Like the star That shines afar, Without haste And without rest, Let each man wheel with steady sway Round the task that rules the day, And do his best. --Goethe. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. --1 Corinthians 13. 4. Gracious Father, cause me to be critical of my life, that I may not be deceived in myself. Help me to look into my soul and see what thou dost find there; and with humility may I acknowledge what I am to thee, and seek thy wisdom and love. Amen. JANUARY THIRTEENTH George Fox, founder Society of Friends, died 1691. Samuel Woodworth (Old Oaken Bucket) born 1785. Order of King's Daughters founded 1886. Have thy soul feel the universal breath With which all nature's quick, and learn to be Sharer in all that thou dost touch or see; Break from thy body's grasp thy spirit's trance; Give thy soul air, thy faculties expanse; Love, joy, even sorrow,--yield thyself to all! They make thy freedom, groveling, not thy thrall. Knock off the shackles which thy spirit bind To dust and sense, and set at large the mind! Then move in sympathy with God's great whole, And be like man at first, a _Living Soul_. --Richard Henry Dana. I was deeply impressed by what a gardener once said to me concerning his work. "I feel, sir," he said, "when I am growing the flowers or rearing the vegetables, that I am having a share in creation." I thought it a very noble way of regarding his work. --J.H. Jowett. For we are God's fellow workers: ye are God's husbandry, God's building. --1 Corinthians 3. 9. Creator of all, help me to see what there is for me to do; and help me to know that I cannot be productive if I am hovering in the choice of my work. May I learn from thy great works of heaven and earth the ways of selection and steadfastness. Give me the desire to work and the confidence that is needed to carry on my work. Amen. JANUARY FOURTEENTH Madame de Sevigne died 1696. Edmund Halley died 1742. Pierre Loti born 1850. Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute What you can do, or dream you can; begin it; Boldness has genius, power magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated; Begin and then the work will be completed. --Goethe. Were half the power that fills the world with terror, Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts, Given to redeem the human mind from error, There were no need of arsenals or forts. --Henry W. Longfellow. Choose you this day whom ye will serve;... but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah. --Joshua 24. 15.