LEAVES OF LIFE

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL THIRD

    * George Herbert born 1593.
    * Washington Irving born 1783.
    * Edward Everett Hale born 1822.
    * John Burroughs born 1837.

Sum up at night what thou hast done by day
And in the morning what thou hast to do:
Dress and undress thy soul: mark the decay
And growth of it; if with thy watch that too
Be dowl, then wind up both; since we shall be
Most surely judged, make thy accounts agree.
--George Herbert.

To look up and not down,
To look forward and not back,
To look out and not in, and
To lend a hand.
--Edward E. Hale.

There is a healthy hardiness about real dignity that never dreads contact and communion with others, however humble.

--Washington Irving.

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me:
My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
--Job 29. 14.

My Lord, I pray that I may always be found clothed in love and kindness. Make me worthy to minister to those who may be dependent on me, and whether they be rich or poor, high or low, may I try to help them. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL FOURTH

    *
      Oliver Goldsmith died 1774.A
    *
      Dorothea Dix born 1802.
    *
      James Freeman Clarke born 1810.

"The greatest object in the universe," said a certain philosopher, "is a good man struggling with adversity"; yet there is still a greater, which is the good man who comes to relieve it.

--Oliver Goldsmith.

Yet I believe that somewhere, soon or late,
A peace will fall
Upon the angry reaches of my mind;
A peace initiate
In some heroic hour when I behold
A friend's long-quested triumph, or unbind
The tressed gold
From a child's laughing face. I still believe--
So much believe.
--J. Drinkwater.

But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?

--1 John 3. 17.

Almighty God, may I have a liberal heart. Grant that I may feel the needs of thy children in all lands; and may I be willing to give of thy blessings, as I am ready to receive them. May my tribute be not only of tender thoughts and kind words, but may I give of myself, and of what I have, as thou hast through love and wisdom done for me. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL FIFTH

    * Elihu Yale born 1648.
    * Sir Henry Havelock born 1795.
    * Frank Stockton (Francis) born 1834.
    * Algernon Charles Swinburne born 1837.

As morning hears before it run
The music of the mounting sun,
And laughs to watch his trophies won
From darkness, and her hosts undone,
And all the night becomes a breath,
Nor dreams that fear should hear and flee
The summer menace of the sea,
So hear our hope what life may be,
And know it not for death.
--Algernon Charles Swinburne.

I came from God, and I'm going back to God, and I won't have any gaps of death in the middle of my life.

--George MacDonald.

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness;
But the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
--Proverbs 10. 28.

Lord God, teach me the way and show me the light of the eternal day; and may the vision fill my soul as I take courage and follow it. May I not be fearful of what may be provided, but remember that before the creation of life thou didst have a purpose in death. May I be trustful. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL SIXTH

    * Albert Dürer died 1528.
    * James Mill born 1773.
    * Jean Baptiste Rousseau born 1669.

Even if the sacrifices which are made to duty and virtue are painful to make, they are well repaid by the sweet recollections which they leave at the bottom of the heart.

--Jean B. Rousseau.

I am the man of a thousand loves,
A thousand loves have I;
And all my loves are white-winged doves,
That into my soul would fly.
I am the man of a thousand friends
Of tuneful memory;
And each of them spends the delicate ends
Of a brilliant day with me.
And all my gifts are magical words
That sing sweet songs to me;
And the sensitive words are caroling birds
In the garden of imagery.
--Edwin Leibfreed.

Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.

--Revelation 2. 10.

Loving Father, I bless thee for thy love and ministry. May I enter into a broader conception of sharing thy gifts. May I not seek thy blessings to keep, but to use for renewed inspiration. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL SEVENTH

    * Saint Francis Xavier born 1506.
    * William Wordsworth born 1770.
    * William Ellery Channing born 1780.

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The child is Father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
--William Wordsworth.

A self-controlled mind is a free mind, and freedom is power. I call that mind free which jealously guards its intellectual rights and powers. I call that mind free which resists the bondage of habit, which does not live on its old virtues, but forgets what is behind, and rejoices to pour itself forth in fresh and higher exertions.

--William Ellery Channing.

That ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

--Ephesians 4. 23, 24.

Lord God, give me the power to control my mind and heart, that I may not be a slave to habits that may keep me from eternal love and blessedness. May I have sympathy and compassion for others, and cherish thy tenderness and mercy as I hold it in my daily life. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL EIGHTH

    * Petrarch crowned 1341.
    * William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, born 1580.
    * David Rittenhouse born 1732.

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life from aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
--Emily Dickinson.

The most solid comfort one can fall back upon is the thought that the business of one's life is to help in some small way to reduce the sum of ignorance, degradation, and misery on the face of this beautiful earth.

--George Eliot.

Make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself.

--Philippians 2. 2, 3.

My Father, take away the spirit, if I may be inclined to keep the best, and to be always seeking my portion. May I have the desire to share with those who have less, and to give to those who may have more, whether it be of bread or love. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL NINTH

    * Fisher Ames born 1758.
    * John Opie died 1807.
    * Dante Gabriel Rossetti died 1882.

Gather a shell from the strown beach
And listen at its lips; they sigh
The same desire and mystery,
The echo of the whole sea's speech.
And all mankind is this at heart--
Not anything but what thou art:
And Earth, Sea, Man are all in each.
--Dante Gabriel Rossetti.


And as, in sparkling majesty, a star
Gilds the bright summit of some glory cloud;
Brightening the half-veil'd face of heaven afar;
So when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud,
Sweet Hope! celestial influence round me shed,
Waving the silver pinions o'er my head.
--John Keats.

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

--Romans 15. 13.

Almighty God, may I ever know the generous glow that comes with an overwhelming desire to cultivate the soul. With hope may I find the way through the darkness that leads to immortality, even if I may have to experience the weariness that may accompany it. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL TENTH

    * Hugo Grotius born 1583.
    * William Hazlitt born 1778.
    * General Lew Wallace born 1827.
    * General William Booth born 1829.

The essence of happy living is never to find life dull, never to feel the ugly weariness which comes of overstrain; to be fresh, cheerful, leisurely, sociable, unhurried, well-balanced. It seems to me impossible to be these things unless we have time to consider life a little, to deliberate, to select, to abstain.

--Arthur C. Benson.

Four things come not back--the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, the neglected opportunity.

--William Hazlitt.

Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure.

--2 Peter 1. 10.

My Father, may I not miss my work through indifference and feel it is thy neglect of me. May I be reminded that the enrichment of life comes through persistency and being consistent, and may not be found on the idle paths of extravagant ways. Help me to take up my work with a willing spirit and give my best to it. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL ELEVENTH

    * George Canning born 1770.
    * Edward Everett born 1794.
    * Donald G. Mitchell (Ik Marvel) born 1822.

The safe path to excellence and success in every calling, is that of appropriate preliminary education, diligent application to learn the art of assiduity and practicing it.

--Edward Everett.

That nothing walks with aimless feet;
That not one life shall be destroyed,
Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God hath made the pile complete.
Behold, we know not anything:
I can but trust that good shall fall
At last--far off--at last, to all,
And every winter change to spring.
--Alfred Tennyson.

And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fullness of hope even to the end: that ye be not sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

--Hebrews 6. 11, 12.

Lord God, help me in all my circumstances, and be with me in my daily work. Help me in my efforts, as I endeavor to attain, and may my will be hid in thine. Amen.

[nChrist]

Leaves of Life
Daily Inspiration by Margaret Bird Steinmetz

APRIL TWELFTH

    * Edward Young died 1765.
    * Edward Bird born 1772.
    * Henry Clay born 1777.

I would rather be right than be President.

--Henry Clay.

Who does the best his circumstances allow
Does well, acts nobly; angels could no more.
--Edward Young.

Pedigree has no more to do in making a man actually greater than he is than a peacock's feather in his hat has in making him actually taller. When the world stands in need of an aristocrat, nature pitches one into it, and furnishes him papers without any flaw in them.

--Josh Billings.

Cast not away therefore your boldness, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise.

--Hebrews 10. 35, 36.

Lord God, help me to select with care the site, the plans, and the foundation of my life. May I use the best material; and may it be worthy of a permanent home. Amen.