Thou gracious Spirit of Life, our Father, at the beginning of this new day we wait for a moment before Thee with uncovered heads and with reverent spirits; Thou knowest us through and through, whatever man may think of us Thou knowest just what we are. In Thy sight we need not pretend; we need not make believe, we need only be simple and genuine and brave and earnest. We need be glad in the possession of what we have. Help us this day to rightly value that which is good and honest. Let us for this day at least, put away all vanity and give ourselves unreservedly to Thy service and the love of our fellow men. To this high end, may we have the sweet companionship of Jesus. Amen. GEORGE L. PERIN. February 14 _We go through life as some tourists go through Europe,--so anxious to see the next sight, the next cathedral, the next picture, the next mountain peak, that we never stop to fill our sense with the beauty of the present one. Along all our pathways sweet flowers are blossoming, if we will only stop to pluck them and smell their fragrance. In every meadow, birds are warbling, calling to their mates, and soaring into the blue, if we will only stop our grumbling long enough to hear them._ MINOT J. SAVAGE. Give us, O God, the vision to see the way where duty lies and strength to walk in it, to ever keep the forward look and never to lose heart today because of the stumblings and fallings in the yesterdays that are forever gone. Let us remember that we are in Thy hands and we are faithless to Thee and to ourselves if knowingly we fail to do Thy work. Though we cannot see Thee, we now see our fellow men and we shall best serve Thee if, in love and patience, we help our fellows. Amen. ALMON GUNNISON. February 15 _May I reach That purest Heaven--be to other souls The cup of strength in some great agony, Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love, Beget the smiles that have no cruelty, Be that sweet presence of a good diffused, And in diffusion ever more intense! So shall I join the choir invisible, Whose music is the gladness of the world._ GEORGE ELIOT. Our heavenly Father, we bless Thee for the gift of another day with all its opportunities for service. And we pray that our hearts may respond in sympathy with the heartbeats of those who love and toil and suffer around us today. May we learn to make their joys and sorrows our own. Do not let our unfeeling hands strike the heart-strings of others harshly, nor allow our feet to go crushing roses of love, without thought. Help us, we pray Thee, to walk tenderly and reverently among our fellow men. May their hopes and noble endeavors ring within us the prayer bells of the soul. Make us thus to grow large and tender and noble through our helpful ministries. Amen. JOHN WESLEY CARTER. February 16