THOUGHTS

TO HELP AND TO CHEER.

JANUARY.

First Day.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."

Let earnestness in our purposes and integrity in our aims help us through this day and all succeeding days of the year. With the strength which self-discipline gives, and God's law to guide us, may we submit with faith, and hope, and courage, to all that befall us.

may

O, what concerns it him, whose way
Lies upward to the immortal dead,
That a few hairs are turning gray,
Or one more year of life is fled?

Swift years, but teach us how to bear,
To feel, and act, with strength and skill,
To reason wisely, nobly dare,

And speed your courses as ye will.

Press onward through each varying hour,
Let no weak fears thy course delay;
Immortal being, feel thy power;
Pursue thy bright and endless way.

Second Day.

"AND I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find.” ·

This morning hour is a still one. The hurry and tumults of life are not begun, and we share in the tranquillity around us. Having for so many hours lost our

hold on the world, we can banish it more easily from our minds, and worship with less divided attention. This, then, is a favorable time for approaching the invisible Author of our being, for strengthening the intimacy of our minds with him, for thinking upon a future life, and for seeking those spiritual aids which we need in the labors and temptations of every day.

O God! who know'st how frail we are,
How soon the thought of good departs,
We pray that thou wouldst feed the fount
Of holy yearning in our hearts.

Third Day.

"THEIR angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."

Those minds that are guided by the spirit of God, and that are conscious of

their own weakness, do what is necessary to be done, without being aware of their own strength, and without any assurance of success. They endure and overcome by an inexplicable power, that is within them without their knowing it. They are not thinking of suffering well, but insensibly they are able to bear every trial in peace and simplicity, without any other desire than that the will of God be fulfilled. This is what we call perfect good-will. The good-will which is only a love of the will of God, becomes on every occasion just what it should be to conform itself to him.

Yes Earth has angels, tho' their forms are moulded
But of such clay as fashions all below;

Though harps are wanting and bright pinions folded,
We know them by the love-light on their brow.

And if my sight, by earthly dimness hindered,
Behold no hovering cherubim in air,

I doubt not, for spirits know their kindred,
They smile upon the wingless watchers there.