I put in my life. May I be eager for that which will inspire me for greater aspirations. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH TWENTY-FIFTH

    * Archbishop John Williams born 1582.
    * Joachim Murat born 1771.
    * Anna Seward died 1809.

How awful is the thought of the wonders underground,
Of the mystic changes wrought in the silent, dark profound!
How each thing upward tends by necessity decreed,
And the world's support depends on the shooting of a seed!
The summer's in her ark, and this sunny-pinioned day
Is commissioned to remark whether Winter holds her sway:
Go back, thou dove of peace, with myrtle on thy wing,
Say that floods and tempests cease, and the world is ripe for Spring.
--Horace Smith.

I should never have made my success in life if I had not bestowed upon the least thing I have ever undertaken the same attention and care that I have bestowed upon the greatest.

--Charles Dickens.

Gather up the broken pieces which remain over, that nothing be lost.

--John 6. 12.

Loving Father, cause me to learn from nature that to have perfection I must be attentive at the beginning of growth. Help me to select with care the soil wherein I plant; and to weed and cultivate my life that it may grow to beauty and usefulness. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH TWENTY-SIXTH

    * Konrad von Gesner born 1516.
    * W. E. H. Lecky born 1838.
    * Gustave Guillaumet born 1840.
    * Walt Whitman died 1892.

Every man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him, but a day comes when he begins to care that he do not cheat his neighbor. Then all goes well. He has changed his market-cart into a chariot of the sun.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

He that is unacquainted with the nature of the world must be at a loss to know where he is. And he that cannot tell the ends he was made for is ignorant both of himself and the world too.

--Marcus Aurelius.

Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.

--2 Timothy 2. 15.

Almighty God, may I not only approve of justice and kindness, but practice it. Grant that I may be attentive to the call of work and steadfast in completing it. May I be sincere to those who are dear to me, and never falter in my support to those who are dependent upon me. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH TWENTY-SEVENTH

    * Alfred Vigny born 1799.
    * General A. W. Greely born 1847.
    * Sir Gilbert Scott died 1878.

It takes great strength to bring your life up square
With your accepted thought and hold it there:
Resisting the inertia that drags it back
From new attempts, to the old habit's track.
It is so easy to drift back, to sink.
So hard to live abreast of what you think.
--Charlotte Perkins Stetson.

If a person had delivered up your body to anyone whom he met in his way, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in delivering up your own mind to be disconcerted and confounded by anyone who happens to give you ill language.

--Epictetus.
Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.

--Acts 26. 19.

My Father, my soul sinks with shame when I think of the great moments that I have given over to mean little things. Help me that I may reckon more on the value of time, and live not to tolerate life, but to have a great need for it, that day by day I may have a deeper consciousness of its appropriate use. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH TWENTY-EIGHTH

    * Santi d'Urbino Raphael born 1483.
    * Sir Thomas Smith born 1514.
    * Margaret (Peg) Woffington died 1760.

They may not need me,
Yet they might;
I'll let my heart be
Just in sight--
A smile so small
As mine might be
Precisely their
Necessity.
--Unknown.
You hear that boy laughing?--you think he's all fun;
But the angels laugh too at the good he has done;
The children laugh loud as they troop to his call,
And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all.
--Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other.

--Ephesians 4. 31.

Lord God, I pray that I may be fair, and not pass judgment on those whom I like or those whom I dislike, and so bring unhappy regrets. May I remember that, though hasty judgment often may be temporary, the gain or loss of a friend may be permanent. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH TWENTY-NINTH

    * Dr. John Lightfoot born 1602.
    * John Tyler, Virginia, tenth President United States, born 1790.
    * Amelia Barr born 1831.

The year's at the spring
And the day's at the morn;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing:
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his heaven:
All's well with the world.
--Robert Browning.

Dear Lord and Father of mankinds
Forgive our feverish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind;
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence praise.
--John G. Whittier.

In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.

--Isaiah 30. 15.

Lord God, I beseech thee to give me the strength which endures. Grant that I may have the ceaseless content which is secured by choosing and continuing in the right way. From the wealth of each day renew my hope, and quiet my soul with the calm of thy peace. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH THIRTIETH

    * Sir Henry Wotton born 1568.
    * Archbishop Somner born 1606.
    * John Fiske born 1842.
    * John Constable died 1837.

I said, "Let us walk in the field."
He said, "Nay walk in the town."
I said, "There are no flowers there."
He said, "No flowers but a crown."
I said, "But the air is thick,
And the fogs are veiling the sun."
He answered, "Yet souls are sick
And souls in the dark undone."
I cast one look at the field,
Then set my face to the town.
He said: "My child, do you yield?
Will ye leave the flowers for the crown?"
Then into his hand went mine
And into my heart came He,
And I walked in a light divine
The path I had feared to see.
--George Macdonald.

Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of Jehovah your God.

--Jeremiah 26. 13.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

MARCH THIRTY-FIRST

    * Ludwig von Beethoven died 1827.
    * Joseph Francis Haydn born 1732.
    * Andrew Lang born 1844.
    * Charlotte Brontë died 1855.

The Great Being unseen, but all-present, who in his beneficence desires only our welfare, watches the struggle between good and evil in our hearts, and waits to see whether we obey his voice, heard in the whispers of conscience, or lend an ear to the Spirit Evil, which seeks to lead us astray. Rough and steep is the path indicated by divine suggestion; mossy and declining the green way along which temptation strews flowers. Then conscience whispers, "Do what you feel is right, obey me, and I will plant for you firm footing."

--Charlotte Brontë.
God help us do our duty, and not shrink,
And trust in heaven humbly for the rest.
--Owen Meredith.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life.

--Deuteronomy 30. 19.

My Father, as I review my life I am impressed how accurately my deeds have copied my thoughts. And though I have failed the so often, yet I pray that thou wilt accept my yearnings, to think and work for the best in every day. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL FIRST

    * All Fools' Day.
    * William Harvey born 1578.
    * Prince von Bismarck born 1815.
    * Edwin A. Abbey born 1852.
    * Agnes Repplier born 1858.

It is a peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others, and to forget his own.

--Cicero.

A man may be as much a fool from the want of sensibility as the want of sense.

--Mrs. Jameson.

He that knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool: shun him.

--Arabian Maxim.
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit?
There is more hope of a fool than of him.
--Proverbs 26. 12.

Almighty God, grant that I may be spared the allurements of deceptive happiness which leaves weary days. I ask for wisdom that I may not speak foolishly, think foolishly, or act foolishly; and may I not be detained by the foolishness of others, but pursue my work, whether it be far or near. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL SECOND

    * Charlemagne born 742.
    * Thomas Jefferson, Virginia, third President United States, born 1743.
    * Hans Andersen born 1805.
    * Frederic A. Bartholdi born 1834.
    * Emile Zola born 1840.

When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself public property.

--Thomas Jefferson.

We hold these truths to be self-evident--that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

--Declaration of Independence.
Breathes there the man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned
As home his footsteps he hath turned
From wandering on a foreign strand?
--Sir Walter Scott.

Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.

--Matthew 22. 21.

My Lord, I thank thee for the wisdom and love that is spoken through the lives of strong men and women. Grant that I may be willing to learn of them, and gladly serve where I am needed, remembering that thou art Lord of all. Amen.