P R AY E R S

H O RAT I O STEBB IN S

M I N I S TE R O F TH E

F I R S T UN I T A R I A N C H U RC H

OF S AN FR ANC IS CO
1 86 4 1 9 0 2

F RAN C IS C O
TH E M U R D O C' P RES S
1 903
 TO THE PEOPLE OF THE

FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH IN SAN FRANCISC O

“
IN W HO S E F A CE S ,
” F OR M O RE
“
THAN A G EN E RAT I O N , H E S AW
TH E R E F L ECT I O N OF C H RI S T I AN
L O V E F OB H I M AN D W H O R E
,

C HIV ED W HAT H E H AD T O S AY
As TH E S T I L L TH I R S T Y E A RT H
,

R ECE IV E S TH E G ENTL E R A IN ”
,

TH I S V O L U M E I S DED I CAT ED BY
H IS C H I L D R E N.
 N O TE .

IN e igh te e n hundre d and e igh ty nine

-
,

unkn own to my fa th er , I e ng aged a

steno gra p her , Wh o, f or nearly a ye a r ,

s ent me re p orts of the p rayers of th e

Sunday service s .

My fa ther n ever kn ew that thi s

reco rd existe d .

Fe eling that their p ublica tion W il l

aff ord an opportuni ty f or members of

hi s c ongre gati on and o thers Wh o loved

h im to h ave and to hand down a precious
memori al of his minis try , thi s li ttle
volume is o ff er e d .

R S . .
 PRAYERS

In th e o r de r o f s e rvi c e s the s hort p r ay e r imme d ia t el y f o l l o ws

the s erm on .

F EB RUAR Y 1 7, 1 8 89 MOR NIN G

I NF INITE, Holy and Almighty God our Father

, , ,

we c ome now to our place newly c onsecrated t o

thy se rvice ; we come with hearts refreshed in
the genial air of this fair d ay ; lift up our minds
and hearts to thee with dev out feeling r e v e r ,

ence and prayer Our wants are ever c o nstan t

,
.

and ever the same ; our we aknes s is e v er near

and our sin ever nearer Thy love and thy gra c e .

are greater than our weakness and mightier than

our sins and we c ome to thee O God and take
, , ,

refuge in thee our Strength and our Re deemer

,
.

Consecrate unto our heart s we p r ay thee our , ,

exp erienc e the exp erien c e of life the exp eri

—
,

ence of its event s the exp erienc e of its trials of

, ,

its j oys We bless thee always for thy greatness

.
,

the majesty of thy beauty and we pray thee let ,

that beauty rest up on u 0 GOd yea let the

s —
,
‘

, ,

beauty of our God rest up on us .

We thank thee Alm ighty One f or the pleas

, ,

ant inheritan c e up on which we hav e entered We .

9
a ckn owledge with g r atitu de all our d ebt in the
p a st t o tho se wh o have gone b efo r e us the foun ,

de rs an d b u il d e rs the teachers those wh o hav e

, ,

lift e d u p their v oi c e t o thee b efor e th e p eop le ,

wh o have sun g songs of m ighty p ower an d sp ok ,

en words of gra c e sweetness l ove an d terr ible

, , ,

retribution .

And now 0 God thy pe op l e wait f or thee

, , ,

and is not also thy c omin g pre p ared as is th e

m o rning ? D ost tho u not c ome t o thy p e ople as
the early and latte r r ain to the e arth ? Com e
now th ou Holy One refresh the hea r ts of thy
, ,

c hil d ren wash awa y all their sins and rem ove
, ,

thei r sins from them as far as the e ast is fr om

the west ; and let th y b l essing thy tende r com ,

p assi on th y gl ory an d th y j oy be up on us now

, , ,

and eve rm o r e AM EN . .

O God, Fath er by wh os e S p irit all h e arts

our ,

are moved as th e t r ees of the wo od are mo v ed by

the win d c ome now in thy ab un dan t gr a c e an d
,

bles s th y p eop l e ; c onfirm thei r hearts in e v er y

pure thought and in ev e ry g ood p u rp ose qu i ck en ,

their mind s their refl e ctions thei r me d itatio ns,

, ,

their r eason and give them som e thin g of thy in

,

dwelling an d divine life which thy saints h av e ,

e v e r c alled th e l ife of God AM EN . .

10
 F EB RUAR Y 1 7, 1 889 EVENIN G

GOD, F ather in heaven whose strong and

our ,

mighty hand supp orts the steady earth and

turns it u p on its soft and silent axle brin ging ,

again the sh adows of the night we come again ,

t o our p l ace of prayer to lift up our hearts to

thee reverently an d devoutly to bow before thee
,

in humble worship to implore thee for the ,

things we need and c ast ourselves up on th y al

,

mighty arm .

We thank thee for the p l easant day f or its ,

blessed charities for its kin d and gentle m an

,

ne rs c ustoms and habits and we thank thee fo r

, , ,

the bless ing it brings to the common family of

man to all wh o keep it to all wh o are wis e of
, ,

heart and pure in their feel ings and who a cc ept ,

its enj oyments its c onsec r ated opportunities f or

,

p rayer and song an d tea ching an d reverent a c t ,

of wo rship and b owing down before thee .

Let thy blessing be up on all the p eople t o

night and whereve r the gentle c urrents of the
,

evening air draw around a dwell ing there let ,

gentle a ff e c tion pur e desires have kingdom and

,

swa y Wat c h with thos e wh o wat ch wait with

.
,

11
those who wait give cheerfulness and gladness
,

to those who are cheerf ul and glad with pure

hearts make the p illow of little children who
, ,

will sleep well in thy care smooth the bed of the ,

weary of the sick of the dying and l et all the

, , ,

people be blessed in thy goodness thy wisdom , ,

a n d thy love Forget our sins and help us with

.
,

sincere purpose to quit them to give them into ,

the p ast and free us by thy great Spirit and thy

,

goodness from the past and let us b e ever living ,

now in the new present and coming future ,

where h em and j oy and gladness invite us and ,

where we shall sit down in the kingdom of eter

nal power gr ace and glory
, ,
.

Almighty God let thy bl essing be as broad

,

and wide as the shadow of the night as the ,

beams of the day resting upon thy common h u

,

man family the comm on ra ce of man in all

, ,

climes in all countries in all nations and wh er

, , ,

eve r man lives even though he lives in darkness

,

and ignorance if he lives according to the best

,

light that is in him may he be received by thee , ,

the universal Father Let thy blessing be upon .

us here now upon each one according to his

,

wants to h is exp erience to h is doubts and his

, ,

failings and let faith have its victory Let the

,
.

Spirit and the life of God in us subdue al l other

p owers and let thy kingdom come and be set up
,

forever and ever AM EN . .

12
 Al mighty God our F ather let thy blessing
, ,

desc end on us now and as we go each one to his

,

home may we go with deep er tho u ght s and feel

,

ings and with pure aff ections ; with bright an d

strong hop es and c onfirmed c ourage and a di
,

vine r e solution to live ac cording to the best that

is in us and may we put our tho u ghts into d aily
,

pr acti c e and livin g AM EN

. .

13
 F EBRUAR Y 2 3, 1 88 9 MOR NIN G

O I NFIN I TE AND H OLY ON E, almighty Provi

dence of our lives inspirer of our souls the
, ,

beginning of r eason and the end of faith we ,

implore thee now by thy gracious Spirit to

come nigh un to thine own and lead forth ,

thy fl ock in green p astures beside stil l waters

O f divine grace We were glad when our
.

c omp anions said to us Let us go up into

,

the house of the Lord We are come in

.

the gentle light of day ; the sun shines bright

and fair ; our lives are blessed and our hearts
are inspired by thy gracious Sp irit We come .

as we are with all our earthly burdens ; we come

,

as we are with all our earthly j oys with all the

, ,

hopes that thy Spirit h as kindled in our breasts ,

thou knowing us better than we know our

s elves — our inward thoughts our v eriest pur
, ,

p ose our desires our p ain our will are al l

, , , ,

known to thee Pity our weakness ; enlighten

.

our d arkness ; confirm our feeble strength by

thine own might ; and l et thy children rise up

and sit down and lift up their v oi c e i n gra c io us
14
benediction and p rais e an d blessing to thee ,
our

0 Holy One Infinite F ather we invoke th y

, ,

blessing on us always And renew in our hea rt s

.

our sense of dependence on thee our sense of ,

fil ial trust in thee C onsecrate unto us all ou r

.

exp erience ; what is dark do thou ill umine in th y

time ; what is a deep trial or p ain or anguish of , ,

an y sort do thou relieve and assuage ; and gen

'

t ly bless with tender and holy consolations and

r everent feelin gs of how little we kn ow of the
myste ry of thy ways the myste ry of thy provi
,

deuces the teachings and th e wonders of thy

,

grace .

Almighty God we thank thee f or our daily

,

a ff airs ; for our constant occup ations ; for that

which we find within ou r own dwellings and in
the world of men to occupy our minds our ,

hearts and our hands Give prosp erity to our

, .

honorabl e industry to our intelligent service ;

,

and in doing good in walking humbly and in

, ,

loving mercy may we find the ab un dant reward

,

and p eace of thy divine kingdom .

Al mighty God our Father we wo ul d fix our

, ,

mind and thoughts on thee now We would think .

What thou art in thine in eif abl e beauty and p er

f ectn ess ; and we would feel that thou hast in
Spired us with a kindred nature to thine own ,

and c alled us to the great calling to be the sons

15
of God M ay our minds be inspired and filled
.

with re v eren c e and devout feeling and holy p u r

p ose of obedience and trust in thee An d as we .

stand upon the great eminen c e— the great

eminence of our M ount 'ion the city of our
,

God and l ook ab ro ad over all the earthl y scene

—

of our exp erience —its mystery its trial its

, , ,

abundant salvati on its kindness its times of dis

, ,

tress — may we see in it all and through all a

,

wondrous leading a divine hand a holy and

, ,

protecting care .

Let thy blessing Holy Father be upon al l to

, ,

day as wide as th e beams of the sun Le t thy

, .

gracious benediction be shed abr oad Guide with .

thy strong and merciful hand ; keep by thy p ure

Spirit ; and save all by thy eternal grac e .

Hear our prayer ; forgive our sins and re ,

move them from us as f ar as the east is from the

west An d as our earthly experience increases
.
,

may that exp erien ce stretch over into unknown

worlds into untried scenes ; and may divine
,

wonder and curiosity enamor our hearts of what

G od h as yet to reveal to his c hild ren AM EN . .

16
 F EBRUAR Y 2 3, 1 8 8 9 EVENIN G

O GOD, thou Light of our l ight and Life of our ,

l ife we adore thy p rovid ence in the world of

,

men thy tea ching thy wisdom an d thy grace

, , , .

An d we give thee bl essing and thanksgiv ing that

al l along the line of hum an ages thou hast had

martyrs and c onfessors saints and teachers wh o, ,

h ave st ood as the light and the ensamp l es of

mankin d the interpreters of thy word th e com
, ,

m union of thy saints We thank thee that we .

have entered into their heritage ; that we have

r e c eiv ed the wisdom the truth and the gr a c e of
, ,

thos e wh o have gone before us And we pray .

that in our minds and hea rts the D ayspring

from on high may arise c ontinually le ad i ng us ,

into a nobler an d more beautiful and a sweete r

l ife We acknowledge thy pro vidence with reve r
.

en c e and hol y fear in all the teachings of the

Christian Chur ch in all its vi c issitudes in all i ts
, ,

tumults and toils and trials and d ange rs ; an d

,

that above all wreck of human fortunes an d

,

hum an failings thy S p irit has kep t on its

,

mighty way ench urch ing itsel f in mankind

,
.

Let th y blessing Almighty God be up on all

, ,

17
thy children everywhere wh o humbly and rever
ently think of thee ; in every rac e and clime and

nation ; in every division of the Christi an

Church ; i n every div ision of the Church U niver
sal of God the M aker and I nspirer of all
, .

We thank thee our Father i n heaven for all

, ,

ou r blessings the blessings of human society of

—
,

civiliz ati on ; for Christian teaching Christian

,

knowledge and Christian hop es And Almighty

,
.
,

One let thy goodness be upon all everywhere

, ,

according to their need Lift up thos e who are

.

fallen ; comfort those wh o are sorrowing an d

broken hearted ; enlighten the darkness of tho se
-

who are benight ed ; and lead all gently by thy

hand to better things and to the fulfillment of
better ho p es And so may all thy p eople b e
.

b l essed in thee now and hereafter and fore v er .

18
 MARC H 3 , 1 889 MOR NIN G

TH E day is bri ght and fair , the world is fil led

with th e glory of the sun and thy Spirit 0 God
, , ,

goes forth inspiring the hearts of all thy chil

dren and we come beckoned by divine signal s
, , ,

led on by holy hands with our feelings drawn

,

toward thee to our place of prayer Come to

, .

thy p eople as thou ever d ost and hast done from

a ll time ; come to us as to thy own and give thy ,

p eople p eace Forgive our sins ; subdue our

.

minds to p atience to p eniten c e to prayer ; lift

, ,

u p our heart s in holy gratitude with exultation

of so ul and bowing down and wo rship and ris ,

ing up before thee with awe and gladness and

terrible reverenc e and comfo rt at thy goodnes s
by thee manifested to thy children .

We always thank thee Almighty One we al

, ,

ways bless thee thou infinite and eternal God

, ,

and with holy patience and p enitenc e and prayer

we lift up our hearts t o thee now Let thy bene .

diction b e up on the homes we have left for an

hour to come to this our house of God C onse .

crate them consecrate this

, Wherever our.

tho u ghts flying on wings of imagination and

,

love rest down upon those whom we would bless

,

19
with thy ble ssing there let thy love go ins piring
, ,

and thy al mighty hand sustaining comforting , ,

and sup p orting Le t thy tender benediction be

.

u pon all thy suff ering ones D eal kindly with .

the wr etched the poor the weak the wicked the

, , , ,

wise the good the true Tho u know est Almighty

, , .
,

One our wants ; th ou knowest and thou canst

,

supply them by thy Spirit and by thy g race and

thy p ower Subdue our hearts to thee Teach
. .

u s wisdom by thy divine grace and Spirit Lead .

us in plain p aths of duty and c onsec rate to our

minds and hearts our daily work of coming be
fore thee and as we go forth at any hour of the
,

day in the morning at mid day or evening may

, ,
-
,

the rising of a new life the s atisfa c tion of mid ,

day strength the tender thoughts of the evening

,

glories fill our hearts with the divin e presen c e

,

and hol y c omp anionshi p of God in heaven .

O God tho u Mysteriou s One wh o d ost m ov e

, ,

on our right hand an d on our l eft eve r p resent , ,

terrible lovely Spirit fill our hear ts with all

, ,

things true and good and beautiful ; let u s d r eam

an d wonder and imagine of thee ; let us be lo st
in thy own infinite glo ry manifested on ea rth ,

beneath and in heaven ab ove ; and may thy

indwelling S p irit kindle our hearts to all m edi
t at ion, p ray e r and p eace AM EN
,
. .

20
 MA R C H 3, 1 889 EVENIN G

LET thy blessing be up on us 0 God a c cording to

, ,

thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness ao -

,

c ording to th y wisdom and thy gra c e We than k .

thee f or the p leasant day f or the gentle night

, ,

for thy hand that supp orts the morning and

evenin g that leads forth the glo ry of noonday
,

and the maj esty of ni ght ; in all we see thy p ow

er thy wisdom thy goodness thy lo v e
, , ,
.

We c ome each one from h is p l ac e an d duty

an d his dwelling to this our c ommon meeting

p la c e of prayer and teaching a nd song Let our .

hearts b e in dev ou t mo od of p ure feeling of ,

clear intel ligence of devout faith and earnest

,

hop e We give thee gratitude fo r all our bl ess

.

ings the blessings of thy word sp oken in all

,

p laces of thy domain and of thy kingdom and ,

spoken in all times and all ages among ever y ,

race of man in the common human earth .

T each us by thy Spirit ; inspire and refresh

the l ight of reason a ray from thyself ; purif y
,

our affections by thy almighty Spirit that ever

goes forth among the children of men Chastise .

,

r eb uk e reprove chee r encourage, lift up and

, , , ,

21
bless thy p eople forever and e v er Forgive us
.

our sin s and help us with thee to put them as fa r

from us as the east i s from the west Let thy
.

blessing be up on all manner and condition and

fortunes of men Cheer up those who are in
.

great distress and p erplexity of mind or body or

heart ; gi v e them wisdom give them s elf control
,
-
.

M ake the pillow of the dying and lead them

gently on Lift up those wh o a r e fallen ; and so
.

by thy grace and thy go odness be ever and ever

more for thy p eople .
 M ARC H 1 0, 1 88 9

GOD, our Father , I nfinite Sp irit Holy One we , ,

come again to our place of prayer ; again we quit

the usual cares and duties of lab or and of life to ,

come here to remind thee of our gratitude f or

our divine calling in God our Father and we, ,

leave our earthly dwellings for this our plac e of

p rayer and worship our remembrance of our
,

house not made with hands eternal in the ,

”
heavens We come with gladness and with j oy
.
,

with awful mirth and song ; we come with grati

tude and p enitence and contrition and bowing ,

do wn and rising up to worship thee our M aker ,

.

Forgive our sins ; remove them from us as far

as the east is from th e west Pity our weak .

nesses overcome our doubts strengthen our

, ,

f aith and let us b e glad in thee our God our

, , ,

Refuge our Rock

, .

We thank thee always when we come togethe r

in our place of prayer for the common blessings
of thy providenc e ; that we have food and cloth

ing and comfortabl e shelter ; that in all thing s

thy hand is bountiful thy mercy is great and
, ,

thy loving kindness everlasting We thank thee

-
.
,

23
Almighty One that in the mi ds t of p e rple xities
,

and doubts and fea rs thy unspeakable gift h as

,

never been taken from us the gift of thinking ,

and of believing that somehow in some way , ,

withi n some time thy eternal good will is ever

,
-

working and will work for the human family .

We thank thee for the ever incre as ing e xp erien c e-

of our hearts which h as increased o u r faith in

thy Spirit and thy grace which tea ches us to ,

over c ome all the contradi ction the violence the , ,

guessing the unce rtainty the susp icion of th e

, ,
’
world and to believe that thou h ast o er every
“ ”
child of man an eternal Yea ; that thou hast
set in thy S on Jesu s Chri st an answer to all
the great hop es the aspirations the feelin gs the
, , ,

fears and the loves of the human soul M ay we

,
.

enter into that great i nh eritance and as tho u ,

hast given u s examples her e and there in the

hearts of the good may we there behold its
,

b eauty and accept its inspired p ower and gr ac e .

We thank thee Al mighty God that whereve r

, ,

we are on earth wherever our frien ds are on

,

earth or sea they are at home with God ; that no

,

d istance of land or ocean of latitudes or longi ,

tude s sep arate from thy almighty p rote c tion or

f r om thine inspiring Spirit ; and we commend ,

O God to thee thos e whom we love and think of

,

here and there We pray for all thy common

.

h um an family in earth or in heaven ; that eve ry

24
r a c e and tribe and soul of man in e v e ry age an d
,

every nation and on the far off islan ds of the

-

sea may be all enfolded in thy almighty p ower

, ,

thy gracio us and loving providence and insp ir ed

,

by thy loving tender Spirit Let thy bl essing be

,
.

upon us now ; let thy Spirit be infused in com

mon communion and our minds set free in the
l arger liberty of the sons of God and know ,

what it is to love God to love one another and

, ,

feel that we belong t o thy common human

family .
 MA R C H 1 7, 1 8 89 MOR NIN G

O H OLY F ATHER , Almighty One our wants are ,

ever new and our life is ever received afresh

from thy hands and thy Spirit and we come to ,

our place of p rayer to p our out our hearts to

thee in devout gratitude in p enitence in holy

, ,

j oy and awful gladness We thank the e for thy

.

p rotecting care for thy almighty hand ever

,

stretched out to hold us up for thy l ove that ,

ever encomp asseth us and for thy holy provi

,

dence infinite merciful gracious and kind ; and

, , , ,

we thank thee that amid all the mystery and

p ain of life we have a confidenc e in thee our
M ake r that thou k nowest all things and when ,

we are involved in great troubl e or c are or per

p lex ity and al l the waves of affliction go over us ,

we thank thee that we do still have great confi

d ence that thou knowest all thou doest all tho u, ,

seest the end from the beginning and that no ,

hurt can c ome to thy beloved .

We thank thee Almighty God that in the

, ,

d ays that have p ast since we met here we have

been able to go over our usual cares and business
with the world I f the world has gone evenly
.

26
 and well with us we thank thee ; if adversity or
,

trial or p ain has overtaken us and we have ,

been comforted by the thought of our ignorance

and weakness and thy g oodnes s and greatness ,

and have found refuge in the E ternal Ro ck from

storm and temp est we thank thee thou I nspirer
, ,

of our hea rts Give us the grac e and blessing

.
,

we pray thee to enter into thy divine kingdom

,

more and more and that we may feel the power

,

of a superior world that we may live in that,

world to day and that all our afi airs our busi

-
, ,

ness our daily actions our exchange of commun

, ,

ion with O ur fellow men may be so c onducted as ,

to bring back more and more that kingdom of

power and grace and love .

Al mighty God our Father let thy blessing b e

, ,

up on all thy children to day B less thine heri -

.

tage and lift up thy p eople forever and ever .

Work am ong the nations and the p eople of the

world Let thy b enediction be up on the rulers
.

and kings of mankind up on the p eople far and ,

near and may prosp erity p eace and heavenly

, , ,

benediction descend upon the common family of

man Let thy bl essing be as ou rs up on our be
.
, ,

loved wherever they are on sea or land at home , ,

or abroad M ay they be upheld by thy c are and

.

protection and inspired by thy Spirit Pity the .

poor the afflicted the weak the wandering or

, , , ,

the wi cked and temp er thy p rovidence by holy

,

27
c hastisements b y tende r p ity and c ompassionate
,

love and bring all thy p eople to dwell in the

,

tabe rnacle of the Lord AM EN

. .

O thou I nsp irer of our hear ts c onfi rm us now

,

in those things that we do most t ruly feel and be

lieve Help us to put our best thoughts and
.

p urest feelings into p ractice in the walk of life ,

and in the humblest work and duties and cares

to find there a teaching of thy will thy purpos e, ,

and thy Sp irit Give us a goodl y prosp erity and

.

give us fortit u de to bear ad v ersity ; and whether

it be prosp erity or ad v ersity may we win the
,

great victories of human life the victories of

,

purer so uls of eternal glory and eternal power

,
.
 MARC H 1 7, 1 8 89 EVENIN G

H OLY F ATHER, Almighty One hear the prayer s ,

of thy children now and come to thine own with

,

blessing and p eace We reverence thee and bow

.

down in awe and holy fear ; we lift up our voice

in devout song and p raise and prayer Pity our .

weakness help our ignorance heal our doubts

, ,

and our wounds of mind and heart and give thy ,

p eople e v erlasting p eace and trust and comfort

and love I f any of thy p eople are in hea vy
.

trial if they are alone in Gethsemane b e with

, ,

them there with thy p ower and Spirit and lift

them up and save them forever and ever An d .

if the cup may not p ass from them may they be ,

enabled to say from hearts enriched by obedi

“
ence and faith N ot my will but thine b e done
, .

We rejoi c e Almighty God in the themes of

, ,

thy eternal truth that truth which thou hast set

,

in the nature of man in the worl d around us in

, ,

the works of thy hands ; and hast illustrated by

the lives of prophets and martyrs and saints ,

and of thy Son Jesus Christ We thank thee .

that that truth rising up on the world never

, ,

sets ; that it knows no e c lipse of its increasing

29
glo ry b ut stands high e r and high er un til its
,

b ea ms S hall ill um ine th e whole wo rld .

Confer up on us 0 thou Almigh ty Spi rit the

, ,

spirit of truth the love of what is the j oy of th y

, ,

c ommandments the b eaut y of th y love and let

, ,

us in our daily liv es with simpli c ity of heart

,

and purity of thought seek to kn ow thee to

, ,

know our own b eing our inmost pu rp ose ; and

,

may our thoughts and our purpo se be alike con

secrat ed to thee .

Let thy blessing be in every heart of man ; let

it b e in every human dwelling r esting d own in
,

holy p eace upon little children up on yo uth , ,

upon mature age and manhood and upon the ,

aged in years and let all thy c hild ren be blessed

,

in thee their Father in heaven

,
.

30
 MARC H 2 4, 1 889 MOR NIN G

O T H O U I NF IN ITE AN D H OLY ON E M aker of all ,

things and inspirer of all souls who dwell est in

, ,

thy own eternal glory in thy own eternal ,

strength wh o art never mov ed who alone art

, ,

from everlasting to everlasting and thou wh o ,

alone in thyself art gr eat we thy children come , , ,

again to offer our prayers We lift up our hearts .

t o thee in all o u r want s and weakness and ou r

sins and we implore thee to forgive the se a nd to
,

supply those from thy abundant grace thy te n ,

d er me rc y and thy bounteous glory

,
We come .

with all the daily wants and e xp erien c es of our

lives led forth as though by thy holy providenc e
, ,

made glad and hap p y in the light of day in the ,

genial presenc e of friends with enough of this ,

’
world s goods and to sp are Some it may be .
, ,

are a ffl icted are sorrowful and broken hearted

,
- ;

some indeed are d is c o u raged it may be and p er , ,

p l ex ed beyond their endurance ; and we pray ,

Holy Father let thy infinite knowledge thy

, ,

tender lov e that goodness and love whi c h we

,

implore mete out all that is wanted to eve ry

,

pure heart .

31
 Almighty God let us thank thee now for all
,

c ommon gifts received from thee We always .

want we always shall want from thee and we

, ,

would not b e bereft of our want s We all ever .

desire thee more and more We would be par .

takers of thy eternal beauty and glory more and

more and the more we want the more thou wilt
,

supply We give thee blessing Almighty God

.
, ,

and gratitude that in the usual circumstances of

life we have been p ermitted to go through an
other week with our business with the world
, ,

blessed by thee if we have made that business

,

an honorable se rvice to one another to men and , ,

to God if in the humblest duties of our life we

,

have manifested to the world that we have had

such thoughts of thee as kept our hearts in awe
and lifted us up in j oy and p eac e .

We thank thee Almighty God for the com

, ,

mon benefits and light of thy love and grace and ,

p ower and providence upon our common land

,

and country ; for all the men of honor for all the ,

noble records of the p ast treasury of our histo ry ,

the treasury of God s will the treasury of h u

’
,

man strife and human mercies in which the good

has sustained itself above the evil and brought ,

a blessing to mankind ; in these things we re

vere thy will and thy goodness forever and ever .

An d n ow Holy F ather what wait we for ?

, ,

Let thy blessing come Let thy Spirit b e with th y

.

32
bel oved Cons ec rate us t o e ac h other to thyself
.
, ,

and may we b e prep ared by s ervice by se rvice

,

here in thy house to give thee se rvice whereve r

,

we are abroad in the world of men ; and whether

here or there on land or sea in thick p eopled
, ,
-

citi es or wide barren deserts may thy presence

,

be with us and may it be as near t o us from

,

earth to heaven as from here to there and may ,

we b e e v er near thy love AM EN

. .

God our Father inspire the hearts of thy chil

, ,

dren with the best they believe and the best they
kn ow and let thy etern al beauty strength and
, , ,

loveliness b e manifested to our hea rt s ; and let

that strength and beauty and loveliness b e in
and lift us up forever and ever AM EN. .
 MAR C H 24, 1 88 9 EVENIN G

AL M IG HTY GOD tho u j oy and gladness of all the

,

ends of the earth M aker and I nsp irer of man

,

kind and faithful Providence of our lives gra ,

c lous merciful and gentle Teacher day by day

, , ,

we come to thee with rejoicing song and glad

refrain and reverent prayer and from the holy
,

height of devout thought and feeling and con

t emp l ation we would look down o er all the
’
,

scene of thy goodness thy p ower thy wisdom

, , ,

and thy love Thou hast given no time when

.

t hou hast not had on earth witnesses of thyself ,

and when man was a child thou didst fold him in

thy arms and carry him up on thy bosom and ,

leading him by the hand send him forth upon

the world to subdue it to conquer it and t o win
, ,

unto himself everlasting life in thee in whom ,

alone is immortality We revere thy providence

.
,

we love thy grace and we bow in humble adora

,

tion in penitence and deep sense of need in thy

, ,

holy presenc e .

We ask thy blessing up on us Almighty God , ,

that by that Spirit whereby thou dost awaken

the souls of men and kindle in their hearts the
34
great and illustrious s entiments of our nature
thou wilt increase our hum an symp athy our ,

breadth of intellectual and moral feeling the ,

eternal power and life of our faith that we may ,

receive and feel and know h ow we are j oined to

the common lot of man to the common destiny ,

of thy human world and that if we are ,

privileged above some our duty our obligation

, ,

is increased and our own resp onsibility to thee

and to one another is greater and greater .

Almighty God our Father we as k thy bless

, ,

ing to night up on all thy p eople wherever they

-

may be up on all nations and races and children

,

of men upon our common country up on the

, ,

commonwealth to which we belong here upon ,

the city in which we dwell ; and let thy prote ct

ing p rovidenc e be over all the weak the wander ,

ing the wicked the foolish the wise the true

, , , , ,

the go od Chastis e with wise severity and rebuke

.

with holy retribution and let thy D ivine Spirit

,

go forth and adjust itself in the hearts of men .

Almighty God confirm now in our hearts

,

whatever truth we have Let that truth be .

settled on an eternal base Let thy Spirit shine .

,

thy grace descend and let our minds and hearts

,

rise in eternal strength and glory and p eace .

35
 MAR C H 31 , 1 8 8 9 MOR NIN G

GOD, Father I nfinite Spirit Almighty B eing

our , , ,

we are here again in our place of prayer ; the sun

shines bright the day is gloriou s all creation is
, ,

glad and the earth is filled with thy p ower and

,

glory and bea uty and goodness Thy p roviden c e .

,

wiser than our hearts an d more p atient than our

reason brings about the regular suc c ession of
,

day and night of labor and r est and we are

, ,

c ome to our place of adoration p r ayer p eni , ,

tence and peace and ask thee that all the hearts
, ,

of thy children may be blessed .

Thy tender c are thy paternal love thy wis

, ,

dom thy eternal righteousness thy awful retri

, ,

but ion let these h e the dwelling p lace of our

,
- -

thoughts the rest of our hearts the p eace of our

, ,

c onscience ; and as we pray f or ourselves here a , ,

worshiping company let thy benediction thy , ,

gra c e thy wisdom and thy p ower go forth o er

, , ,
’

all the earth to gladden refresh sustain and , , ,

encourage the heart of man B e with all thos e .

wh o are in great distresses wh o are walking in ,

the midst of sharp trials and anxieties and fears ,

and wh o know not what a day or an hour may

36
bring ; may they c omm it the keeping of thei r
so ul s to God as to a faithful Creator and kn ow ,

that no harm can come to thy beloved .

Let thy blessing be in the dwellin gs we have

left while we c ome to this our house of God .

Let those dwellings be consecrated by a pure

s p irit by sweet and lovel y afi ection by p atien t
, ,

wil l by tender love and may they b e to us our

, ,

best symbol and expression of the divine kin g

dom of God .

An d now Holy F ather c ome t o thine own

, ,

here to thy common human family the nations

, ,

of the earth the p eople of the country th e citi

, ,

z ens of the tow ns the dwellers in the house of

,

p r ayer and in thi ne abundant grace and al

,

mighty p owe r let all be blessed AM EN . .

Holy Father move our hearts by thy S p i r it

,

that we may learn quickl y thy truth and thy

presence and may we behold in the world which
,

thou hast made the manifestation of thy eternal

beauty an d glory and may our hearts and min ds
,

be transfigured more and more into that beauty

and glory that is everl asting and fore v e r and
e v er
.

Le t thy peace and thy blessing b e u p on u s .

Go with us where we go ; stay with us where we

stay ; come with us where we c ome ; an d in thine

eternal pr esen c e let us l ive AM EN . .

37
 MARCH 31 , 1 8 8 9 EVENIN G

AL M IG HTY GOD our Father we give thee blessing

, ,

for the plea sa nt day for the genial night the

, ,

calm fresh air the night heavens with all their

,

glory an d the peace that gathe rs around our

,

earthly dwellings Let thy blessing be upon us ac

.

c ording to our need Supply well and abundant

.

ly by thy Spirit all our wants and may we be ,

blessed with tha t better and diviner knowledge ,

the blessing of knowing our wants our wants of ,

on e another our wants of thee our M aker and

, ,

I nsp irer .

M ay the spirit of truth dwell in our hearts so

that we shall love and revere and honor what
ever thou hast done whatever thou hast said
, ,

and whatever places or footsteps thou hast hal

lowed by thy presenc e and p ower and providence
and life in the world of men .

Almighty One thou who turnest the hearts of

,

princes as the rivers of water are turned let thy ,

word have free course and be glorified upon the

earth ; let thy Church the Church of the Living
,

God be lifted up with towers and bulwarks and

‘

defenses and let thy Spirit be with thy people

, ,

38
and thy p rovidence ever guide them on and on
to the unknown land whither thou W ilt lead
them .Let our p atient minds be constant in
duty faithful in every trust honorable and
, ,

pure in every relation .

M ay we find 0 God that thy word is not

, ,

lifted up on hi gh that we should send f or it

there that it is not in the d eep that we should
,
“
send for it there but Lo it is nigh thee even
, , ,
”
upon thy lip s and in thy mouth the word of ,

faith the word of that humble faith in God our

, ,

M aker in Jesus Christ thy Son the ins p iration

, , , ,

the life of thy p eople .

Let thy tender p itying care be over all thy

,

p eople over thos e wh o are in d istress those who

, ,

are in happiness and j oy M ay all be wisely .

taught and chastened and blessed in thee ; and as

years incre ase and time run s on in its c eas eless
beat may w e all grow wiser better tenderer of
, , ,

heart more genial in feeling and more righteo u s

, ,

in will AM EN
. .
 APR I L 7, 1 8 8 9 MOR NIN G

O F ATHER ALM IG HTY thou in whose hand we ,

live whose inspiration is the source of reason

, ,

faith and love ; the day is bright and fair the

, ,

sun in strong the ocean rolls as in the hollow of

,

thy hand the mountains stand fast as by thy

,

eternal word ; thy law is s tamp ed in letters of

life upon all things that thou hast made from ,

the sun and moon and sta rs and the revolving

earth to all varieties of trees and blooming
fl owers and thy word and thy p ower and th y
,

law are written in our hear ts With r eve r en c e .

,

with holy fear with awful gladness and mirth

,

we call upon thy name We sp eak to thy hear t .

,

we pray to thy love We implore thy wisdom .

and repose in thy almighty goodness and as we ,

come to our pla c e of prayer we think in our

inmost souls what we really are — what we are , ,

n ot as compared t o othe rs wh o may be better , ,

wh o may b e worse but what we are o u rsel v es b y

,

the temper of our minds by the p u rity of our ,

thoughts by the direction of our will and by our

, ,

honest sincere and simple desires before God

, ,
.

M ay we from the dep ths of our hear ts c ry unto

40
thee ,
O God search me kn ow me try m y ways
, , ,

and see if there be any wicked ways in me and ,

”
lead me in the way everlasting .

We implore thy tender p ity and forgivenes s

upon every contrite heart upon every broken ,

tender spirit up on every promise of p enitence

,

and every aspiration for a better life and as we ,

’
l ook back clearly o er the p ast seeing many ,

things forgotten that are s ometimes revived and ,

many things which we would forget but which

live with us for a constant reproach ; as we look
’
b ack o er the bleak distanc es of opportunities
lost Of occasions gone of sins c ommitted 0
, , ,

Heaven let some power of thy reviving gr a c e

,
’
send a gleam of life and beauty o er all that past
and bring back to us something of the inn oc ent
phases of life something of the lovelines s of
,

childhood and c reate within us some sentiments

,

of a Childhood s h ea rt I ncrease in our exp eri

’
.

en c e thos e infinite and unsearchable depths of

wisdom and love and p enit en c e and fear and all
, ,

those emotions e xp e rien c es and feelings of the

, ,

heart which reveal t o us our infinite nature and

our relations to God Hel p us we p r a y thee t o
.
, ,

bring su c h thoughts suc h sentiment s and suc h

, ,

truths into our daily lives that we may set our

houses and our homes in th e orde r of the heaven
ly beau ty Let chil dhoo d be blessed in them
.
,

y outh n urtur ed a n d strengthened against all

41
temptation and wrong and over al l let there be
,

gladness and beauty and reverence and fear of

thee.

Almighty God we ask thy blessing that it may

,

be difi used abroad everywhere ; that thy good

ness shall b e as wide as the gleam of the sun ;
that thy eternal good will working ever f or thy
-
,

kingdom will work that th at kingdom may come

,

in our hearts an d through us may it come t o

,

the wo rld .

Hear our p rayers forgiv e our sins lead u s by

, ,

thy hand and bring us at l ength to thy eternal

,

p eac e and p ower and lo v e and goodness AM EN . .

O God our Light illumin e us by thy Sp irit

, , ,

and drive out all our p oor conceits of knowledge

and seeing and re v eal that inn er glory and in
,

spired sight which s ees thy truth thy law and , ,

thy love . M ay we be b l essed in the truth ,

strengthened in the law and c omfo rted and ,

blessed in the love .

42
 APR I L 7, 1 88 9 EVENIN G

AL M IG HTY F ATHER we thank thee for thy p r o

,

teeting care thy holy providence thy inspiring

, ,

Spirit thy p aternal l ove They a r e expressed

,

in our lives in the events of every day in the

‘

, ,

exper ience of our hear ts and in all the great

,

sentiments with which thou h ast blessed and

c omforted and adorned our ea rthl y lot We .

thank thee tha t we see in the life of the wor ld

the home of thy provid ence reminding us that,

thy Spirit has been going forth from the begin

ning and is going and shall go time without end .

F or the vision of the kingdom of God and so

ciety of p erfect and exalted s ouls on earth and

in heaven the hop e of mankind the destiny of

, ,

thy earthl y children we thank thee and also for

, ,

all wh o have ascended from this life believing

they saw a distant light the light of a heavenl y
,

dwelling the light of a Heavenl y Father s lo v e ;

,
’

and we implore thee for thy gracious Spirit t o

increase our human symp athies that we may be
able to r estore in our minds and hearts som e
thing of the exp erienc e of the world and hav e ,

our im a ginations to go back to the primeva l age ,

t o the days of the childh ood of the worl d the ,

43
 ’
feebleness of man s estate his grop ing in much ,

darkness and ignorance yet illumined by celes ,

tial light ; and we may see that great that ,

mighty thi ng in the human world the te aching s

, ,

and word of thy Son Jesus Christ .

We thank thee Almighty Father that thou , ,

hast given us so great occasion to be called the

sons of God and as we endeavor humbly to walk
, ,

each one in the station which thy providence h as

assigned us may we find each on e in his stati on
, , ,

service enough to render unto thee his God M ay ,

.

we bring to our daily afi a irs to our life at home , ,

to all the kindly charities of our earthl y

thoughts may we bring a refined and exalted
,

Spirit a pure temp er an d will a cheerful and

, ,

courageous heart able to bear sufi erin g able to

, ,

bear heavy burden ; and may we not expect too

much from this world but expecting l ess may re ,

i
ce ve more — more of thy Spirit more of thy wis ,

dom and more of that divine inheritance which

,

will stand us in good stead in that world to

which we go .

Almighty God let thy blessing be upon all the

,

families of the earth Let it be among the sick .

,

up on the country upon all the homes and dwell

,

ings of our fellow citiz ens and our neighbo rs .

Counsel sustain and bless by thy Spirit and

, ,

providence all of us and every child of man .

AM EN .

44
 AP R IL 1 4, 1 8 8 9 MOR NIN G

O GOD Father I nfinite and Holy One mys

,
our , ,

t erious wonderful almighty we thank thee fo r

, , ,

thy protecting c are thy strong and gentle provi

,

dence thy pure sp irit thy p aternal love ; and we

, ,

look up to thee from humble and devout hearts

to implore thy goodness to rest up on thine al ,

mighty a rm to give thee thanks and gratitude

,

and awful pr aise with gladnes s and holy mirth

for what thou art in thyself in thine exceeding ,

glory for what thou art to us by thy providence

,

and love and for what thou art to us in our own

,

being life and actions I n thee we live and

, ,
.

move and have our b eing Infinite Spirit Awf ul , ,

One infin ite l ovely Father

, , .

An d as we come in the gentle light of a pleas

ant day again t o our place of prayer we would ,

ascend into the high places of our exp erienc e

and down into the depths of our humility and we
would lift up our v oi c es t o thee from the depths
and from the heights ; and as we look along all
the line of our earthly way we give thee praise
an d gratitude and p eniten c e and j oy and t ears
, ,

and gladness .

45
 We thank th e e Al mighty One that in the
, ,

sharp est stress of human exp erien c e in the ,

midst of many p erp l exities borne down it may

,

be by heavy trials now and then we thank thee ,

for the unspeakable gift that thou hast given us ,

the gift of believing in thee as children believe in

their father becaus e they think he knows be ,

cause they trust h is wisdom because they feel ,

h is love ; an d we thank thee that thou hast given

us that great gift of believing that somehow and
somewhere and somewhen good will come out,

of ap p arent evil and that if we are in the simple

,

way of d uty if we are childlike and faithful and

, ,

are living with out anx iety f or this or that but ,

reposing on thee and following thy l ead that all ,

shall be well more than well with us And we

, ,
.

give the e thanks and gratitude Al mighty God , ,

that the worst never comes to us ; that whate v e r

our l ot and our trial it is not as hard as it might
,

be The darkness is not as dark as it might be

.
,

and there is a wonder beyond a wonder of be ,

lieving and hop ing and tr usting that thou sees t

the end from the beginning and that thy eternal
will is eternal good Wepray that by thy S p irit
.

we may enter into this experience with f ul lness

O f life with cheerful resignation of heart with
, ,

humble sense of weakness and sin ; and that tho u

wilt give us strength enough t o be thy people in

46
 I nspire us we p ray thee to noble ambitions
, ,

and g odly lives ; kindle in our hea rts those things

that are so beautiful that w e will rest under
their banners for their own sakes for their own ,

love f or their own glory M ay we have more

,
.

and more things thoughts imaginations and

, , ,

affections that we are wil ling to live for and die

for M ay we have more and more of those un
.

selfish exp e riences which teach us that if we

would b e anythi ng we will be w illing to be noth
ing And so may we b e lead into the mystery
.

and secret of thy life the l osing ourselves to find

,

ourselves the losing ourselves that we shall be

,

saved .

Almighty God our F ather we thank thee f or

, ,

all the blessings of our lot the common blessings ,

of daily life our food and raiment ; f or comfort

,

able shelter for gentle and pure light and for

, ,

all the benedictions and blessings that beam

up on us from the eyes of those that love us and
from the hearts in which we trust These these .
, ,

0 God are thine thou I nspirer of all goodness

, , ,

all beauty and all love, .

We would call t o mind to day the events in the -

l ife of Jesus our M ast er We woul d call to mind

,
.

his trials his temptations the illusions and all

, ,

the dreams and all the popular vanities which

gather around it and we will learn from them
,

lessons of wisdom and of truth and of all bea uty ,

47
and of holiness ; and as we hear the cheers as we ,

hear the hosannas which hailed him and which ,

the next day or the day after were turned to

storm and contempt may we see h is exceeding
,

glory infinite and divine— his moral strength

,

which could not be moved by which he stood in ,

his own divine power in h is own eternal might

, ,

and overcame with the sweetness and purity and

strength of h is sp irit all the scorn of the world .

S o let our hearts be taught ; so let our footsteps

be led and guided by eternal wisdom and eternal
love AM EN
. .

O God thou wh o giveth to eve ry man liberally

,

and withholdeth not ful fil l now in our heart s the

,

best thoughts the purest purposes that we feel

,

and know ; and when we go t o our places to our ,

homes to the world o f business the con fl icts of

, ,

life may we keep the citadel of being in awful

,

fear of terrible glory and surrounded by ever

lasting fires of watchfulness and purity and
truth And may the peace of G od ever be with
.

us ; the p eace of a pure conscience of an upright ,

mind of a tender heart ; and may it be enough

,

f or us to know that thou art and we are AM EN . .

48
 AP R IL 1 4, 1 8 8 9 EVENIN G

GOD, Father thou wh o makest day an d

our ,

night wh o causeth the daysp ring to kn ow its

,

pla c e and th e setting sun to rejoice in its glory ,

we come again to our pl ac e of prayer f or an

hour to meditate t o thi nk to wo rship to pray
, , , ,

to thee We c ome with grateful minds ever

.
,

bearing in our hea rts remembrance of thy g ood

ness The whole earth is ful l of it and thy W is
.
,

dom is high above the heavens and deeper tha n

the earth ; thy unde rstanding is from everlasting
to everlasting and thou hast guided man in h is
,

feeble steps through much ignorance and blind

ness and sin and thou hast conc ealed in his hea rt
,

thy word of t ruth and l ove and righteousness .

We adore th y go odness we bow r everin gly be

,

fore thy p ower we owe with gr atitude thy eter

,

nal kingdom and righteousness and rule .

Let thy blessing be on all to night upon the -

,

c ommon family O f thy ea rthly children and let ,

thy blessing and thy Spirit be with all those

whom we think of when we think most deeply ,

most a fi ec tionat ely of the bon ds that bind us

here on ea rth Wh erever they may be on land
.
, ,

49
on the sea going or coming or staying may
, ,

they b e blessed and upheld in the same almighty

providence and may we al l feel that distance
,

cannot be great between those who are thinking

the s ame thoughts worshiping the same God , ,

an d enfolded in the same almighty almighty ,

c are Let thy blessing be upon the people of

.

this city and upon all their dwellings D eal gen .

tly with the weak th e wandering the straying ;

, ,

with wise severity with tho se who are willfully

wrong and let all thy goodness again and again
,

pass before thy children that they may be ,

turned from every evil way to their Father in

heaven .

Let thy blessing be up on all the widows the ,

sick the tried the af flicted and the br oken

, , ,

hearted M ay they have a mysterious comfort

.
,

even in their sorrow and trial itself and may ,

p ain and anguish reveal in their hearts an awful

mystery the mystery of sufi ering to bring our
,

hearts to the deep est exp erien c e of loveliness

and truth .

Almighty One hear our prayers forgive our

, ,

weaknesses and our sins and lead us by thy ,

strong and merciful hand in safety and in p eace .

AM EN .
 APRI L 2 1 , 1 88 9 MOR NIN G

O GOD our Father I nfinite and Holy One thou

, , ,

whose word is spoken in all places of thy domin

ion and the uttermost pa rts of the world ; thou
whose law goes forth to hold the worlds in their
places and in whos e hand the ocean rolls ; thou
hast proclaimed thy word and thy truth to the
children of men ; thou hast set thy Son Jesus
Christ to confirm that word to establish and to
,

keep it forever and ever .

We adore thy greatness ; we bow in humble

reverence before it and we lean with filial tru st
,

up on thy almighty p aternal arm We thank

.

thee ' owning the presence of thy inspiring

Spirit in all those great sentiments of the human
heart which have struggled on in the darkest
periods of man s trial and ignorance and sin )
’

that somehow through the wicket gate of d eath

we see a heavenl y light We thank thee '
. owning
the influence of thy everlasting Sp irit ) for that
faith by which thine humble childre n are gone
up from the earth as the sea ascends in mists .

They have gone up Wi th a humble hop e with a ,

humble trust that somewhere and somehow they

,

51
would b e nearer thee their M aker and feel thy
, ,

p aternal arm I n times of darkness and ign o

.

r ance and sin we than k thee that this great h Op e

h as struggled on in the h uman so ul .

And we thank thee Almighty One in th e

, ,

name of thy S on Jesus Christ that th ou hast ,

confirmed the heart of man and strengthened h is

hop e and comfo r ted h is spirit ; that tho u hast
given to him thy Son to abolish death to bring ,

l ife and immortality t o light through his gosp el ,

and to establi sh thy eternal kingdom and that

infinite c ommunion of earth and heaven Let .

this Spirit and this faith be up on all thy p eople

to day ; on every land and clime and race an d
-

tongue and in whatever h umble ways men wor

,

ship thee in whatever ignoran c e they l ift up

,

their hands unto thee O God hear their praye rs

, , ,

strengthen their h earts confirm their hopes and

, ,

lead them forth to everlasting life .

We ask thy blessing upon us now and receiv e , ,

we pray thee our humble prayers our p enitent

, ,

c onfessions ; an d lift up thy p eople forever an d

ever .

Let the blessing of the truth of the gosp el of

thy Son be in ou r dwellings Let it be in all our .

hea rts blessing consoling lifting up and com

, , , ,

forting amidst trials or p e rplexities or joy or

f

gladness forever and ever AM EN . .

52
 AP R IL 2 1 , 1 8 89 EVENIN G

ALM IG HTY GOD our Father we thank thee for

, ,

the pleasant day f or the gentle evening hour

, ,

the fresh evening breez e for the quiet of home

, ,

the fair and terrible heavens of night and f or ,

thy watching over all .

We come to thee in the evening hour to our

p lace of prayer We come to take thy name rev
.

r entl y up on our lips to b ow down and ris e up

,

before thee with reverent act of holy fear of ,

awful gladness and mi rth and humble peni ,

tence and contrition Pity our weaknesses ; for

.

give our sins ; restore us from every way of

thoughtlessness or ingratitude or wrong ; and let
all thy g oodness pass before us that we may ,

know and love thee for what thou art .

Tenderly let thy gracious comp assion rest up

on all thy afliict ed children Pity the p oor the
.
,

distressed the captive the prisoner and may

, , ,

all conditions and fortunes of earthly life to

which thy children may be app ointed be blessed
by thy o errul ing providence ; and wherever
’

they may be there let thy p ity be also .

Almighty God thou whose providence has t

,

53
guided thy human race from the beginning
from its days of feebleness ignorance weakness , ,

and want — and who hath kept thy word and

,

thy promise to thy p eople leading them on we

, ,

adore with reverence and gratitude thy presence

and p ower in thy Holy Church— thy Holy
Chu rch thr oughout the world of all c lasses and ,

races and of all men We thank thee for thy

.

Holy Sp irit which ench urch es itself in the

,

human world and leads forth the common race of

man to its great destiny .

Op en our eyes and hear ts to that t ruth that ,

truth that thou hast ordained to go forth from

c onquering to conquer and in our hear ts may it
,

have free course and be glorified in the light of

reason in the purit y of imagination and afi ec
,

tion in our humble desire to serve God and our

,

fellow men and thus whatever earthly event

,
’ —
may o ertake us may we ourselves be free free
,

as those wh o are made free by the spirit of God .

AM EN .
 AP RI L 2 8, 1 8 8 9 MOR NIN G

O GOD our Father in heaven Infinite and Hol y

, ,

One almighty and all good we c ome again t o

,
-
,

our p lac e of prayer The week h as p assed the

.
,

days are gone ; thy strong and merciful hand

hath led and sustained us ; thy Spirit hath in
spired us ; thy p roviden c e hath prote c te d us ;
and we come now to lift up our minds in com
mon prayer and hymn and song to bow down ,

before thee reverently and dev outly and with

, ,

p enitenc e and humility t o implore thy lo v ing

forgiveness .

Al mighty God be with thy p eo p le as tho u

,

ha st been from of old Let thy goodnes s b e a c

.

cording to our wants our ignorance our weak, ,

ness frailt y and sin Thou kn owest us alto

, ,
.

gether and it is well f or us that thou shoul dst

,

kn ow us full y M ay we by thy Spirit be able to

.

say with the sin c erit y and sim p li c ity of a child

“
like hea rt ,
Sear ch me and know me and see if ,

there be any wicked wa y in me and le a d me in ,

”
the way everl asting .

We always have m u c h and ever yth ing t o

55
thank thee for and to bless thy holy name I t is .

thy hand that gui d es us and thy Spirit that in

spires us ; and by thy blessing we are beset with
many a charity and many hol y things the in ,

S p iring gifts of o u r earthl y lot .

We thank thee Al mighty God for the hol y

, ,

c ompanionships of life ; for its homes its beauty ,

and gra c e and many virtues its loveliness and ,

many self sacrifices its tender sentiments that

-
,

bind us heart to heart and thought to thought .

An d if any of thy children look back o er the ’

’
p ast o er a past that was w asted o er lives
,
—
,
’

much of which they deplore may they in such

—
,
'

an hour be restored by some fresh impulse of

,

the will some divine thoughts of thy suggestion

,

and thy Spirit which will set them free in the

,

gladness and p eace of thy own eternal life .

Almighty God we ask thy blessing upon us

,

now that in our minds and hea rts '

,
fit temples
for thy Spirit ) we may worship thee in sincerity
and truth M ay we have abundant blessings of
.

thy grace abundant communions of thy Spirit

, ,

and in humility and tenderness of mind and

feeling may we b e indeed adopted into the house
hold of our Father in heaven Let thy blessing .

be upon all those whom we love everywhere ;

upon those who are in any distress affli ction or , ,

p erplexity of mind or hea rt Open before them .

a plain p ath L ead them by a strong hand

. .

56
Comfort them and lift them up fore v er and
ever.

Al mighty God forgive our s ins ; pity our

,

weaknesses and lift up on us the light of thy

grac e and thy countenance and give thy c hil
,

dren ab undant p ea c e AM EN. .

Almighty God ,
hear our prayer Penitent .
,

humble self reliant and relying on thee help

,
-
, ,

thy servants in their most tried moments in ,

their sharp temptations with purity of will and

,

sweetness of aff ection to read the life in thy

,

law ; and may wisdom and truth and virtue seem

beautiful to us ; and young or ol d rich or p oor , ,

wherever we may be may we hear thy voi c e and

,
“ ”
answer Here am I
,
.

57
 APR IL 2 8, 1 8 8 9 EVENIN G

AL M IG HTY and most merciful God our F ather ,

in heaven infinite in thy greatness and in thy

,

goo dness who hast revealed thyself and art re

,

vealing thyself unto us through the generations

and lives of men in our own hearts in our
, ,

earthly exp erience ; and thou art making known

t o u s continually thy ways thy word and thy , ,

commandments We would hear thy word We

. .

would obey thy c al l We adore thy p rovidence

.

as it is manifested in the world of men We .

woul d with devout feeling and pure imagination

, ,

go back in our thoughts to the early times of

thy p rovidences and thy doing s in the world .

0 God thou hast no time and the ag es are

, ,

but as a b and s breadth unto thee M an has had

’
-
.

his beginning his childhood h is ignorance his

, , ,

bl indness and his ne ed of continual guidance

,

and teaching and guardianship an d c are from

thee An d we thank thee Almighty God as we
.
, ,

run back in thought and imagination that w e

c an see that tho u hast treated man kindly Tho u .

hast taken him in thine arms and he h as seen hi s ,

own image in thine eyes and tho u hast p reserved

,

58
him as the appl e of thine eye Thou hast led .

him by the hand held h im in thine arms taught

, ,

him the simplest words of thy truth and com

mandment and led him forth to a large pla c e
,

from c onquering to conquer the world aro und

him by the p ower of that spi ritual being whi ch
thou hast given him .

We thank thee Al mighty God that devout

, ,

and simpl em inds the more they kn ow the more

,

chil dlike they feel ; the greater the conquests of

their knowledge the simpler their hearts ; an d
,

that as we grow older and the stre am gr ows

deep er that bears us on to the infinite sea w e ,

thank thee that our highest exp erience is to be

c ome childl ike again to forego our worldly v ani
,

ties and c onceits to remember our ignorance an d

,

our weakness and to l ook into thy face with fil ial

,

confiden ce and fil ial trust Let all our earthl y.

experien c es and all our knowl ed ge of the world

, ,

and all the trial of our hearts and all the glori es ,

of our minds be chastened by such thoughts .

M ay our trials be c onsoled M ay our knowledge

.

h e made m odest and humble M ay our reveren c e .

f or the h um an heart and the h uman mind b e

greater and great er and may we learn that thy
,

grace and distinguished exp ression to us are

through our fellow beings ; and so may our sym
p athy increase and may w e learn something of
,

what it is we need and know when we talk of the

,

59
l ove of G od that
it is a love for all that is h um an
,

a love for every human child with all its afi ec

,

tions trust burden or care a love for every

, , , ,

triumph and c onquest and faith and emotion ;

and may w e learn something of what it is to be
human ourselves .

Almighty God our F ather hear our prayer s

, ,

and p ity our weaknesses ; forgive our sins ;

ch asten our pride and our conceit and give us
,

wisdom and virtue and faith and peace .

 M a y 5, 1 8 8 9 MORNI N G

GOD, F ather in heaven I nfinite and Holy

our ,

One we thank thee for thy protecting care fo r

, ,

thy constant mercy thy providenc e and goo d

,

ness thy wisdom thine eternal good will W e

, ,
-
.

thank thee for the fair order of our daily l ife ;

that to a believing and trustful he art it seems
led fo rward by a pro v idential hand We are .

guided in darkness and we are led in light When .

trial overshadows us and when p ea c e surro unds

us there seems to the trusting sp irit a gui ding
,

and protecting p ower over al l a fir e by night a

,

c loud by day an almighty goodne ss and eter

,

nal wisdom and p owe r and love .

We rej oice Almighty Father that th ou ha st

, ,

given us this grace and p eace that whate v er ,

c omes that whatever happens that whateve r

, ,

bereavement or trial or j oy or satisfaction or suc

ces s may c ome to us in the depths of our hearts
,

we feel that there is a goodn ess and a wisdom

guiding us better than ourselves and better than
we know .

Almighty One te rrible in thy gr eatness,

,

l ovely in th y go odn ess an d in th y beauty c ome ,

61
now to the hearts of thy p eople ; comf ort c heer , ,

and bless ; forgive our sins that we do rep ent

of ; lift u p our discouraged hearts into j oy and

p eace and triumph ; and lead us on through a

land of beauty and wonder and goodness to a ,

still fairer land of glor y and power and might .

We thank thee Almighty God for the won

, ,

ders of thy word ; the ancient stories of prophets

and martyrs and saints and of thy servants ,

stories which do so illustrate our daily exp eri

ence and seem to be the thread on which our
,

common human lot is borne .

We thank thee Almighty God for all those

, ,

events in human experience that have a p erpet

ual import — h ow the planting of the earth the
, ,

setting o f the V ine the building of the wall and

,

tower may all illustrate our earthly scenes and

our earthly undertakings ; and how all comes

to nought without God s blessing and God s

’ ’

c are for the story of the wise man and king

,
—

wh o went to be crowned an d cam e back exp ect

ing wisd om and faithfulness and industry and
honorable gains from his servant s ; for the wise
reproof that he gave to one the blessing and ,

honor he gave to the other be c au se he had been

,

faithful and true or becaus e he had been weak

,

and c owardly —we thank thee for it all And

,
.

we pray thee Almighty God that thy Spirit in

, ,

us insp iring our intelligence purifying our con

, ,

62
sciences and our heart s may enable us to see the
,

similitude of our earthly business with our

Spiritu al lives the glory of that l ife which is
,

crowned with honor and immo rt ality symboliz ed ,

and set forth in our getting and our doing our ,

planning and laying out our work f or d ays and

mont h s and years ; and we pray O God that by , ,

thy Spirit we ma y be ill um ined so as to turn

those sharp confl ic ts of mind and spirit within ,

into those victories an d triumphs of the hea rt

which are hidden from the world but which thou ,

knowest and which thy se rvants know in thei r

,

own bre as ts and which give us a place in the

,

kingdom of God M ay we ever be ready f or

.

uns een co nfl icts for that hidden wall of trial ;

,

and may we feel with unseen hands the c ro wn

put upon our brow .

Almighty God we as k thy bl essing now up on

,

all who belong t o us by the tender ties of human

feelings and human love We thank thee for all .

those whom we ha v e had with us ever before ,

wh o are gone from us and are beyond our sight

on earth An d we lift up our hea rts to thee in
.

gratitude for every manifestation of thy Spirit

to human eyes and human hearts and child ,
’ ’
hood s love and childhood s memory .

Let thy blessing b e up on thy p eople now and ,

lift them up forever and let n ot evil have domin

,

ion over us to day and for evermore AM EN

-
. .

63
 Almighty God our Father fulfill now in the
, ,

hea rt s of thy se rvants their best thoughts their

,

purest purp oses their right g ood will Help us

,
-
.

to overcome every infirmity of body or mind an d ,

in the strife of life may we have great conques ts ,

honorable pure and tru e ; and in the secret

, ,

p lac es of ou r own hearts and in the walks of the

world may we have no doubt that
,
are
ete rnal and e v erlasting
.
 M AY 5, 1 889 EVE NI N G

TH OU I NF IN ITE SPIRI T,
Holy One we woul d c ome ,

nigh unto thee with fil ial minds and trusting

hearts We adore thee with awful reverenc e with
.
,

gladness and holy mi rt h ; and we lift up our

voice unto thee in song and prayer Give thy .

p eople of thy blessing and thy gr ace Lead them .

in t o fresh pastures of thy t ruth and thy love .

Let still waters sound near by bringing p ea c e ,

of the hea rt the cons c ience and the sp ir it

, ,
.

Al mighty One thou in whose hand turns the

,

soft axle of the earth bringing d ay and night

, ,

ordering the fair seasons of the year giving the ,

rain refreshing the ea rt h and gladdening every

, ,

creature glad den the hearts of thy people and

, ,

refresh them with wisdom an d kn owledge and

beauty and truth Pity our weaknesses ; lift us
.

up if we fall ; be patient with us in our ignorance

and in our thoughtlessness ; an d may we feel
that by being tenderly and wisely chastised we
become wiser better more fil ial and true to thee
, , .

Let the knowledge of thy p ity and faith in thy

great wisd om thy p erfec t righteousness — let
, ,

that kindle our h earts in the midst of life s ’

65
troubles and trials and tumults I t tak es us a
.

lifetime to learn the mysteries and pl an of life ;

to learn h ow deep are its sorrows how high its
,

morning ; how wide and strong its p eac e at

evening .

Teach us to feel that in thy al mighty hand and

in thy p erfect wisdom no harm can c ome to us
save through ourselves ; that nothing can move
thine eternal g ood will from its purpose and
-
,

nothing can disturb its goodness its power and

,

wisdom but our own waywardness our own

, ,

weakness or folly ; and so help us wisely to be ar

whatever comes mindful of that which comes by
,

thy providence and mindful of that which come s

,

of our folly ; and may we use wisel y our exp e

r ien ce
,
that our minds may be enriched our ,

hearts made more soft and gentle and teachable ;

and as years increas e may we have greater faith ,

g reater peace,
and have no fe a r or alarm know ,

ing that we may b e the friends of God AM EN . .

66
 MAY 1 2 , 1 889

O GOD our Father I nfinite and Holy One whose

, , ,

han d sust ains whose Spirit inspires whose lov

, ,

ing providence and p aternal car e blesses all thy

creatures we thank thee f or the ple as ant day
, ,

for all its happy O pp ortunities its freedom from ,

the common cares and labo rs of life its c omp an ,

ionsh ip s of home and friends of Childhood s

’
,

gladness of y outhful associations of pure aff ec

, ,

tions and tender cares ; and now we come in the

evening hour to look up to thee again in grati
tude and in reverent thoughtfulness to meditate ,

upon the things that b elong to us as the children

of God to think a little of the gr eat mystery of
,

existence the glory the wisdom the wonder the

, , , ,

discouragement the hop e and the V ictory of the

, ,

human world .

0 God help us by thy Spirit as we believe in

,

thee to believe in m an thy child ; help us as we ,

believe in thy p rovidenc e to believe in the history

of the world and as we read the early story and
,

read the later words of thy S on may we with ,

exalted imagination with pure insight see the , ,

meaning of all this human throng ; thi s myste ry

67
of existen c e in this world of hope and doubt and
fear and triumph and p eace .

Almighty Father reve al unto us the simple ,

truth and the simple faith that thou the M aker ,

of all things knowest what thou hast made ; that

,

thou knowest man s heart h is weakness and his

’
,

sin and that the chastisements of thy righteous

,

ness the retributions of thy wi sdom and thy love

, ,

are all in his behalf f or h is welfare and f or thine

,

eternal good will ; and help us each one of us in

-
,

his place in th e place which is p rovidentially

,

allotted to us in life to act well our p art with ,

consecrated will with pure afi ection with sim

, ,

p l ic it y of he a rt to do our duty and t o leave the

,

r est to Go d .

We thank thee f or all the kindly charities of

our human life all its tender blessing s that as
,

suage the hardness Of our earthly lot all its ,

heavenly benedictions and graces that descend

up on us softening our hear ts purifying our a f
, ,

f ect ions clearing our vision so that the truth of

, ,

God his wisdom our own hearts and our own

, , ,

c onsciences are as plain to us as the sun .

Let thy blessing be upon the dwellings of all

the p eople to night up on all the p eople of the
-
,

city and up on all dwelling s as the evening

,

shadow falls around them B e wi th those on .

whom a deep er shado w falls deep er th an the ,

shades of night— the shadow of trial o f anxiety , ,

68
of grief and of death Let thy gentle provi
,
.

dences be with all the afflicted children of men ,

and thy wisdom and thy g oodn ess b e ever going

forth to help the weary to lift up the fallen to
, ,

bless the helpless and to lead thy children on

,

and on and on ,

69
 MAY 1 9, 1 88 9 MOR NIN G

O GOD, the God wh o alone su rr oun ds us on eve ry

side thou Almighty M ysterious One to whom all
, ,

hear ts are Op ened we look up to thee reverently

,

and d evoutly and we bow down with p eniten c e

,

and holy fear and rise up with gladness and

,

awful mirth before thee We thy children al .

, ,

ways need thee ; we c al l th y name ; answer tho u

us and hear our praye rs We c ome from the .

daily c onstant yet eve r changing exp erien c e of

, ,

the human life, its vi c issitudes its cares its , ,

hopes its fears ; the life that thou h ast given us

, ,

a life of great rej oic ing a l ife of sublime wonder

,

and wisdom a life of infinite anxiety a life of

, ,

gr eat and heavy p ain an d b u rden We wo uld .

n ot think to com p rehend it o r to un derst and it ,

but we would fl ee unto thee tho u Ordainer of it , ,

feeling our own ignoranc e and our d ep endence

on thee and t rustin g th at tho u s ee st the en d
,

from the beginning an d hast o r d ained our l ot

,

in eternal wisdom goodness and good will, ,

-
.

We come to thee O God in this our place of

, ,

p rayer We have called up on thy name in gen

.

tle r a cc ents at our own home , and in the p rivate

70
p l ac es of our thou ghts or it may be i n a moment
,

up on the stree ts or b y the wayside we h ave

tho u ght of thee our M aker and our Al might y
,

F r iend our fin al Ju dge And we pray Al might y

,
.
,

One that these thoughts that come to our hearts

,

as doves to the windows may chast e n and ble ss

and guide us ; that we may be c ome so a ccust om ed

with them that we shall be in comp anionship
‘

with thee and that w e shall learn something of

,

the myst ery of thy servant s anc ient word when ’

,
”
he sp oke of the light of God that shone upon
h is beloved in th e heavenly kingd om where the y ,

have n o need of the light of day or l am p s or

c andles but the light of thy Spirit enligh t enth
,

them and they understan d and see and disc ern

,

the deep things of thy Sp irit and of thy t ruth .

Almighty One te r rible holy good beau tiful

, , , , ,

let thy Spirit rest u p on thy peopl e now C om .

fort the afflicted ; bind up the broken hearted ; -

and help tho se that have been aff li cted to lea rn

the great l esson of wisdom the wisdom of thei r ,

own weakness the wisdom of God s love the ’

, ,

r ighteousness and uprightness of his providence ,

and may they have the p eace O f abiding nea r

thee evermore .

We ask thy ble ssing Almighty One up on thy

, ,

c omm on human family We kn ow that thou .

c arest f or them ; that tho u hast meas ured out to

them the bounds of their habitations ; th ou hast
71
ap p ointed their years their tim es their eras and
, , ,

we love with human symp athy and human r e

gard to sp eak the common nam e of man man —
,

thy son man thy beloved weak ignorant and

, , , , ,

blind often going away in many sins Pursue

,
.

him by thy love and bring him back we pray ,

thee from all wanderings and fin ally lead him

, ,

on with all the conquering hosts of G od to that

eternal city where thou art the light and glory

for evermore AM EN . .

O God our Father thou wh o hast kindled our

, ,

hearts with celestial fires and inspired in us an

eternal h Op e let the light of that fire a nd the
,

inspiration of that hop e sustain comfort and , ,

cheer the hearts of thy children with h oly forti

t ude with glad and happy courage with p atient
, ,

stren gth and holy faith M ay our vision be puri.

fied ; may our hea rt s b e made true ; and whatever

we are called u p on to do or bear may we say
“ ”
within our hea rts This is the will of God
, ,

a n d may we bear it and go forwa r d with the

’
strength of Go d s will .

Let thy gentle and tender c ompassion b e up on

all thy chil dren ; en c our age inspire bless and , , ,

make glad the heart of thy people forever and

forever AM EN
. .

72
 MAY 1 9, 1 8 8 9 EVENING

A GAIN we come in th e evening hour to this our

'

place of prayer Again we lift up our hea rt and

.

voice to thee and commend ourselves and all

those who are d ear to us to thy holy providence ,

thy p aternal and ever frien dl y care .

The pleas ant day is gone E vening shadow s

.

are falling around the dwellings of man and thy ,

c are and thy watching are over all We adore .

thy pro vidence ; we wonder at thy works the ,

marvelous works thou art doing and hast been

doing from when tim e began until now ; and the
experienc e of human life renewed in the heart s
of every generation rep eated in our hearts and
,

lives the leading of thy providence the moni

, ,

tions of thy Spirit the directions of thy will

, ,

all these fill our heart s with a revering adoration ,

and we look forward and around us and upward

and we gain new and divine suggestions and
hints of our being and our destiny .

We thank thee for all the records of thy provi

dence in the world of men for the testimony
,

which the great and the good the illustrious and

, ,

the ens am ples of mankind give o f their confi

73
dence and their tru st when guided by thy al
mighty hand We thank thee for the story of
.

the childhood of man ; for thy care of him for ,

thy watching over him for the adaptation of

,

thy teaching to his mind and heart and for thy ,

guidance by thy Spirit and thy Son .

Let a reverent mind we pray thee let a de

, ,

vout temp er an d disp osition penetrate our hearts .

D ismiss from our minds all conceit of knowledge .

N ow may reason and f a ith and a ff ection pure ,

feeling an d pure thoughts guide us inspire us

, , ,

and keep us in p erfec t p eace .

Almighty God we ask thy blessing upon and

,

we commend to thy care all those whom we think

of when we think of the human ties that bind us ;

we remember our fathers and mothers in the

past ; and we remember our fathers and mothers
and brothers and sisters and neighbors and
friends of to day For every feature of human
.

life and exp erience for every j oy and grace for

, ,

every p ain we bear we give thee revering grati

,

tude an d we invoke on us daily thine eternal

,

good will
-
,

Let thy blessing be upon every human dwell

ing on every human heart ; chastise reprove
, , ,

lead by the han d lift up restore and strengthen

, , , ,

and let all thy children be blessed in thee .

AM EN .

74
 MAY 2 6 , 1 88 9 MOR NI N G

I NF INITE AND H OLY ON E, Almighty M aker and

I nsp irer Guide and Providenc e of thy p eople
,

forever and forever we come to our pl ace of ,

p rayer and meditation with our continually r e

tu rning wants with our newly o ff ered praise
, ,

with our humble devout and contrite prayer

, ,
.

We own thy greatness thy p ower thy go odnes s , , ,

thy eternal good will We come to thee consc ious

-
.

of our own weaknesses our shortcomings our , ,

frequent failures and our O ften sins We would

,
.

c ome with deep and tender humility ; we would

come with sincere and holy penitence ; and for
give thou I nfinite God — forgive the sins that we
, ,

d o rep ent of and sincerely forsake and pity our ,

weaknesses and lift up thy p eople forever and

,

forever .

We thank thee Almigh ty God for the common

, ,

blessings of our lot those blessings which are so

,

c ommon that we are quite inclined to forget

them o take no note of them the genial light
,
r —
,

of day the heal th giving air fair scenes and

,
-
,

lovely sounds the comp anionship of friends the

, ,

consecration of home with all its afi ections all ,

75
the genial ties and hopes and pl ea sures and satis
factions and all the d eeper triumphs that give
,

solemnity and earnestness and awe to our ea rth

ly lot Holy One we ask thy consecrating Sp irit
.
,

in blessing up on each one of us in whatever p osi

tion thou hast placed us and we pray thee to ,

adorn our earthly habitations with fair and

beautiful and holy associations Let thy blessing .

b e up on us according to our age according to ,

our exp erienc e according to our wants ; upon

,

infancy childhood youth manhood rip e years ;

, , , ,

according to all that thou hast led thy chil dren

into through and out of ; according to all that
, ,

they have yet to learn to become wise and en

lightened and true and pure and go od So tem .

p er thy Spirit and thy providence that no evil

Shall have dominion over us 'eep us tod ay .

without sin and keep us all our days in eternal

,

heights o f moral strength and purity and good ,

where none can mol est or make us afraid .

Holy Father hear our prayer —our prayer

, ,

that is uttered and our p rayer that is unuttered ,

that which is d eeper than words can tell and

fl ows from the depths of our hearts the height s ,

of our imagination and the wonder and infin i,

tude of our love ; hear it all ; receive it into thine

own hea r t Pity forgive cheer encourage and
.
, , , ,

l ead thy peo p le on AM EN . .

76
 Almighty God hear now the praye rs of thy
,

c hildren and answer them a c co rd ing to their

,

needs to their sinc ere purp ose their tender and

, ,

p ure aff ection Consecrate us all to each other

.

and to thyself by thy Holy Sp irit

, .

Thou wh o tu rnest the hear ts of kings as the

rivers of water are turned turn our hearts to
,

genial sympathies t o pure feelin gs and simple

,

loves ; an d may we be blessed in the c ommon goo d

of the c ommon hea rt i ns p ir ed by thee AM EN
. .

77
 M AY 2 6 , 1 8 8 9 EVENIN G

GOD, our Father in heaven , we are come again to

our place of p rayer and as thou drawest the
,

gentle curtains of night about the habitations of

men we would lift up our hearts to thee in rever
ence and gratitude and humility and j oy We .

thank thee f or the pleasant d ay for its happy ,

relief from the ordinary cares and business of

the world for its bless ed opp ort unities of home
, ,

of chil dhood of father and mother brother and

, ,

sister and friend ; and we thank thee Almighty ,

God with simple an d childlike feeling that as

, ,

our exp erience increas es we feel that the world

,

is more and more one of a home in our Heavenly

Father s house ; that here thou hast fitted us our
’

dwelling pl ac e for a time appointed us our sea

-
,

sons to lead us forth by the hands of thy holy

,

providenc e in a wise p aternal severe yet merci

, , ,

ful manner ; that thou art chastising us morning

and evening and admonishing us gently by thy
word and Spirit and teaching us to live unto
,

thee to love righteousness to love one another

, , ,

and to love thee our F ather and our God M ay

,
.

our filial heart receive thes e gentle teachings ,

78
these wise admonitions and if we look up to thee ,

through our tears if we sometimes cry to thee

,

from the sea of trouble O God give us faith and , ,

trust to look to thee with confidin g hearts and t o ,

believe in and trust thee with pure and childlike

minds .

Almighty God we ask thy blessing upon all

,

thy p eople of the city of all conditions and for

,

tunes and exp eriences Thou alone knowest the .

hearts of all men Thou alone knowest their

.

trials th eir temptations their sins

,
Chastise ,
.

with wise severity with tender mercy with p a

, ,

ternal love ; and pursue all with thy goodness ,

thy wisdom and let thy goo dness and thy wis
,

dom be on our b ehalf alway s .

Give us such prosp erity in the a ff airs of this

world as it good for us and out of it all may we ,

gain that which is better —wisdom grace and , , ,

love moral beauty sp iritual life and when

, , ,
-

finally we come to the end of this life may we not

be compelled to exclaim Vanity of vanities all , ,
”
is vanity but may we be enabled to say from a
,

pure and sincere heart that w e have found wis

dom and gr ac e and love and goo dn ess in this
world and that we won some of these things to
,

our hearts ; and may we when we are c alled to ,

do it may we b e enabled to d ismiss this world as

,

a wise and go od man dismisses h is servant wh o

has s erved him well commending him to another
,
.

79
And so Holy Father may thy word and thy
, ,

kingdom live forever Lead thy p eople on and

.

on by thy p ower by thy wisdom and let none of

, ,

u s ever repent that we have lived or ever b e ,

sor ry that thou hast created us Hear o u r .

prayer forgive our sins and lift up thy p eople

, ,

fo rever an d foreve r AM EN. .

God, our Father, hear now , in heaven th y

d wellin gplace the p raye rs of thy p eople In
-
,
.

spire our hearts with thy truth that we may live

hon estly and faithfully as we dwell here ; and
with pure consciences and good heart s may we
pursue this world with higher obj e cts than the
world itself ; and when our work is done may w e
have no regrets b ut rather gr atitude that we
, ,
’
have been s ustained t o do God s will AM EN . .
 JUNE 9 , 1 88 9 MOR NIN G
Af te r th e
' C onem a ugh d is ste r )
a .

O GOD I nfinite and Holy One righteous Gov

, ,

ern or just Judge

,
Holy Father we have gone
, ,

through another week of our earthly experience ;

day unto day h ave uttered speech and night ,

u nto night have shown knowledge of thee ; our

hearts have borne testimony of thy word and
c ommandment ; thy Spirit h as breathed its in
spiration into our hea rts and thy holy providence
has spread over us its ever protecting care ; and
-

we come again with gladness and j oy and grief ,

and pain and penitence and tea rs and awful r e

, ,

j oicing and mirth with all the thoughts and

,

sens es and feelings that muster in human hearts .

We are come from far and near upon the ea rth ,

across continents or seas and from the near ,

lying city and streets and dwellings here We .

are come some of us it may be from gr eat dis

, , ,

tances from wanderings of desire from solitudes

, ,

of ingratitude and thoughtle ssness and indiff er

—
ence great distances indeed from thee from
, ,

ou rselves from the better angels of our minds

, ,

from the gu ardian spirits of our a ffections ; but

we would co m e back we would come to th e e to
, ,

81
on e another to this p l ace of holy prayer devout
, ,

p enitence humble teaching holy desire ; and we

, ,

would come 0 G od thou one in all we woul d

, , ,

c ome with increased human sym p athies and more

abundant human charities and feelings .

I f we have any p e rsonal or p eculiar or hidden

d istress of our own hearts save us 0 God from
, , ,

the s elfishn ess of it ; save us from that seclusion

which grieves and mourns and grieves and ,

mourns saying
,
“
,
Was the re ever any prophet
”
afflicted as this p rOph et ? but let our hearts be
op ened wide to re c eive the monition s of thy
Spirit and p roviden c e a lways that we may ,

learn how great a c ompany the affl ic te d are ; and

if we have j oy an d gl adness may we multiply it ,

as the l ight of day is multip lied ; may we multi

p ly it as thy Son multiplied the bread to feed the

famished multitude — multiply it b y p assing it
,

around and giving to all .

Al mighty One in thy infi ni te providence un

, ,

der thy p aternal law we live ; under that pr ovi

,

den c e and in that law we rej oic e and are gla d

always ; an d when b y sud d en c al amity o r man s ’

weaknes s or ignoran c e or folly or sin our fellow

c reatures are snatch ed away from l ife and over
whelmed in d estruc tion we bles s thee for the
,

c onfiden c e and f or the hop eful feeling that no

human thing is r eally hurt no eternal go od is ,

destroyed b ut evil and p ain an d ev e ry tear and

, ,

82
every prayer are heard and answered by thee in
thin e own eternal way .

Let thy blessing be up on the afil ict ed ones ‘

around up on the hom es of mankind those of

, ,

our fellow citiz ens and c ount rymen of neighbor ,

ing towns and cities ; and may our hear ts be

taught by wi sdom by truth and by love that
, , ,

we may learn more and more that we are all one

and anothe r unit e d to eac h othe r, and to all and
to thee .

Our Fathe r for give our sins ; help us we

, ,

p ray thee hel p us to renounce those sins of

,

which we d o humbly r ep ent ; and by thy l ov e

wash away ev en the l ast remnant of their p ower
over us so that we may go forth free and strong
,

in hea rt and that through all our ea rthly years

, ,

wha t ever Sca r s we wear may all be heal e d an d

m ade p u r e and c l ean as the fl esh of a c hild .

Almighty God o r de r tho u our way for us in

,

thy word ; lead us by thy strong and mighty

hand ; give u s something of thy p ate rnal str ength
and something ab un dantly of thine e t ern al
p eace AM EN
. .

O tho u Al might y terr ibl e l o v ely One c om e

, , ,

n ow by thy Spi r it O f grace t o our hea rts ; take us

into thy great c omp anionshi p and pa rt nership of
work in the world ; fil l our minds with a sense of
the wo rthiness of our ea rthl y v o c ation ; l ift us
83
up above its horrors or accidents ; give us a keen
and tender heart and a sensibility of beauty and
,

in whatever time of p eace or prosp erity of p eril

,

or safety we may be may we be staid and

,

steadied up on thee our Rock our Refuge our

, , ,

D efense AM EN
. .
 JUNE 9 , 1 8 8 9 EVE NI N G

ALM IG HTY GOD t hou whose protecting care is

,

over all thy works and whose Spirit inspir es our

,

soul s we t hank thee as w e always do f or the

, , ,

common blessings of our lot f or the privileges , ,

the charities the opportunities and the blessings

, ,

of this day ; and now in the evening hour we im

p l or e again thy protec ting care a nd cast our ,

selves with filial trust upon thin e almighty arm .

Goodness and mercy have followed us all the days

of our lives ; our cup runneth over ; we h ave more

than enough and our hearts are satisfied of thy

,

mercy and of thy goodness Let thy tender holy .

,

p rovidences we pray thee be everywhere to

, ,

night Watch with those that watch ; listen to

.

the prayer of those who are cast down and brok

en hearted ; an d the sigh of the oppressed
-
let ,

that c ome up before thee ; and give blessing and

grace and relief and benediction
,

Almighty One Holy Father thou who know

, ,

est the mystery and the pain and the gladness

, , ,

and the hop e and the sorrow of the human heart

, ,

let thine ear be op en and let thy heart be ful l of

,

love toward thy weak broken erring and wan

, , ,

85
dering ones F orgiv e with th e fr e ed om of thine
.

own Sp iri t ; restore with the b eneficence of thine

eternal mercy ; blot out the tran sgressions of thy

children and remove their sins from them as far
as the e ast is from the west and let them be ,

ever renewed in thy Spirit and thy grace .

We thank thee Almighty God for that Holy , ,

One that pure and divine ens ample of man

,

ki d thy Son the Son of God the S on of M an

n —
, , ,
.

We implore thee that h is divine life his pure ,

heart his mysterious c ommunion with God his

, ,

divine truth his holy pattern m ay ever be before

, ,

us ; and in the incidents of his life on earth in ,

h is going from house to h ouse from village to ,

V illage may we see the wonderful connection of

,

his history with the life of man kind and let h is ,

p attern be ever in our heart s and give us insight ,

and grace to interpret the meaning of life .

Almighty One let thy tender mercy b e every

,

where Restore bless inspire and let thy Sp irit

.
, , ,

be ever en ch urch in g itself in this human

world a figure of that divine and eternal so
—
,

ciety which thou wouldst raise up which thy ,

S on called the kingdom of God AM EN . .

O thou I nsp irer of all ins p ire and teach our ,

hearts to see the spiritual meanin g of things and ,

to transform our d aily life into beauty and gl a d

ness and j oy B y thy gr ace and b y thy Sp irit
.

86
may we b e a bless ing to those aroun d u s ; and
may life be relieved of some of its b ur dens ; may
strengt h be given to bear those burdens well ;
and may gladn ess be refin ed may j oy be pur ified
, ,

and grief blessed to all

.
 JUNE 1 6 , 1 8 8 9 MOR NIN G

O I NFIN ITE AN D H OLY ON E God our Father in , ,

’
heaven it s a pleasant thing to behold the sun ;
,

life is sweet its fruits are fair and it is g ood to

, ,

live We walk about in the fair light of day ; We

.

l ook up on the heavens above abroad up on the ,

earth beneath and up on the great wide sea thy —

,

p ower and Spirit are ever present ; thy inspira

tion is nigh unto us that we should not ascend to
the heavens after it nor cross the sea that it
,

should be brought to us ; thine ever present in -

S pirations ar e in our hearts and in telligenc e and

,

re as on and faith and love sp ring forth from the

touch of thy almighty being .

We come to thee again now in the morning on ,

the return of the day and the week to our place ,

of p rayer Come with thy people ; give us the

.

gracious and blessed communion of thy presence

and thy Spirit ; give us that V ision of our own
nature our own weakn ess our own possible com
, ,

munion with thee that shall at onc e m ake us

,

humble meek and teachable and make us asp ir

, , ,

ing and strong and faithful in the V ision of

God .

88
 We implore th ee heavenl y Fathe r that the ,

days and weeks and years with their ever re ,

-

turning round of d uty j oy or trial gr ief or sor

, ,

row may bring to thy children deep er wisdom

,

and d eep er insi ght into the meaning of the

world and sh all make us at home with thee
,

where we are at home wherever we may b e at

,
-
,

home with God in the wo rld that he has made ,

wherever he provid es for h is children from ,

whateve r p la c e he sp eaks by h is word and his

Spirit .

We thank thee Almighty God f or the littl e

, ,

things of our dail y life those little things that ,

c ome again and again and again — duties that ,

are always ple asant if our hearts are l ovely and

,

sweet duties that never wea ry us if we are in

, ,

Sp ir ed afresh by thy Spirit — of c omp anionships ,

and of home ; angelic visitations of go odness and

b eauty and truth that sit with us at our daily
,

board walk with us as companions to the house

,

of God who beam in o ur c ountenan c es the light

,

of heaven an d give us gra c e and benedi c tion

,

ever and ever .

An d w e thank thee Almight y God for all , ,

gr eat deliverances from evil of any kind from ,

the shock of any alarm the collision of any of the

,

p owers of nature or the triumphs of any of the

,

inst ruments of man s device t o turn and strike

’

us with thei r blows I n c rea se our symp athies

.
,

89
Almighty Fathe r ; while we love one another ,

and W hile we love our friends and whil e we are ,

touched with the sorrows of our fellow citiz ens

from afar even beyond these hori z ons of homes
,

and neighborh oods and countri es enlarge our ,

hearts with the spiritual grace that was in

Christ thy Son that we may have something of
, ,

the vision of humanity — a vision of the human

,

world that includes every r a c e and tribe and na

tion and knows and feels and interpre ts and be
,

l ieves in mankind —mankin d figured in the Son

,

—
of God the Son of M an .
,

Almighty One hear our prayers f orgive ou r

, ,

sins give us tenderness of heart and humility of

,

mind give us self r esp e c t ; and while we deplore

,
-

our weakn ess and our sin may we ever h ave some
,

good reason an d some good faith in s aying that

there is much good in us ; an d may we app eal
“
unto God Search me and kn ow my heart and
, ,

see if there be any wi cked way in me and lead ,

”—
me into the way everlasting the way in which,

my step s shal l never weary the road that sh al l ,

ever grow brighter and brighter to the p erfect

day the way of eternal life eternal beauty and
, , ,

eternal strength AM EN . .

A lmighty God thou wh o gives t thy Sp irit

,

without measure to those wh o will receive it in ,

crease our faith and in c reas e our belief in our

,

90
faith our cou rage in it our t rust in ou rselves
, , ,

and our trust in God ; and m ay thy Spiri t rest

upon us abundantly giving us a new b aptism
, ,

adopting us day by day into thy heavenl y king

dom into th y divin e family ; and may w e feel
,

that we are not merely creatures of the world ,

but sons of God p a rtakers of his nature bound

, ,

t o a great destiny honorable glorious beyond all

, ,

telling or thinking ; and thus may we abolish and

rep ent of all our sins ; may we purify our hearts
even as God is pure and lifted up by thee may
, , ,

n o harm c ome to thy p eople .

91
 JUNE 1 6, 1 8 8 9 EVENIN G

AL M IG H TY GOD, tho u I nfinite in p ower and good

ness we c ome again to our place Of prayer ; we
,

give thee thanksgiving ; we bow in re v erenc e we ,

humble ourselves p enitently and c ontritel y an d ,

lift up our hearts un to thee to c ry un to thee

,

—
from the d epths and from the heights from the ,

de p ths of lowly p enite nc e and from the heights

,

of awful j oy .

We thank thee f or the p leasa nt da y and now ,

for the gentle night ; f or all the cheerful and

swe et Opportunities of life that we ha v e en
—
joyed the comp anionship of home fri ends
, , ,

children father and mother ; fo r the gentle re

, ,

l eas e from the ordinary care s of life for the ,

change of opp o rtunity ; for the blessed p rivilege

of r efreshing our own minds an d hearts an d ,

our own bodies with rest and p eac e and hol y

,

c ontemplation and cheerful t al k and p leasant

charities An d we thank thee Almighty G od,
.
,

always that we may ever bear in mind thy gr eat

go odness to us thy children ; if we wo ul d count
,

thy mercies we could n ot tel l one in a tho u san d

of them ; they are as common as the day c heerful ,

92
and abund ant as the light that desc ends up on us
l ike the early and the latter rain and the foun ,

tains of life are filled with thine abundant good

ness.

Al mighty God what more can we ask ? We

,

would ever ask and implore thine inspiring

Spirit that we may discern thy providence and
thy g oo dness ; that we may have heavenly visions
of thy own being and p ower and excellence and

greatness and maj esty ; that we may love thee for

what thou art ; that we may fear and rever e thee
with holy awe ; and that our hea rts may ever
bend in great humility in humbl e reverence be
,

fore thee .

Help us we pray thee by thy Sp irit each one

, , ,

of us to live faithf ul ly and hon estly according

,

to the best thoughts the best things the best

, ,

faith and hop e in us D eal not with us our God

.
,

too severely ; reprove us gently if thou wilt and ,

lead us in the way of thy commandment by a

stro ng but tender hand Reprove us if thou .

wilt reprove us for our sins ; chastise us by thy

,

paternal love and let us with teachable devout

, , ,

and childlike minds learn th at thy wisdom is

better than our knowledge and that our knowl ,

edge may b e but folly comp ared with that wis

dom .

Let thy blessing b e abroad up on all thy com

mon human family ; wherever the shades of night
93
are fallin g there watc h with thy protec ting c ar e
,

and p aternal love ; and wherever the sun is rising

afresh upon the ea rth upon dist ant habitations
,

and p opulations of men ther e let thy go odn ess

,

be abundant as h is beams bringing light an d

,

gl adness and p eace and j oy .

Holy F ather hear our p rayer forgive our

, ,

sin s lead us always in th e plain p ath of duty

, ,

and give us a heart of fortitude strengt h and

, ,

c ourage gentleness and beauty ; and let us eve r

,

b e s atisfied with the abundan c e of the g ood n e ss

of God AM EN
. .
 JUNE 2 3, 1 8 8 9

O GOD our Father in He aven day unto day

, ,

uttereth sp eech and night unto night sh oweth

,

knowledge of thee ; thy comman dm ents ar e pure ,

thy statutes are right and thy word is gone forth

,

in all pla c es of thy dominion We thy chil dren .

, ,

g u id ed by thy providence sustained by thy p ow

,

er inspired by thy Spirit the creatures of thy

, ,

hand the sons of thy love would come unto thee

, , ,

unto thee O God almighty all good all wise

, , ,
-
,
-
.

Thy mightiness thy goo dn ess and thy wisdom

, ,

are ever on our behalf Thy providence is gra

.

cious ; thy tender mercies ar e from everlastin g to

everlasting ; and thy go odness is without bounds .

I f we have gone astray w e would come back ; if

,

we have been led by follies w e would return to ,

thy wisdom ; if we have fallen int o sin or any

wrong we implore thy forgiveness ; and we p ray
,

th ee to stretch forth thine hand and lift us up ,

an d lead us in the way everl asting .

I n all our exp eriences we have had the faith ,

the divine gift of God to believe that somehow

,

—
there was a p ower ab ove us a wisdom and a ,

goodness gr eater than we kn ow ; and thy chil

95
 dren in their faithful hearts have chosen rather
, ,

to be led by thee in darkn ess than t o walk alone

at noonday The t estimony of thy believing ones
.

on earth h as ever been the same — that they have ,

trusted thee and they have never been de

,

f rauded they have never been confounded but

, ,

have found in thee th eir al l ; enough to be satis

h ed with thy be ing and th y love and s atisfied ,

with the soundness of their own hearts .

Al mighty God give us we pray thee such

, , ,

S impleness of mind such purity Of thought and

, ,

such heroism of conduct that we m ay have no

d oubt who is God M ay w e have no question no
.
,

word of de cision as to whom we would serve ;

,

but may we set before our hearts the very highest

O bj ects that it is p ossible to conceive of the ,
-

Supreme Good the Perfect Wisdom the Al

, ,

mighty Love ; and to these great purp oses in our

hearts and to the simplicity of our endeavor to ,

the purity of our devotion do thou add such ,

things in this world as seem to thee good M ay .

we be chie fly concerned for the kingdom of God ;

add thou the other things as thou wilt ; w e will
receive them in greater or in smaller supplies ,

we will receive them as fr om thy hand and trust ,

that all is for the best and though we lose yet

,

we shall win and though we die yet we shall live

,
.

Almighty God let thy blessing be upon thy

,

people here now as we come again to our morn

,

96
 ing servic e and prayer C onsecrate un to us all .

the exp eriences of the p ast week ; and to thy

servants endeared to on e another and ende ar ed
,

to thee let thy providence s eem al l grace and

,

love and over all the scene of this our earthl y lot
,

may there be a celestial light a divine peace a , ,

heavenly glory ; and while our feet walk up on

the dust Of the earth may our hearts ascend i nto
,

the moun tain heights of prayer and p eace

-
.

Let thy blessing be abroad O God up on all , ,

the earth as far as the beams of the sun and ,

wherever the sun is rising and wherever it is ,

setting there let thy glory b e in lingering beams

,

or in rising beauty and bless and guide and p ity

,

and comfort m ankind An d may we learn more .

and more to be altogether human ; may we desire

the greatest of all gifts — that we may have a ,

spirit to share the common lot of men to symp a ,

th iz e with the common heart to believe in the ,

common good to worship to serve and to love

, , ,

the common God .

Hear our prayer forgive our sins and give us

, ,

answer of abundant p eace and grace according ,

to thy word AM EN . .

Al mighty God our F ather confirm in our

, ,

hearts now the truth that we most deeply feel ;

give us the courage and strength of it ; give us
the peace and hop e of it Let thy good provi .

97
d en c e
p ro t e c t us ; let thy Spirit insp ire u s ; go
with those that go stay with those that stay and
, ,

come with those that c ome ; and wherever we may

b e by night or day on sea or land may we b e
, , ,
’
qu ite at home in our Heavenly Father s house ,

and may we fe el that it is as near heaven from

either mo unta in top or valley or sea and that
-
, , ,

where v er we are tho u a rt .

 AUGU S T 4, 1 8 8 9

TH O U EVER GRA C I OUS AN D M ERCIF UL ON E tho u

-
,
-

Gua r dian and Guide of all thy p eople bl essed

—
,

a rt thou from everla sting to everlasting I nfini te .

and Holy One we c ome again t o our place of

,

prayer ; here we are in thy p r esence ac c ordin g

to our acc ust omed habit ; restored a gain to one
—
another never separated in our l ove from one
,

—
another or from thee and now we c ome again
,

with holy and revering minds with d evout and ,

l oving temp er with grati t ude and j oy with

, ,

awful gladn ess and holy mirth ; and we giv e

thee praise and thanksgiving for thy go odness ,

we adore thy power and we intrust o urselves

,

t o that goodnes s an d to that p ower with fil ial

c onfid enc e an d filial love We thank thee for
.

the c ommon goo dness that is ove r all thy works ,

and that ministe rs to the hap p iness and c omfort

of all thy creatu r es ; and that we c an believe

and feel and trust that whatever comes to us

, ,

tho u art working with thine etern al good will -

,

thy l ong minded way s of wisdom an d love and

-

truth and goodness And we thank thee th at

.
,

in the d aily exp erienc es of l ife we can turn t o,

99
thee with devout confidence with devout and ,

pure filial afi ection and that thou art always

,

for us that thou d ost whisp er every word of

,

peace in our heart s thou d ost kindle eve ry

,

divine imagination thou dost lead us on and on

,

through every trial and support us by a p ower

,

greater than ourselv es ; and w e thank thee with

revering filial sentiments th at when w e h ave
been low and weak and troubled with pain and
grief we have been able to sustain it and have ,

been borne up by a mighty Spirit greater than

our will ; and we have been let into the m ystery
of sufferin g the wonder of a c t
— ffli ion — and we ,

have seen the beauty and love of thine own

face.

An d now Almighty God our F ather we ask

, , ,

thy blessing up on al l thy children here — up on ,

us all according to our exp eriences our wants

, , ,

our j oy our grief our su ff ering or our glad

, , ,

nes s The cup of life is mingled by a wise and

.

merciful hand ; human tears are tender and

lovely human hearts are sweet and true ; and we
,

thank thee that however the world h as used us

, ,

whatever disappointment s it h as brought to us ,

however wicked we sometimes may think it is ,

we bless thee f or the sight of those whom we

never d oubted for eyes into whose depths we
,

look with complete trust f or hearts of which we ,

never had one suspicion and fo r c onscien ces ,

1 00
and sp irits which stan d er ect as bright angels
before the face of God .

An d now holy Father lead thy p eopl e on

, , ,

lead them by their hopes by their trusts by , ,

their conscious rectitude toward on e an other and

toward thee an d let all thy will p erfect an d
, ,

holy and true be fulfilled in us Let thy bless

,
.

ing b e up on all thos e whom we think of now ,

whom we would bless and we implore thy p ower ,

and care for them ; and let us learn as wisdom ,

increases in our hearts that they c an never b e ,

widely separated who are bound in bonds of

love t o one another who think the same thoughts
, ,

live the sa me d uties love the same God and ,

Father always AM EN . .

Holy One thou D weller in the hea v ens and

, ,

wh o makest thy presence and thy heaven in the

pure heart let now thy p ea ce come to the wait
,

ing minds and thoughts of thy children ; love

us with thy bo un dl ess love and deal with us ,

with all thy tender p ity And may we by lov .

,

ing thee know thee f ully an d kn ow thee all

, ,

in all .

Hear our prayer forgive our sins and let thy

, ,

wisdo m and thy g ood n ess and thine e t ernal

, ,

good will be for us now and for evermore

-
,
.

AM EN .

101
 AU GU S T 1 8 , 1 88 9

O GOD our Father in heaven we thy children

, , , ,

often come to thee to tell thee our wants our ,

cares our trials our blessings and our joys We

, , ,
.

come to thee now in our accustomed pla c e of

p rayer with all the common and oft repeat ed -

stories of childho od wants of gentle and tender ,

love of much weakness and imp atience an d

,

want of t rust it may be but yet with a keen and

, ,

tender feeling for thy care for thy love thy , ,

wisdom and thy p ower We b elieve and feel

,
.
,

and we bless thee that wherever we have wan

,

dered thou hast never forgotten us in whatever ,

p aths we have strayed thy heart h as ever pur

sued us and in the midst of indi ff erenc e or in
,

gratitude thou hast still longed f or us an d ,

waited and waited and believed in us and hop ed

, ,

in us and exp ec ted in u s And now we c ome

,
.
,

Almighty G od our Father w e com a— and let us

, ,

fulfil l thy hope the h Op e of thy p aternal heart

,

concerning us We come to this our place of

.

prayer which we c all thy house ; we look up t o

thee with filial t rust and co nfi den c e because we ,

believe and trust thee evermore .

And now of thine abundant grace of thy wis

, ,

102
dom and thy go odn ess let thy heart be bless ed
, ,

and let our hearts be at rest and re stored by the

plenitude of thy grace F orgive our sins we .
,

pray thee ; and our sins which we do honestly

and sincerely forsake O God r emove them from
, ,

us we pray thee as far as the east is from the

, ,

west ; and if we do return from wandering and

forgetfulness from many ways of sin or wrong
,

or doubt or weakn ess — if we return 0 God go

, , ,

forth to meet us ; fal l upon us as up on a return

ing prodigal and speak not a word to us of our
,

p ast reproach us not with sins that are gone ;

,

but wel c ome us t o our home welcome us to thy ,

heart and give us the rep ose and the abundant

,

love of thy house .

We thank thee always for the common bl ess

ings of our lot ; teach us wisdom that we may ,

see thos e blessings an d that w e may use them

well . Save us from selfishness ; save us from

conceit in p rosp erity and from des p air in a dver
sity ; and may w e keep that pure and true way ,

the way of eternal life the way of upright will

, ,

or pure affection of true c onscien c e and imagi

,

nation that dwells face to face with God .

We ask thy blessing thou holy terrible an d

, , ,

Almighty One ; we ask thy blessing upon the

fortunes and events and exp eriences of universal
—
man on earth mankind thy childr en human
, , ,

so c iety the Chur ch of God

, Ove r all man s .
’

1 03
ignoran ce an d p assion and strife and j eal o usy
, , , ,

and wrong and desp air and c ruelty reign by

, ,

thy p ower and wisdom and make the de se rt ,

p laces of ignorance and wrong bl oom with the

beauty of righteousness an d t ruth and p ea c e .

E nable us in our hearts each one of us t o bring, ,

this thy kingdom ; in our homes set up this em

p ire ; and confident in thee o ur M aker led by
, , ,

the word and gosp el of thy S on Jesus Christ ,

may we hold on our way with steady steps with ,

gentle hearts taught by thee secure in eternal

, ,

strength and ete rnal peace AM EN . .

Almighty God our Father hear us now The

, ,
.

thoughts that we think the words that we sp e ak

, ,

the resolves we m ak e may they all seem good in

,

thy sight and m ay they be con secrated in our

,

hearts to devout and holy purp ose M ay we be .

unde c eived in regard to all thing s of vanity and

we akness in the world ; may we be kings each ,

one of us in his domain and dominion M ay our .

own nature serve and may it be glor ified by

,

serving thee ; and as we look out up on the world ,

the hum an world over all its wrongs and vio

,

l ence and sin ma y we l ove it still ; may we be

,

fond of thinking of it ; and may visions of p ro

p h et ic p ower and glory for its future its great ,

ness and its ete rn al kingdom eve r dawn up on

,

our so u l s
. AM EN .

1 04
 AU GU S T 2 5, 1 8 8 9

ALL eyes do wa it on thee ; all creatur es look to

thee ; thou guidest them with thy hand and ,

givest them their meed in due season The ea rth .

turns ste adily by thy p ower ; th e ocean rolls in

the hollow of thy hand Almighty B eing terri
.
,

ble One glorious in maj esty of etern al beauty

, , ,

eternal excellence goodness and love we come to

, , ,

thee We come to ou place O p rayer we love

. r f —
,

it we revere it because here we have seen thy

, ,

fa c e ; here we have heard thy counsels ; here our

hearts have been lifted up on the wings of
prayer and p eac e h as come to our thoughtful
,

minds or to our afflicted hea rts and our longing

souls .And now we come in the return of the
days of the week again with our of t rep eated -

story of this life with its ever returning wants

,
-
,

with its consta nt themes of j oy and gratitude ,

and pain and grief and sorrow with its note of ,

gladne ss and its deep wail of discontent and un

,

happiness Almighty One thou I nfinite One

.
, ,

hear the prayer of thy p eople spoken or not , ,

uttered or unexpre sed hear the prayer of thy

s —
,

p eople Forgive our sins Give us that pea c e

. .

1 05
of mind that comes of upright will and g ood c on
science the c ons c iousness of service honestly
—
,

render ed and work well done and duty faith

, ,

fully discharged ; the consciousness that in our

hea rts there are no p assions or sentiments of
wrong and no selfish desires or self will
,
-
.

We thank thee Al mighty God for wh at we

, ,

call thy p rovidence thy care thy protecting , ,

p ower ; and we p raise thee that amid all the

realm of things unkn own we may commit all to
an infinite wisdom to a faithful love to an , ,

al mighty p ower that can su ff er no wrong t o

come to any hum an soul We rejoice in the com .

mon c onques ts of the human mind over this out

ward world We rejoi c e in every triumph of
.

intelligence in every victory of r eas on in eve ry

, ,

noble a scent and heavenly outlook of human

faith We are sometimes oppressed by the vast
.

“ ”—
U nknown how much more vast than all we
,

know or think or feel and as w e go forth day ,

-

by day with something uncertain always in our

l ot some unlooked f or event some strange and
,
-
,

unreconciled p ower that mingles with our daily

fortun es and lives we would go fort h O God , , ,

sowing seed of truth and virtue and honor with ,

out a d oubt that whether we know this or that

,

shall prosp er or wheth er b oth alike shall grow

, ,

we nevertheless trust to thee that what is best

will be .

1 06
 Almighty God our Father temp er our hea rt s
, ,

to the common providences of this life Teach .

us that there is a b ound to our earthly lot and

the end will come and deliver us from all sur
,

pris e at it ; and when our fellows our fellow ,

b eings our neighbors our fri ends our love rs

, , , ,

die may we not feel surprised at it ; may we not

,

be taken by sudden al arm ; but may our well

taught hearts know that this is the way of
Heaven that it is the app ointment of God ; that
,

affliction in any form comes not fro m the air ,

that it comes not from the earth beneath but ,

—
man is born with t it is a p art of his lot a
i , ,

part of h is inheritance y ea a p art of the ap

—
, ,

p ointment and will of God ; and so may our will

bow down to that will with noble act sur e devo ,

tion divine insight immortal wisdom ; so keep

, ,

us so replenish our hea rt s by thy grac e and f or

, ,

giving all our sin s that we do honestly fo rsake ,

let the p ower of eternal life ever abide in us and ,

let us commit the keeping of our souls to God as ,

those who are risen from the dead AM EN . .

Hear now our prayer ; fulfill in our hearts

those things that we do most sinc erely and faith
—
fully desire to be at one with ourselves at One
, ,

with the world and at one with God Reveal

, .

unto us a plain p ath of duty and increase the ,

brightness of that light that lighteth every man

1 07
that cometh into the world ; and may we know
what it is to be at one with God and to know
,

that our will and thy will are ever in divine ac

cord Lead us in times of d ifficulty and danger ;
.

wipe the tea rs f r om our eyes in days of grief and

anguish ; lift us up from affliction and fro m all
fear ; and reveal u nto us the ways of thy spirit ,

the glo ry of thy t ruth and the awful bea uty o f

,

thine own being AM EN

. .

1 08
 S E P T E M BE R 1 , 1 8 8 9

O I NF IN I TE AND H OLY thou almighty te r

ON E, —
,

rible lovely tru e and g ood we thy childr en

, ,
—
, , , ,

come again to our place of p rayer We c ome .

from the busy scenes of life its absorbing c ar es , ,

its frequent p e rplexities its dee p trials and its

, ,

d ark sorrows We come to asc end up into th e

.

mountains into the heights abov e the clouds

, ,

above the d ust of earth — t o rest to l ook abroad

, , ,

to lift up our hea rts in p ra y er t o bow down in ,

holy adoration in awful fear and to rise u p in

, ,

c hild like trust .

We thank thee for the gentle day We th ank .

the e for the silent night ; for their ever stea dy

“

suc c ession and order and beauty and p eace Re .

freshed an d strengthened man go es forth to h is ,

l abor in the morning and returns again at even

ing The ever coming round of daily duty of
.
-
,

daily want of return ing feeling of gladness and

,

gratitude or p ains and regrets O God in these

, , ,

thy children fin d a mighty te a ching a wondrous ,

guidance a mysteriou s presence and an al

, ,

mighty p ower We are s ometim es qu ite con

.

1 09
fused and in darkness ; we are sometim es l e d to
shining heights of glory and of p eace ; and s ome
—
times we are quite p e rp lexed even not to know
,

whether thou thys elf art or whether life here

,

hath any destiny I n all these vic issitudes of

.

our feelings in all these trial s of our exp erien c e

, ,

0 God minister un t o us gently ; speak to us as

,

to children ; take us b y the hand ; tell us the

simple story of thy love and tell o ur hearts t o be
,

still and quiet in thy p resence .

We thank thee Almighty God that there is

, ,

suc h dep th in our exp erienc e that we c an not

fathom it ; that there are times when in our

hea rt s there is much that we ca nnot utter and ,

even thought itself c annot reach these heights .

B lessed be thy name and thy grace for the

mysteries of our being f or the wonder s of our
,

experien c e f or the stran ge and mighty guidan c e

,

of our earthly lot Remove from our hearts and

.

our minds we pray thee

,
all vain conc eits all
, ,

vain wisdom ; and may we accept at thy hand

our d aily lot our daily exp erience wha t ever i t
, ,

is ; and teach our minds and our hearts to make

the best Of it — the best of it by a p ure temp er
, , ,

by a consecrated will by a readine ss to foll ow

,

the leading of thy hand and to a c cep t the ap

p o intm ents of thy love .

We ask thy blessing Almighty Father up on

, ,

all those wh o are dea r to us — u p on our neigh ,

1 10
bors our friends those bound to us by ties of
, ,

kindred blood and those wh o are bound to u s by

,

that great human friendship that makes life

lovely that c onsecrates our being here on ear th
, ,

and which grows dearer and dearer to us as our

p aths stretch On and on L et thy blessing be in .

tender mercy up on all fortunes and classes and

conditions of men — those wh o are put to hard ,

extremity with distr esses of many kinds thos e ,

wh o are bowed do wn with heavy and deep tri al s,

tho se who b y the humblene ss of their l abor help
to give us decency c omfort refinement and , , ,

luxury ; and may our human symp athy be so

true our spiritual insight so p enetrating that
, ,

no human being may e v er seem unwo rthy com ,

mon indi ff erent or lost in ou r sight

, , .

And now Almighty God le t thy bles sing b e

, ,

upon us Let our contemplation b e reverent and

.

devout our teaching p ur e and sincere and all

, ,

our S ervice may it be worthy ourselves an d ,

worthy of thee AM EN . .

O God thou I n spirer of all lift up our minds

, , ,

we pray thee to discern the greater truth of our

,

—
being the bond that binds us to thee and the
, ,

gr eat vocation w e have in thee our G od Tran s , .

form our daily labor into a school of moral

beauty ; transfigure our trials into discipline of a
saintly sp irit and walk with us through fire or
,

1 11
fl ood , thro u gh j oy or gladness ; and let ou r rever
ence and our p eace be the p ledge of our union
with God .

1 12
 S E P T E MBE R 8 , 1 889

O TH O U AL M IG HTY AND MYS TERI OU S ON E thou ,

wh o hast all things and all power and kingdom

and glo ry wh o art without beginning of days or
,

end of years in whose Almighty B eing all crea

,

tures live whose inspiration giveth us under

,

standing whos e holy p rovidence pro t ects us and

, ,

—
whose Sp irit insp ires us w e love to recite thy
,

glory with reverent and devout hearts We sp eak .

thy name and wonder and awe and glory an d

,

maj esty and beauty bow us down .

We are come again to our place of prayer .

We have come in a day of memory we have

come in a day when recollec tion goes bac k for
a little sp ace of years and returns again ,

freighted with great gratitude serene and happy ,

j oy triumphs over many trials burdens borne

, ,

gla dl y griefs accepted p atiently and triumphs

, ,

of faith that stand on mountain heights of ex

ceeding beauty F or these 0 God we bless

.
, ,

thee ; for these we bow in proud humility before

thee and speak thy name with shout and j oy
,

and gladness .

An d we thank thee now as we look back a ,

‘
Th is s e rv i ce wa con d ucted w ith s p ec i a l re f e re nce to th e
s
f a ct o f the d ay b e in g the twenty fif th a nn ive r s a ry o f D r
- .

S tebbin s s p re s e nc e a p a s tor in th e ch urch

’
s .

1 13
l ittle to call to mind the things and events of
other d ays to review in the stream of life faces
,

that were once f amiliar whose images are still ,

fresh and whose hearts ar e still dear to us

, ,

we thank thee for the ever fl owing stream that -

never fl ows by but is ever refreshed from eternal

,

fount ains the stream of life and of being and

—
,

of lo v e We thank thee Al m ighty God f or the

.
, ,

token we have in our hea rts and in the world

around us of the increasing kingdom of God the ,

p ower of man s intellectual m oral and S piri

’
, ,

tual nature the increase of inte lligence the in

, ,

crease of justic e the increase of truth and for

, ,

the feeling that those have wh o have the great

est confidence in thy p ower that we are eve r ,

living in the morning of the world tha t light is ,

ever dawning the sun is ever rising n oonday

, ,

S plendors are ever overhead and sunset glories ,

are e v er in the w est F or this mysterious p res

.

ence for this manifestation of thy p ower and

,

thy Spirit thy sons do ever bless thee and re

,

j oice An d with deep humility of heart and

.
,

conscious of weaknes s and of sin we implore ,

thy forgiveness and p ray that thy kingdo m of

,

p ower may come for us on ea rth M ay it come .

in gentleness of mind in purity of will in sweet , ,

ness of temp er in genial human symp athies with

,

our fellows and in humble reverent and devout

, , ,

l ove for God ; and so may we be gaining such

1 14
foothold in eternal places that we shall be quite
safe amid the wastes of time th e vicissitu des of ,

change that we shall be at home in the world

,

as in our Heave nl y Father s house

’
.

Consecrate unto u s now 0 God all the kin dl y , ,

c harities of life ; all its d omesti c ties its bonds ,

of friendship its h uman regards its firm sub

, , ,

st ant ial hono rs an d manl y resp e c t s M ay we .

grow more and more into what is manly and

godly M a y the religion of thy S on become to
.

us as natural and as easy as our co nscience as ,

c lear as our reason and as pure as our love ;

,

and so may we be able to enter to s ome extent

into his experience and to say e ach one in a
,
“
devout and triumphan t heart I and my F ather ,
”
are on e .

Hear our prayer ; forgive our sins ; let thy

blessing be as broad and as wide as the b eams
of the sun ; let th y wisdom thy providence an d , ,

thy grace be f or all thy hum an family AM EN . .

Almighty Go d c onfi rm in our hearts in the

, ,
—

hea rt s of all Thy p eople every good exp e

—
,

rience eve ry sincere and devout feeling and

, ,

every consecrated truth Let thy blessing and.

thy guidanc e b e with us Let thy Spirit ever .

insp ire us thy strong hand supp o rt us ; and

,

whether we are here or there may we be at home

with thee — members and children of thy c om
,

1 15
mon family, insp ired b y a c ommon hop e , lifted
up and blessed b y the gosp el of the truth of thy
Son AM EN
. .

11 6
 S E P T E M BE R 1 5, 1 8 8 9

O GOD, Al mighty One terrible in glories fearful

, ,

in praises lovely in goo dne ss thy p eople c ome

, ,

again to their place of prayer The day is .

bright ; the sun shines fair a c ro ss sea an d land ,

all c reatures are blesse d in its light and th e ,

glory o f its beams are sent far and wide We .

come to our pl ace of p rayer We gird up our .

souls and rise up and bow down before thee the ,

Lord God our M aker Thy go odness is from

,
.

everlasting to everlasting an d thy loving kind ,

-

ness is un searchable Thy providenc es are wi se

.
,

and thy retributions are terrible .

Almighty One forgive our S ins and sep arate

,

them from u s as wide as the east is from the

west Give us the j oy and strength and sat isf ac
.

tion of feeling that purged from all evil and

,

purified by penitence and forgiveness thou hast ,

washed away all our S ins and that thy Spirit ,

may descend up on us saying Thi s is my be ,

”
loved son in whom I am well pleased .

Holy Father we bless thee for the common

,

symp athies of a common human heart I n our .

best moments when we rise to supreme heights

,

1 17
above al l selfishness we are glad above all that
,

thou hast made us human that thou hast made ,

us p artakers of a common nature that we are ,

descend ed in a line Of kindred blood from thy

Spirit and that al l of us everywhere have that
,

common lot great glorious wonderful how- —

, , , ,

ever we may b e placed by outwar d c ircum

stan c es by fa c titious events b y uncertain things
, ,

of the world And we implore now thy gracious

.

p ity upon all human infirm ities weakness es and , ,

sin. Thou knowest what is sin ; thou knowest

what is weakness ; and surely thou wilt not
quench the smoking fl ax of feebl e desire ; tho u
wilt not break the b ruised r eed of our feeble
will ; but cherish in the hearts of thy children
ev ery pure sentiment every pure and upright ,

principle and give to all fortitude strength and

, , ,

righteousne ss .

Almighty God we ask thy blessing now upon

,

all e ff o rts of good and wise men everywhere for ,

the progress the growth the p owe r of what

, ,

thy Son called the k ingdom of God that ,

-

eternal spirit that is ench urch ing itself in the

human heart that insp iration which is inspiring
,

ev ery man that spirit diffused thr ough all intel

,

ligence ,
the kindling fire of love of faith and
-
, ,

of hop e Let thy pitying c are and tender merc y

.

be u p on all those wh o are terribly a ffli c ted wh o ,

are oppre ssed a n d bo u nd in fette rs and in chains

1 18
of iron Chastise c orrect admonish encourage
.
, , , ,

and bless ; and let thy wisdom and thy g oodness ,

thy eternal p ower and righteousness be ever for

,

us,
— f or us all and for th y c ommon human
,

family.

This we ask in the nam e of thy Son in the ,

name of our common natu re and in the name of

,

thy p aternal love AM EN

. .

119
 S E P T E MBE R 2 2 , 1 8 89

ALM IG HTY GOD, thou who art above all heights ,

wh o dwellest in ina c cessible glo ry whom we ,

c annot comprehend but to whom we stretch

,

forth feeble hands of prayer and b eseeching ,

come t o thy children now in all thy gra c ious

favor an d blessed presen c e ; c ome to us in the
warmth and purity Of our afi ect ions in the recti ,

tude an d righteousness of our wi ll in the ho ly ,

aspi r ations of devout hea rts and by thy pure

,

S p irit set us free from the ordinary toils and

c ares of life and remove from us
,
O God our , ,

transgressions as far as the east is from the west .

We have had another week of the exp erience

of life That experience has brought to e ac h one
.

of us in the way o f thy providence those things

, ,

which thou our Gui de and Protec tor hast pre

, ,

p ar ed f or us We h ave seen j oy and gladness ;

.

we have seen grie f and sorrow ; we have seen

p e nitence and exul tation And we come with all
.

our v aried care with al l o u r grief with all our

, ,

j oy whatever it may be that thy p rovidence

,
-

and S p irit hav e meted out to us we come to ,

-

120
thee with our c omm on prayer our common sup ,

plication our common suit

,
.

Al mighty God we bless thee that every day

,

thou op enest thy hand and satisfiest the d esires

of every living thing ; our dai ly bread is from

thee ; thy strong protec ting care p r es er ves us

from evil and from harm ; thy Spirit inspires
our intelligence and confirms our will ; and we

look to thee with devout and filial minds f or all

we n eed.

Holy Father give us wisdom ; rebuke us with

,

wise severity and with tender mercy ; and let all

thy goodness b e so familiar and so well ta ught to
our hearts that we shall never agai n go astray
,
.

We ask thy blessing Holy One up on us each

, , ,

one o f us in our daily exp erience of life ; that

,

thou wilt give u s that reasonable worldly pros

p e r it y that is good f or us Confirm our.industry ,

and make th at industry a school O f human ex

cell ence an d virtue an d worth ; and may we by ,

the aid of thy Spirit and inspired by that Spirit ,

see in the common things of our d ail y life some

thing of a moral beau ty ; may the ever r eturni ng -

round of workday exp erienc e of car e and toil ,

and labor may it n ot be merely a dusty p ath be

,

neath a burning sun but may it be relieved by

,

gl imp s es of moral beauty by gentle shadows ,

that send thei r shade over us for rest beside

pure streams that refresh us whil e ever before ,

1 21
us are celestial heights o f attainment of knowl ,

edge of wisdom of vi rtue and of the p ower of

, , ,

eternal life .

Almighty God c onsecrate to us our p erson al

,

ties our relations to on e another our p ure afl ec

, ,

tions our c onse c rated love As we sit at the

,
.

d aily b oard and disp ense the bread which thy

hand hath given us may we each in his place , , ,

feel a kind of providence to thos e that a r e near .

M ay the climate of the hous e be genial ; may its

light be celestial its love pure and m ay it be to
, ,

u s to some extent a symbol of the kingdo m of

, ,

God ; and so may life hold on its c ourse gu ided

by thee setting us free continu al ly from our
—
,

p ast and guiding u s onward to a better and bet

ter future M ay we have great hop e in ourselves
.
,

great hop e in our fellow men and trust in God ,

.

And so may the comp any on earth press f orward

to the c ompany in Heaven AM EN . .

O Go d hear our p rayer that we o ff er now

, ,

that our best thoughts and p urest a ff e c tions may

be made steadf ast a nd strong and that the foun ,

dations of thy eternal kingdom may be l aid in

our minds and hearts I nspire us by thy Sp irit .
,

encou rage us by th y gr ace p rote c t us with thy ,

care and l et thy kingdom ever be in u s a glori

,

ous city a wonderful empire a kingdom of

, ,

p ower of p ea c e of eternal life AM EN

, ,
. .

1 22
 S E P T E MBE R 2 9, 1 8 8 9

O GOD, tho u ar t m y God ; earl y will I seek thee .

The morning is fresh ; the air is bright and

cle ar ; the world is fill ed with thy p res enc e and
'

thy glory ; and we come humbly to our place of

prayer that in the midst of thy glory and thy
,

p ower we may b ow with humble c ontrit e hea rts

, ,

before thee and beseech thee with all the power

and implorin g p raye r of p enitent and b elieving
hearts We come from afar ; we c ome as doves
.

to the window from distant places of thought of

, ,

voc ation of daily life ; from the street s of the

,

city the dwellings of men a nd from countri es

, ,

far away L et thy blessing in heavenly gr a c e

.

and love descen d upon thy p eople Teach us .

that we are all one kind of one household and ,

one family ; and that thou our Father in ,

heaven art the Fa ther of all the famili es of

,

men .

0 thou wh o t ouch est the lips of thy prophets

with fl ames and they sp eak thy words an d thy
,

t ruth sp eak now unto thy p eople and c all them

,

by name by thine own name with which tho u

—
,

hast named them from everlasting to everl ast

123
 —
ing and may we ris e up as the childr en of God
, ,

gu ided by thy hand insp ired by thy love and , ,

led fo rward by thy holy and tender providence .

Almighty One we thank thee as it is our cus

,

t om to thank thee — may it not be a custom mere

,

ly may it not be a v ain word but may it become

, ,

the expression of a devout and grateful he art ,

we thank th ee for thy protecting c are ; we own

with gratitude thy never failing love and we -
,

bl ess thee that in the midst of mystery and of

thy unsearchabl e providence and the strange
events of human life thou h ast giv en us an un
sp eakable gift ; that in all the tangle an d p er
p lexity and darkness and contradiction of mind
in our ear thly l ot thou hast given us the un
,

speakable gift of thy Spirit to help us to tru st

thee still to b elieve in thee always to believe
, ,

that over and above and deeper down and high ,

er than al l that we can see thou art working by

, , ,

a p rovidence of wisdom and holines s and good

n ess thou a rt working out the go od Of eve ry
,

hum an soul M ay we not hinder that go od by

.

bad will by impure afl ections by wayward de

, ,

sire s ; but ma y we be with thee and if thou wilt , ,

p ermit us may we even be the companions of

,

God h is i m itators his likene ss ; and may h is

,
-
,

word and commandment b e our comfo rt our ,

p ea c e an d our strength
, .

Almighty God we ask th y bl essing u p on th ose

,

1 24
whose h earts ar e not yet quite formed in secur
ity and strength o f life ; we p ray that inn ocence
may ever be guarded and protected ; that inno
cence may become Vi rtue that virtue may be ,

come moral p ower and moral p ower may become

,

eternal life and those who live a mixed life of

,

good and evil in whom there is much evil and

—
,

some goo d —O turn them toward thee and let

, ,

the good overcome the evil Let thy mercy ever .

be with us ; let thy severity deal with us as thy

wisdom sees best and let us never fl inch or fe a r
,

from the wise severity of a just and loving God .

Holy Father let thy tender compassion be

,

with all ; help the troubled to b ear their troub l e ;

those wh o are walkin g in darkn ess and in p ain ,

may they be led by a mysteri ous and almighty

hand and m ay they rather be led in darkness
,

th an to walk in light by their own wi ll ; and so ,

in all the conditions and fortunes of thy chil

dren in their outward lot and in their inward
,

life in their p ast exp erienc e an d in their pres

, ,

ent feeling in their future hopes and pres ent

,

desires may they dwell in thee — th ou Guide and

, ,

Hop e of all thy p eople AM EN . .

Almighty One inspire now in our hearts by

,

thy g ood Spirit every pure purp ose every good ,

resolution every right affection I f we are inno

, .

cent confirm that innocence by thy word sp oken

,

12 5
in p eace and power This is my beloved son in
, ,
”
whom I am well pleased ; if our lives are brok
en if we are fallen from supreme heigh ts of
,

moral beauty and glory pity us in our broken

,

condition and let p enitence and tears c ome with

,

blessing and gentle forgiveness an d holy p eace ;

and may w e think of the things that belong to
us as the children of God ; may we subdue this
world and its p ossessions to a noble service ; may
we through God b e victorious over all evil ; and
, ,

when we move on beyond the horiz ons of this

visible world may we go to greater comp anion
,

ships greater glory and splendor before which

, ,

the eyes of angels are undimmed and to p eace

,

which passeth understanding AM EN. .

1 26
 O C TO BE R 5, 1 8 89 MOR NI N G

WE are c om e again to pl ace of p rayer with

our

our ever r eturnin g wan ts with our c o mmon sup

-
,

plications ,our co mmon weakn esses tri als c ares , , ,

an d sins We cry unto thee O God from the

‘

.
, ,

depths of a lowly sp irit ; we implore thee not t o

despise the o ff e rings of our hear ts and to listen ,

to the p rayer of thy contri t e ones We are come .

from thou knowest where — from distant places

,

of the earth from more distant pl a ces of thought

,

and a ff ection engagements and duties of the

,

world and afi airs of daily life ; and we have all

come to this place where our feet meet in one
common way We have come to remind our
.

hearts of thee to lift them u p toward thee to

, ,

repose on thine almighty arm to gain strength,

and fortitude to do and bear thy p erfect will .

We thank thee Al mighty God for those great

, ,

sentiments in our minds an d hearts that seem to

l ast forever ; and tho u gh w e recite them over and
over again though we u tter them in praye r
,

night and mo rning and noon and evening ,

though we come again and again to our plac e of

t eaching and wo rship and bow down before thee ,

127
still the same an cient song bears up our hea rt s
on wings Of p ower the s ame wor ds of lowly
,

p enitence ever interpret our inm ost souls and ,

the words and thoughts an d exp eriences of thy

children for thous an ds and thousands of yea rs
are still fresh as the morning dew with every ,

generation and with every new exp erience and

imp ul se of our hearts .

We thank thee Al mighty God with humble

, ,

reverence ; we adore thee for thy great provi ,

dence which has brought us into so glorious a

communion the comm union of human souls
—
, ,

the communion of human experien c es the com ,

munion of our c ommon hearts with God our

Father and now we pray thee to temp er thy
—
,

provid ences to our hearts I f those providences .

are dark and mysterious may we re fl ect and ,

meditate seriously and earnestly how little we

know and may we find comfort in feeling that
,

the great resp onsibility is with God our M aker , ,

our I n spirer and that if we have been true to

, ,

that light which he has given if we have been ,

“
true to that l ight that lighteth every man that
cometh into the world we can be free from all ,

mean anxieti es from all dark trouble fro m al l

, ,

evil forebodin gs and can rest up on thine eternal

‘

arm I f we look back up on the p ast or if we

.
,

stand up in the present and have much to r e ,

p ent Of may we meditate on the healing power

,

1 28
of rep entan c e an d u pon the precious p romis es
,

of God S o ma y our hearts ever be refreshed by

.

divine breez es may our fainting sp irits be sus

,

t ained by divine inspiration ; and b elieving in

ourselves and in God led forward by the truth
,

of thy S on a n d sustained by the grace that is in

,

him may we do bravely may we thi nk honestly

, , ,

may we a c t with sincerity ; and may we b e at one

with ourselves a nd at on e with thee .

Almighty God hear our prayer f or all men ;

,

give us human symp athy in the h uman world ;

take us out of the little horiz ons of all our nar
r ow thoughts and expand our souls by divine
,

wisdom and di vine tru th AM EN . .

O God hear tho u our praye r We will not

, .

pray mu c h ; but thou knowest al l Fu lfil l in our .

hea rt s now our b est desires our purest wishes , ,

our most heavenl y a ff ectio ns Strengthen r eason .

,

give wings to imagination give depths t o feel ,

ing give insight to love and let thy p eople be

, ,

blessed with something of angeli c light and

something of angeli c j oy AM EN . .

1 29
 O C TO BE R 6 , 1 88 9 EVENIN G

THE day is done ; the evening shadows fal l ; the

night stands above and around us protected by
thy c ar e ; and now we come for an ho ur to our
plac e of p rayer to lift u p our voice in j oyful
,

song to lift up our hearts in adoring prayer to

, ,

confess thy goodness and by solemn act of in , ,

ward thought and feeling to consecrate our ,

selves afresh to thy ser vice thy truth and th y , ,

word .

We thank thee f or the p l easant day for all its ,

happy opportuni ties and p rivilege s its freedom ,

from or d in ary labor th e rest from toil the op

, ,

p ort un ity of home of the c omp,

anionship of
friends of children of father an d mother
, , ,

brother and sister We thank thee Al mighty

.
,

God for th y go odness that is without stint ; for

,

those gifts that tho u dost c ontinu al ly best ow

up on us whether we are mindful of them or not ;
,

so freely dost tho u give that we a r e wont even

to forget thy gifts Teach us to remind our

.

hearts of our dependence and to learn that our

dep endence on thee is our j oy our strength our , ,

great privilege and ou r bl essing Op en tho u to

, .

130
us the founta ins of et e rnal life the glory th at ,

may shi ne up on the mind and the spirit the love ,

liness that may be seen in pure a ff ections in ,

righteous wil l and in the insights and p ower s

,

and glories of a tru e an d heavenly love

,
.

Al mighty One thou Protector of all let th y

, ,

strong and loving ca r e be ov er all We woul d .

think of thy common h uman family the world ,

of m ankind ,
thou knowest what thou made st ;
-

thou knowe st what thy will is ; lead on thy peop l e

by mighty providences by righteous retribution
, ,

by holy teaching lead them on by the p illar of

,
-

cloud by day and of fire by night to ful fill the ,

great destiny which thou hast app o inted them

”

and may our will never defeat thy holy pu rp ose .

Forgive our si ns ; let thy tender care b e upon

all those wh o are a ffli c ted wh o are bow ed down
,

with tro ubl e d str essed in mind and hea rt B e

,
i
.

with those wh o languish on beds of si ckn ess an d ,

wh o are thinking ye t ere long they shall d e

p a rt— the lone soul to the l one God And so l et .

thy people b e comfo rted in thee the Al mighty ,

One . Thy p erfec t goo dness thy wisdom thy , ,

—
p ower thy love let them be f or all thy p e opl e .
, ,

1 31
 O C TO BE R 1 3, 1 88 9 MOR NIN G

GOD, our Fathe r in heaven we thy p e ople thine , , ,

earthly children c ome to thee again in our place

,

of p rayer ; we come with the ever returning -

wan t with the ever same c onfession with the

,
-
,

of t rep eated supplication ; we come to thee with

-

gladness with holy fear with awe and fil ial

, ,

love ; let our minds be reverently imp ressed by

thy greatness thy holiness thy power and thy
, , ,

go od ness an d may we be drawn to thee by a

,

sens e of thine unsp eakable glory and beauty and

goodness ; and as we look up to thee for eve ry
g ood thing a nd c onfess that we receive our daily
,

bread from thy liberal hand may we feel that ,

the insp irations of thy Spirit kindle understand

ing reason faith a ff e c tion and imagination ;
, , , ,

may we feel that thy man ifestation in us is the

bond that binds us to thee and by which we are ,
”
the s ons of God .

We give thee common thanks 0 God ; we give ,

thee gratitude fo r all the blessings of o u r lot ,

and we pray that when tri al or darkness or di s

appointment com es to u s when p erplexity an d ,

fear and almost death are near we pray tha t ,

1 32
thou wilt help us b y fil ial t rust b y gentle confi
, ,

d ence by tender and pure hearts to lay our bur

, ,

den upon thy arm to be led by thy strong and

,

me rc iful hand and to feel that no harm c an be

,

fall us if thou a rt nigh .

We adore thy p roviden c e Al mighty One ; we ,

praise thy works As w e look abroad o v er the

.

ea rth and the sea an d into the Sky th y glories ,

are manifest to our minds thy p owers are set ,

forth in every land where thy word is sp oken ,

and w e bow with reverence before thee .

Al mi ghty One in the silent and still temple of

,
'

our hearts let there be a sin c ere wo rship a ,

humble prayer a deep and tender and broken

,

hearted rep entance Forgive our S ins ; remove

.

them from us as far as the east is from the west ;

r emember them no more ; and if we return t o
thee after having forgotten thee after having ,

rebelled against thee and shut o ur ears against

thy paternal voice — if we return to thee meet
, ,

us 0 Father in heaven meet us while yet we

, ,

are afar ofi restore us to our home in thee ; and

say not a word of rep roach t o us for all our

past ; and so may we go on and on in a glorious

way of mor al and spiritual light finding in our ,

daily exp erience a trainin g and discipline fitting

us for the kingdom of God And as years .

increase may we from new heights of attain

, ,

ment and of experience b e able to look abroa d

,

1 33
and say in our d eep est hea rts B ehol d the good
,
”
n ess and mer c y of God .

Prote c t us all by thy p ower ; i nspire b y thy

Spirit ; and let thy common blessings and provi
dences b e for and over all the children of men .

Hear our prayer ins p ire our he arts kindle o ur

, ,

l ove and let thy b enediction be u pon us e v er

,

m ore AM EN
. .

O God , most merciful and gr acious , hear now

the praye r of thy children Transform us into
.

thine own image— thy divine likeness and give ,

u s courage and strength and fortitude to put the

best thoughts and the things that we do most
sinc erely believe into daily practice ; an d tea c h
us to believe an d feel that a p ure thought a ,

good conscienc e an upright mind outweighs a

,

world of luxury and ease AM EN. .

 O C TO BE R 1 3, 1 8 8 9 EVENIN G

AL M IG H TY and most mer c iful God thou whose ,

hand supp o rts the steady globe of the earth and

brings the fair proc ession of day and night we ,

ask thy blessing now that our minds may be

attuned by the spirit of truth by reveren c e , ,

love honor uprightness righteousness and

, , , ,

go odness We confess thy providential Spirit in

.

thy inspiring word that thou hast sp oken all

al ong the line of human generations and a rt ,

ever speaking to thy beloved human race En .

large our thoughts and symp athi es to think of a

human world to think of that which we cal l
,
“
h um anity —
,
the life of God on ear th the ,

—
manifestation of thy Sp irit in man with love ,

and honor and pit y ; to think with j oy and grati

tude of that crowning mysterio us lif e — the life
,

of thy Son Jes u s Christ leader of our s alvation ,

,

c aptain of the victorious hosts that shall c onquer

f or the kingdom of God .

Let thy blessing now b e up o n all th ose whom

we thi nk of in our hea rts whom in our medita
,

tive moo ds we wo ul d nam e bef or e thee — those ,

wh o ar e not with us who may b e far away a c ross

,

1 35
lands and se as wh o are pursuing their own vo c a
,

tions in the name of God an d by the help of his

Spirit wherever they may b e encourage and
—
,

inspire them and let them cheerfully and faith

,

ful ly follow the appointments of thy providence .

An d let thy blessing be with those wh o are in

p laces of sp ecial p o wer and authority of Wis ,

dom teaching or divine appointment ; let thy

, ,

blessing b e upon all ins titutions of lear ning l aw , ,

—
religion may they have in them all grac e and
,

favor and wisdom and may they inst ruct in the

,

ways of God in all truth an d p ower and beauty

‘

,
.

Let thy blessing we pray thee be up on those

, ,

wh o are unknown to the great world but not f or ,

gotten by thee in whose heart s there is going on

,

the work of thy eternal kingdom in whose minds ,

and e arthl y exp erience there is being wr ought

out a great and might y problem of which the

world knows little and yet for which the world

,

was made ; and let us all each one in h is place ,

an d vocation feel that we have a divine appoint

,

ment a vocation of God a calling from on high

, ,
.

Let thy blessing be up on the city and all the

p eople thereof up on the high the low the rich , , ,

the poor and those who know not their right

,

hand from their l eft Lead guide protect and.

, , ,

bless ; and let thy p eople b e led forward to bet

ter things than they know taught by thy ,
-

Spirit guided by thy providence and led for

, ,

136
ward to greater and greater experience which
shall be fulfill ed at last in thine own g ood time
,

in some kingdom of God her e or there .

Al mighty One forgive our sins ; hear our

,
’
prayers f or thy na me and mercy s sake forever
,

and ever .

1 37
 O C TO BE R 2 0, 1 8 8 9

GOD, ou r Father Hol y One we c ome to thee ;

, ,

thou art our Refuge our Ro ck our Defense We

, , .

thank thee for thy pro te cting care for the ,

bo u nty of thy providen c e the good ness of thy

,

p aternal love the wise chastisements of thy

,

righteousness and thy truth We thank thee .

,

and we confess in all this changing s c ene of the

o u tward world we confess thy p ower thy pres
, ,

ence thy interest and thy love in the human

, ,

world The earth turns sun s ris e and set rains

.
, ,

fall and clouds are spread above us ; the ocean

,

rolls in thine almighty hand ; the mountains are

firm in the strength which thou ha st established ;
and all the scenes of earth and al l the vicissi ,

tudes of human existence are ordered and di

rect ed and controlled by thy omnip otent h and .

Let r everen c e and holy fear be in our minds ;

and through rifts o f earthly cl ouds may thy
p eople have gle ams of eternal beauty of glories ,

and grandeurs of inefi abl e things of God and

, ,

his Spirit .

Almighty One we acknowledge with humble

,

h ea rts our weakness es an d our sins ; and we

p ray fo r that forgiv eness when we do sincerely
f orsake our sins — we pray f or that forgiveness
,

which removes them from us as far as the east

is from the west ; and may we have that divine ,

that beatific S ight of thy goodness thy p erf ec ,

tion and th y beauty that shall lead us to say

, , ,

“
Let th y reproofs come upon us l et thy hand ,

r est heavily upon us if we may but be purified ,

from our ea rthly dros s and made fit for thy com

”
p anionship thy friendship and thy love
, , .

Almighty God we thank thee for the pleasant

,

things of our earthly lot for its kindly charities , ,

its p ities its loves its vi c tories of p ain and glad

, ,

ness ; we thank thee for the comp anionship and

dep endence of those who are dear to us for thos e ,

to whom we owe unspeakable debts of gr ati

—
t ude eyes that are to us the gate of heaven
, ,

and hearts that we never for a moment dis

t rusted — these things we wo uld think with
, ,

divine imagination and p ur e feeling are e arthly ,

symbols of what we may find in thee And so as .

years inc r ease may feeling grow d eep er may

, ,

thought ascend higher may imagination rise on ,

stronger wings and with greater p ower and may ,

“ ” “
we have no reas on to ask Why ? or Where
”
fore ? inasmuch as the kingdom of God shall
—
be within us God is and we are —an d we are
, , ,

at p eace .

Let thy blessing Almighty One be abr oad , ,

1 39
over a ll the h uman world upon our c ommon ,

country and beloved land upon the common ,

we al th of our state upon th e city and the ,

dwellers therein Cherish by thy Holy Spirit

.
, ,

all goodness in the he arts of thy children ; chas

tise rebuke bless console and comfort them
, , , , ,

according to their wants ; and let n o heart chal

lenge thy W isdom or thy grace or ask thee ,
“
Wh y ? or Whe r efore ?
” “ ”
AM EN .

Almighty God our Father let thy Spirit i n

,

the depth s of our hearts c onvince us of tr uth of ,

our own sin s our need of thy purifying fires ;

,

and ma y we look up to thee with imploring

“
p r ayer saying
,
L et my soul live an d it Shall
, ,
”
praise thee ; and let thy judgments help me .

And so may new heavenly light be Shed abroad

on all our earthly c ou rse ; may new courage come

into our hea rts new fortitude into our bre asts
, ,

and a wonderful vision of moral beauty into our

minds AM EN
. .

1 40
 O C TO BE R 2 7, 1 88 9

O GOD ,
F ather we thank thee for thy p ro
our ,

t ect ing care that ag ain we are p ermitted to come

,

to our pl ac e of devout prayer and c on t emp l a

tion to lift up our hearts and voic e to thee to
, ,

c onfess our sins to bow down humbly before

,

thee and to rise up in j oy and gladn ess We

,
.

p raise th ee ; we give thee glory and honor and

p ower and majesty — thou Al mighty One terri
, ,

ble in glory b eautiful in praises and in th ine

, , ,

everlasting l ove the life and light and hop e and

,

p eace O f all thy children We thank thee for the

.

c ommon things of our earthl y lot ; and we thank

thee more for the unsp eakable gift of thy Sp irit

that thou hast given us b y which in the midst
, ,

O f many p erplexities and trials and griefs and

p ains amid all the disapp ointments and crosses
,

and uncert ainties O f our earthl y lot we have a ,

sustaining p ower a mysterious grace a heaven

, ,

ly l ove ; a p ower of trust ing in thee of hoping in ,

thee and believing that somehow in some wa y

, , ,

an d at some tim e greater good shall come out of

our evil an d that thy wisdom and thy p ower are

,

ever for us and that the p enitent the sorrowful,

, ,

141
and the broken hearted thou wilt lift up to j oy
-

and p e ac e .

Hear us now 0 God in our lowly prayer our

, , ,

humble p enitence our longing cry Forgive

, .

our sins ; forgive our indifferen c e ; p ardon our

weaknesses ; lift us up and strengthen us an d ,

make us s tand by the might of thy Spirit .

We thank thee Almighty God that thou h ast

‘

, ,

lift ed up up on us the light of thy c ou ntenance ,

and that in the word and face of thy Son Jesus

,

Christ thou hast revealed thys elf an d art reveal

,

ing thyself to us continually We bless th ee for.

all the grace and charity an d beni gnity of human

life — for the laugh and r ollick of childhood
, ,

for the sweetness and promise of youth for the ,

strength of manhood and f or the gentle wisdom

,

and grace of age ; and we ble ss thee that thr ough ,

many vicissitudes of trial of uncertaint y , ,

through much teaching and dee p exp erienc e of

the world there a r e rifts of light through th e
,

clouds there are gleams of p eace to troubled

,

hearts and that th ere are solita ry moments

,

of gladness and j oy and hop e And w e

‘

thank thee Almighty God for those com

, ,

mon outward gifts and pleasures and satis

faction s whi c h belong to us in this life ,

which are blessings to our mind s and hearts if

rightly used for the kingdom of God but whi ch ,

at length we dismiss as a wise man dismisse s a

42
faithful servant whose services he no longer
nee ds We thank thee f or our daily safety and
.

ability to go about our a ff airs f or the sat isf ac ,

tion we h ave in our afi airs for the reas onable,

gratification we have in overcoming difficulties ,

making a way plain in triumphin g over this out

,

ward world by skill by wisdom by learning by

, , ,

industr y ; and may we in all this school of life

and te ac hin g may we learn and know some
—

thing better than the things we handl e an d ma y ,

we learn that we ourselves are no p a rts of the

things ; and may we remember that through ,

faithfulness and honesty and uprightness and a

pure heart and upright will w e may be in this ,

humble dusty way of earth entering continually

,

the kingdom of God ; and so may suc c ess or

disappointment trial or j oy tears or gladn ess
, ,

bring to our hearts the ri ch tr e asures of wisdom ,

the rich strength of p eac e .

Al mighty God thou knowest us altogether ;

,

we need not pray much t o expl ain ou rselves t o

thine etern al and all piercing Spirit We are
-
.

men of the world ; we have the p assions of the

world ; but we have a light within a light of thy ,

Spirit a divin e guidance ; and we beseech the e

,

to help us to walk by that guidance and give us ,

the inspiration of that Spirit ; and may w e c ome

into comm union with thy t ru th through the gos
p el of thy Son Jesus Christ M ay we see in him
.

1 43
the wisdom of God the p ower of God ; and in
,

walking in h is footsteps in looking to his divine

,

example in a scending into the c ele stial moun

,

tains of his trials an d temptation may we bear ,

testimony in our hearts that we t oo are taught ,

c h as tised reproved and beckoned upwar d

, , .

Almighty God hear our prayer ; forgive our

,

sins ; lead us always in a plain p ath of duty ;

help us to bear our afflictions well and t o bea r ,
'

our p rosp erity and our successes with mode st

and humble mind s ; and whatever comes may we ,

not b e too much surprised or changed in our

hearts ; and when at last thou c al lest may we ,
“ ”
each one b e ready and answer Here am I ,
.

O Holy Father ins pire o ur hearts now by thy

,

Spirit to think an d feel the things that we do

most truly believe ; and give depth and p ower to
the stre am of exp erience that wisdom and good
,

ness and truth a n d moral beauty may b e a kind

, ,

of common sens e to our hear ts to our minds and

,

Our souls .Let thy teaching b e adapted to our

weakness to our ignorance and to our want B e
, ,
.

gentle with us in our imp atience in our sho r t ,

sightednes s and teach us h ow little we know

, ,

and yet kindle in our hearts an inextinguishable

hop e a divine tru st a might y c onquest of faith
, ,
.

144
 N OVE M BE R 3, 1 8 89 MOR NIN G

WE are come again to place O f prayer ; Oour

God Al mighty M ak er E verlasting Friend our

, , ,

Father in heaven by thy gracious and i ns piring

,

Spirit come to thy people now C ome bring

,
.
,

ing gentle thoughts and pur e feelings and sweet

humility and p enitence to their heart s ; and as
we rise up and bow down b efore thee and lift up ,

our prayer and song let our hear ts be instructed

,

by thy pres ence inspired by thy gracious Spirit ;

,

and may thy p rovidence thy wisdom thy good , ,

ness and thy p ower all seem to our believing

,

minds to b e on behalf of us thy children ,

.

We come from many d istances of thought and

feel ing and action and exp erienc e Thou know
,
.

est every hea rt every mind every will

,
We ,
.

come from far and nigh ; from cares pursuits , ,

troubles trials j oys satisfactio ns and p eace

, , , ,
.

Tho u givest to us all our share of p ain or joy of ,

gladness or tea rs ; and may we have no selfish

ness about it ; may we n ot b e t oo much engaged
with wonder and surp ri se at thy p rovidence ,

and at the vicissit udes of human life ; but may

we fl ee from all that to the heights of inac c essi
145
ble p eace where we trust and believe and hope
,

in thee fully and feel that we are safest when

,

we are altogether in thy hand .

We bless thee Almighty God and we co nfes s , ,

thy ever present and eternal Spirit working for

-

us that in the vicissitudes of our earthly life

, , ,

the things which we have most dreaded have

sometimes turned out to be best ; and that those
things which we have thought the best when
they were nigh when looked back upon in the ,

genial light of distance and the temp er of exp e

rience we see that they were not so good as we
,

thought them M ay we learn Almighty One .

, ,

may we learn of thee that there are tre asures of

wisdom yet to be unfolded to us far greater than
w e have yet known on earth ; and as we think of
that innumerabl e comp any who have moved on
beyond these earthly horiz ons may we think of ,

them as exalte d — exalted above the earth with ,

purer i ns ights purer a ff ections stronger wills

, , ,

and as they s tand with undazzled ey es in thy

,

presenc e they know thee better they love thee

, ,

more and they serve thee with happ ier will To

,
.

that innumerable company we would be joined

in holy symp athies in devout gratitude in holy , ,

recollections and in immortal hopes ; and m ay

,

we learn as life bears us on up on its mighty

,

stream may we learn to think more and more

,

that our earthly lot is a p art of our eternal be

1 46
 ing ; that now is our immortal ity that now is ,

our eternal life ; and that if we are living a life ,

in God obedient to h is will in pure a ff ection

, ,

toward one another when we go hence we have , ,

but to live on and on in the same ever ascending -

c ours e ; we will not change our love ; we will not

abolish our C onsecrated will ; but inspired anew
and infused by thy life rise on wings of power ,

to thy pr esence thy glory and thy grac e

, ,
.

Al mighty One hear our p rayer ; forgive our

,

sins ; pity our weakn esses ; be compassionate

with our ignoranc e and our bad temp er ; and in
all things chasten us by thy word and command
m ent ; and may we b e so childlike and faithful
and sin less a s to feel th at thy chastisements are
,

sweet .

Almighty God now let thy bles sing b e abroa d

,

upon all the earth as wide as the b eams of the ,

sun ; and as the waters fill the sea so le t thy

, ,

r ighteousness come down up on the nations an d

upon the world Go fo rth b y thy Sp irit en
.
,

churching thyself in this human w orld leading ,

it by thy providence inspiring it by thy Sp irit , ,

and lifting up thy p eople forever and forever .

AM EN .

O God our Father aro und thy throne the ih

, ,
“
numerable hosts do cry continually Holy holy , , ,
”
holy Lord
, Let our prayers j oin the heavenly
.

1 47
c omp an y ; let our praise echo in the heavenl y
p la c es ; and here on earth benea th may we feel
, ,

that Heaven is begun that we belong to the

,

great communion of saints of wh om Jesus

,

Christ is first and the little child that last fl ed

,

is last And so may our grea t communion be

.

with thee and thy beloved forever and forever .

AM EN .

1 48
 N O VE MBE R 3, 1 8 8 9 EVE N IN G

GOD, our F ather in hea v en , the curtains of as

n ight fall aro und the dwellings of men we come ,

again to spend an hour in thi s place of praye r

and teaching and we implore thy gracious pres
,

ence thy enlightening Sp irit thy forgiving love

, , ,

thy protecting car e Over all the earth stillness

.

reigns The hosts of night are marshaled up on

.

the heavenly plain ; the sea rolls in the hollow of

thine hand ; the mountains stand fast by thy
p ower ; man rests from his l abors and his heart ,

is refreshed by thoughts of God too great to be

numbered even beyond the number of the sands
,

of the sea .

We implore thy blessing Holy Father ; we im ,

p l or e it up on ou rselv es up on our homes our

, ,

friends those whom we love and we implore it

, ,

f or thy c ommon human family for every lan d ,

and rac e on earth Let thy truth be gl orified

.
,

the truth of thy works the t ruth of thy wa ys

, ,

the truth of thy word the t ruth as it is in thine

,

eternal righteousness in thine al mighty p ower

, ,

in thy perfe c t g oodness an d love An d teach us .

,

men of the w orld with co mm on c ares an d com

149
mon dutie s as we ent er into the c ommon exp e
,

r ien ces of th y human race may w e feel th at we

,

belong indeed to a gr eat ca use — that we are

,

allied to an almighty p u rp ose ; and a cc ording

,

to our best and hum blest thought acc ording to ,

our purest vision and our sin c erest reason may ,

we j oin o u rselves to that ca use and be p artakers

,

of the eterna l wil l

.

Let thy blessing be upon u s now up on the ,

homes which we ha v e left to come here u pon ,

those wh o are separated f rom u s by distan c es of

time or sp a c e across sea or land ; and may we
,

ha v e c onfiden c e and simple faith that those wh o

to thee an d tr ust to thee whe r ev e r,

they a r e up on the earth c annot be far ap a rt

,
.

1 50
 N O VE MBE R 1 0, 1 8 8 9 MOR NIN G

GOD, our Almighty and E verlasting Friend we , ,

thy p eople are c ome again to our pla c e of

,

prayer The da y is bright ; the sun shines c lear

.
,

an d the earth is blessed beneath its genial

beams ; and the heart of man tried and afliicted
‘

, ,

or rej oicing an d glad lifts u p its v oic e and

,

prayer to thee .

Al mighty One gloriou s in p raises great in

, ,

p ower above all in beauty stronger than

, ,

strength — we implore thee ; we r ise up and bow

,

down b efore thee ; we bring thee gifts of a c on

trite heart of a pu re s p irit of devout faith and
, ,

fil i al love .

We thank thee tho u give r of all our good f or

, ,

t h e ever common gifts of th y providen c e fo r

-
,

thy steady p owe r thy p atient l ove thine e v er

, ,

l asting an d l ong sufi ering goodness and tr uth

'
-
.

We thank thee fo r the c ommon blessin gs O f our

lot — so c o mmon —as day and night morning
, , ,

and noon d ail y bread and divine gifts of love

, ,

holy charities of our d ail y life an d many ble ss ,

ings descending from the p ast and ho p es that

dawn in the futu re .

1 51
 We sometimes feel afflicted ; we are sometimes
much p erplexed ; sometimes we are broken
hearted ; but we have ever had a my sterious gift
—
in our hearts the gift of tru sting in thee of
, ,

hop ing in thee and of believing that somehow

, ,

in some way at some time eternal good will

, ,

come of all our app arent evil of all ou r weak ,

n ess our shortcomings our frailty or our sins

, , , .

And we pray thee Almighty Go d that as we

, ,

look up to thee with such trus t and implore thy

guid ance with believing hearts thou wilt temper ,

our minds to acc ept the events of life and p rovi

dence as they come ; to accep t them not only as

inevitable or as c ruel fate but as the wise co r
, ,

r ections of one who sees the end from the begin

n ing wh o knows what is b est and wh o will do
, ,

what is b est for every soul of man .

We thank thee Almighty One that when thi s

, ,

earthly life and lot are over we may trust ,

to the same Almighty Providen c e ; t h at we m ay

go fo rth to new spheres of being to a new thea ,

ter of action and life and thought where our ,

faith shal l b e clearer thy pre sence shall b e more

,

manifest and thy love sh all warm and inspire

,

our hearts more full y And we thank thee that

.

we can and ma y trust those wh o have gone be

fore us to that field and Sphere and theater of
Spiritual l ife ; th a t we may t r ust them to him
“
wh o saith ,
Al l so ul s are mine Tho u hast .

1 52
made them ; thou hast inspired them ; thou hast
appointed unto them their discipline their trials , ,

their st ruggles their pain their grief or their

, ,

loss their j oy or their gr atitude ; and we may

,

c ommit them to thee And we bless thee f or all

.

the fl o od of infinite goodne ss and wisdom and

gra c e that fl ows down to us from on high from
—

the higher p l aces of spiritual life where dwell ,

those whom we remember an innumerable com ,

pany into whose lives and inheritanc e we have

,

entered and in whos e hop e we live and still

,

have our being .

Almighty One forgive our sins ; let thy bless

,

ing be abroad upon all the children of men ; bless

and inspire the people of our land ; guide and in
struct our government and administrators of
l aw manners religion and teaching ; and let
, , ,

them all look forth on the fair proce ssion of the

Spiritual life of man Let thy benediction be
.

up on all the sufi ering ones the poor the op , ,

pressed the Obscure and the unknown ; and m ay

, ,

our hum an sym pathies be so increas ed that all

our distinctions and all our pride and coldness

shall be lost forever in the greater thought that

w e are S imply human an d belong to the common
,

fami ly of God on earth AM EN . .

Father in heaven hear our prayer uttered

, ,

or unexp ressed and by thy Spirit kindle the

,

1 53
deep est and lo v eliest things and thoughts in our
hearts I n c rease that light in us that lighteth
.

e v ery man that c ometh into the world ; enlarge

our sym p athies to the bread th of true human

feeling and div ine grac e ; and may it be eno u gh

f or us that living faithfully and honestly and
,

devoutly here with on e another we,

m end ourselves to God— the faithful God— fo r

ever and ever .

1 54
 N OVE M BE R 1 0, 1 8 8 9 EVENIN G

ALM IG HTY GOD our Fathe r in Heav en let thy

, ,

blessing and thy Spirit be upon us now as we ,

are come inthe eveni ng hour to our pla c e O f

prayer of teachi ng and of song L et thy bene
, ,
.

diction be u p on the homes whi ch we have left ,

the friends that are there ; let thy bles sing t oo , ,

’
go abro ad o er the whole world genial as the ,

beams of the s un p rotec tin g silent an d st ill as

, , ,

the shadows of the night .

We thank thee f or thy ever c o nstant an d -

never failing g oodne ss f or thy strong and stead y

-
,

hand leading us forward in pla c es which we

,

know not and where we should lose ourselves ;

f or the enlightenment of thy Spirit and the ,

abundan t gifts of thy gra c e enl ightening our ,

min ds p ersuading our hearts soothi ng our pain

, , ,

and turning all things for our good And let .

thy benediction we pray thee b e everywhere

, , ,

wherever there is a human hea rt a human life ,

to be taught and led and instruc ted by thee In .

crease in us we p ray thee that geni al and gener

, ,

ous feeling which is of the p ower of thy Spirit

and thy grac e— to be in symp athy with thy

1 55
truth in symp athy with human life and with
,

human hearts .

We ask thy bl essing Almighty God and we , ,

c ommend to thy p ower and providence all those ,

in fl uences those institutions those teachings

, , ,

those word s of truth and right which are the ,

forerunners of th y kingdom on earth ; up on

eve ry institution of learning of law of religion , , ,

of good government and all that p ertains to

,
’
man s spiritual and moral being to his welfare ,

on earth and t o h is final destiny

,
.

Almighty G od let thy blessing be upon the

,

people of the city upon all classes and fortunes

,

and conditions up on all little children young

, ,

p ersons those of mature years the venerable

, ,

and exp erienced and wise ; over all classes and

fortunes and conditions le t the same good provi
denc e preside let the same paternal love and
,

p atienc e and wisdom reign and let all be blessed ,

in thee the c omm on Father and God of al l

,
.

AM EN .

1 56
 N O VE MB E R 1 7, 1 8 8 9 MOR NIN G

O GOD our F ather I nfinite and Holy One M aker

, , ,

of all things Sustainer of all things I nspirer of

, ,

men our Father in heaven our Al mighty

, ,

Friend we are c ome again to our plac e of

—
,

p rayer according to our consecra t ed custom ,

a ccord ing to the way and h abit of o ur heart ac ,

cording to our consecrated will and pure feeling .

We are come to ofi er our prayer to lift up our ,

song to listen to thy word and t o rise on win gs

, ,

of p ower to thy presence C ome now to thin e .

own ; come to the hea rts that kno w the e and to ,

the hearts that wait for thee ; c ome t o our weak

ness and our want our frailty and our sin ; and
,

lift up thy p eople forever and forever .

We own th y blessing and thy goodnes s thy ,

providence that is plain and thy providence that

is mysterio us ; we would accept them both with
filial minds with intelligent hearts with humble
, ,

and lowly feeling F or the common blessin gs of

.

life we thank thee M ay no habit or custom eve r

.

dull their beauty ; but with ever fresh insp ira -

tions and moments of divin e illumining may we ,

see the beauty of the grass beneath our feet and ,

1 57
may the very walks in which w e tread be as sap
phire and rubi es and gold t o our sight ; and in
our dwellin gs among those we love in the
, ,

sp ecial seclusion of our hearts and our lives and

our loves may there thy kingdom b eam up on us
,

with celestial glories in the common things of

our daily lot in those whom we meet day by
,

day and hour by hour and become so accus ,

t om ed to them that there may be a veil drawn

before their goodness Almighty God may we .
,

believe in the loveliness of human hearts the ,

beauty of human life ; and may we travel into no

distant world or custom or clime but learn that ,

the besetting God is ever near encompassing us ,

behind and b efor e and l aying his hand upon us

,

in infinite wisdom and infinite love .

Almighty God let thy p itying care be up on all

,

the distressed the unfortunate the poor the

, , ,

wandering the wicked Check th e proud and

,
.

vain ; lift up the fallen ; comfort and cons ole the

broken hearted ; an d according to thine infinite
-

and insp iring will help c omfort chastise r e , , ,

buke and bless thy p eople everywhere

,
.

0 thou I nfinite and Holy One thou infinite ,

-
,

unique and eternal Love — wo ul d that my heart

, ,

were as thy heart and that wholly ' An d may it

,

be even so with all thy p eo p le tho u I nfinite God ,

of etern al life AM EN
. .

1 58
 O God our I nsp ire r quicken our hearts b y thy
, ,

Spirit now to disce rn thy near by t ruth and pres

-

enc e ; and in manifestations of that truth an d

,

presence may we ever adore the besetting God

, ,

the inspiring One Let thy fullness be p oured

.

in ample fl oods u pon our rec eptive and tea chable

hearts giving u s wisdom giving us grac e ; and
, ,

let moral beauty dawn up on us from thine in

finite and eternal Sp irit AM EN
. .

1 59
 N OVE MBE R 1 7, 1 8 8 9 EVENIN G

O GOD our Father in heaven we are come again

, ,

to our place of prayer From the heights of .

revering thought of true and pure feeling of

, ,

reverence for thy word and thy providence we ,

would look abroad up on thy ways with man on

the ea rth We adore with reverent and devout
.

minds that solemn p rocession of history which

moves forward beneath thine ench urch ing
Spirit guid ing mank ind in doubts and perplex
,

ity in wickednes s and in wrong to serener

, ,

heights of p atienc e of pure acts of charity and

, ,

good and giving ful ler gleams of that eternal

,

kingdom which thy Son did preach We adore .

with reverent awe w ith holy fear and with in

, ,

spiring hop e the progress of thy truth We .

grieve over the d arkness the wrong and the sin , ,

of the world ; and we would grieve and repent

sincerely o ver our own ignorance our darkness , ,

an d our sins And those sins which we do sin

.

cerely rep ent of O God rem ove them from us

, , ,

we pray thee as far as the e ast is from the west ;

,

and may we have something o f that exp erience

which the finest spirits of mankind have had
160
the experien c e whi c h t au ght them that ther e was
no contradiction between thy will and their will ,

that they have been led by thy hand and in

spired by thy Spirit and that in days of t um ult
,

and trial and in the last earthly extremity they

, ,

have had a great and exceeding p ea c e .

Let thy blessing we pray thee b e a hallowe d

, ,

and c onsecrated benediction upon all the in sti

tutions of society that promote the welfare O f
m an the good of the p eople th e cherishing and
, ,

teaching of h uman love the guide of the sp irit

,

of man ; and as our yea rs in c reas e and our ex

p er ienc e grows deeper may w e learn

,
that the
chief thi ng the chief thing on this earth is not
, ,

a thing but a being— an immortal n ature —man ,

thy child thy son M ay we learn to look up on

,
.

human society as more beautiful than worlds or

stars ; that we m ay look upon justice as more
wonderful and more glorious than any p roces
sions of the seaso ns than any r evolutions of the
,

earth than any motions of systems and of suns ;

,

and may truth be more beautiful than the morn

ing and wisdom fairer than the skies and love
, ,

sweeter than any landscap e sublimer than the ,

sea,
and stronger than the mountain ; and so ,

having the beat ific vision in our hearts may we ,

have something of celestial light beaming up

on our minds ; and insp ired by a great hop e
, ,

may we have great generosity of feeling great ,

16 1
cour age of thought gr eat p ersuasion an d convic
,

tion An d do thou gr ant Almighty God as in

‘

.
, ,

thy wisdom shall seem best the fulfillment of the

,

prophecies of thy word sp oken by those wh o

,

have seen in sublime vision of truth and love ,

and in the wisdom of God the coming of an ,

eternal kingdom a kingdom of p ower and of

—

p eac e a kingdom of unspeakable glory And

, .

may those of us who sh al l never see that king

do m here on earth may we live and die in the
,

gr ateful and devout exp ectation that we shall be ,

and are p artakers of that kingd om in s c enes be

,

yond this world An d so let thy p eople be

.

blessed and lifted up forever and forever .

We ask thy blessing up on all the p eopl e of the

city to night ; upon every home and habitation of
-

m an ; up on all classes and c onditions and for

tun es of human life Wat c h with thos e that
.

watch ; p ray with those that pray and listen to ,

their prayer ; and let thy benediction thy chas ,

tening gr ace th y r etributive mer c ies be with

,

those wh o are gone astray in p aths of wrong and

wickedn ess ; an d do thou chastise redeem and , ,

bl ess all th y children according t o thy wisdom ,

thy goodn ess and thy p ower AM EN

,
. .

162
 N OVE MBE R 2 4, 1 8 8 9

GOD, our Father in heaven we lift up our ,

hearts t o thee in devout prayer and gr atitude ;

we humbly c onfess our sins and we look up to
thee f or thy free and abundant grac e to remove
our S ins from us as far as the east is from the

west Pity our weaknesses ; reprove our wrong ;

.

and by thy go od Spi rit lead us in p aths O f

beauty and t ru th and p ea c e .

We confess with holy reverenc e thy guidance

, ,

of thy p eople hi the rto and that thou dost lift

,

them up forever and forever We own thy .

protecting p ower and guiding Spirit in the life

of the world in the life of the Church of thy
,

Son Jesus Christ ; and we pray that the vision

of prophets and saints and martyrs and the ,

prophetic word of thy Son may in the eternal

,

years of God b e fulfilled M ay the time come

.

when that Sp irit of truth— the Spir it of G od

shall so inspire and dwell and abide in the hea rts
of men that there shall be p eace in thy hol y

mountain truth in all thy temples ; and that the

,

heart of man S hall everywhere rejoi c e in the

abundance of the g r ace and beauty of God .

163
 Heal all our weaknesses our prejudi c es our
, ,

evil p assions ; lift up our hear ts int o that greater

and mightier kingdom of thy will and of thy
lo v e ; and help each one of us t o enter into this
k ingdom in his own heart in his own home and
, ,

in h is r elatio ns to his fellow men Help us in .

our dwellings in our homes to l ive in the large

, ,

gr ace of a pure afi ect ion of an upright will a

, ,

true feeling and a devout and reverent heart

, .

Shine by thy gracious Sp irit upon the towers

and c itadels of the N ew Jerusalem ; bring forth
in the hearts of men the glad fruits of righteous
ness ; and ma y the time come when man shall
have no c ause to say to his fellow m an “
'now ,
”
ye the Lord ,
inasmuch as all shall know thee ,

from the least to the greatest and S hall be ,

blessed in obedien c e to thy will .

Let thy blessing be to night upon all the peo

-

ple of the c ity— up on every class and condition

and fortune of human life and human lot ; upon
every age and exp erience ; up on every trial of
sorrow or of joy of prosp erity or adversity ; and
,

let all the p eople be blessed in thee the common ,

Father of all Let thy graciou s providence and

.

protecting care be up on all men everywhere .

Chastise correct guide lead forward thy peo p le

, , ,

forever and forever AM EN . .

164
 DE C E MBE R 1 , 1 889

GOD, our Father in heaven we l ook u p t o the e ;

,

we thank thee for thy p rotecting care for thine ,

U pholding p r o vidence f or thine inspiring Spirit

, ,

and for thy love toward us manifes t ed in Jesus

Christ thy Son We thank thee for the day ;
,
.

for its respite from the usual cares and duties of

l ife ; f or its blessed opportunity of home of ,

friendship of thy house of prayer and hymn

,

and teaching ; and f o r al l the blessings of tradi

tion and of truth that gather around it .

And now we as k thy blessing on us as with ,

sincerity of mind and devoutness of heart we

lift up our prayer to thee an d ask thee to bestow

,

up on us all the good that thou knowest we

—
need the good of thy Spirit of thy grace of
, , ,

thy forgiving love thy tender and p aternal a d

,

monitions and thy wise repr oo fs Give us we

,
.
‘

pray thee by thy good providence seconding our

,

honest labo rs — give us the things of this life that

are good for the body and are thy providence
,

and the ways of thy p rovision for the children

of men .

W e thank thee for the refreshing r ain ; w e

1 65
thank thee for dwellings whose w al ls are
adorned with many blessed vines of human a f
f ections consecrated to our hearts by pleasant
,

memories and in which we may have some

,

thought and some reali z ation of what thy p eople

have ever called the k ingdom of God An d .

we ask thy blessing Almighty God up on all the

, ,

people upon every class and c ondition and for

,

tun e of man Assuage the p assions and p rej u

.

dices o f men ; awaken their minds from the deep

Slumbers of ignorance and p as sion and strife ;

and bring in the light of a better truth a purer ,

aff ection and a more divine grace ; and may we

,

al l be led to feel how feeble and how small is our

individual share yet in the wonder the glory , ,

and the p ower of the kingdom of God ; and may

we e ver exp ect more and more of thee ; may we
ever believe in thee for the best things ; and may
our faith in thee be worthy ourselv es and
wo rthy thee thou Al mighty and Al l loving One
,
-
.

Holy F ather hear our prayer ; forgive our

,

sins ; lift us up from every weakness and make ,

us able to stand — to stand up on our feet in

,

justice in righteousness in purity o f pu rp ose ,

, ,

and in up right will —to serve God with our fel

,

low men c areless for this or for that if onl y God

, ,

s p eaks to u s and we sha ll hear AM EN . .

1 66
 DE C E M BE R 8, 1 8 8 9 MOR NIN G

O GOD tho u wh o ar t to be feared and reverence d

,

by all intelligent creatures we loo k u p unto ,

thee with devout and humble feeling with p eni ,

tent and contrite hear ts ; we c ast ou rselves up on

thine al mighty arm and implore thee for all we
,

need We thank thee f or thy protection ; we

.

thank thee for thy p aternal p rovidence ; and

more and most of all f or thine insp iring Sp irit
, ,

that gives discernment to the heart of man We .

look abroad up on the world around us ; we be

hold N ature in her beauty in her glo ry in her , ,

terror and her storms — these are the vestures

,

of the Almighty Thy p ower is seen in the

.

heavens above and upon the earth beneath and ,

abroad upon the gr eat deep The mountains .

stand fast by thy power ; the forests wave in the

winds O f heaven ; and the earth and day and
night are firm and strong in thy p resenc e and in
thy Spirit B ut these are the things of thy crea
.

tion the things o f thine U pholding and the

, ,

things of thy p ower ; they know thee not ; the

mountains kn ow thee not ; the sea speaks no
word of prayer ; the fair fields Of living gr een
smile beneath the sun or drink the gentle rains
1 67
of heav en b ut r etu rn no gratitude ; while th e
,

heart of man dis c e rns in these thy p ower ,

thy g oodne ss and thy inspirati on ; t is the

,
’

hea rt of man al one that can welcome thee as

a divine guest that c an receive thee with heaven
,

ly h osp itality and bless thee f or thy Spirit and

,

thy gra c e O God give us thy children w e

.
, , ,

beseech thee this divine this heavenly grace to

, ,

stand ap a rt from the outward world and to l ook

up on it ; to retire from the outward world t o
the world within undelayed by outward glories
, ,

u ndazzled by brilliant s uns or stars and in safe ,

r etreat in th y eternal strength .

Almighty God we thank thee for and we con

, ,

fess thee in thine ete rnal unfailing law —the

, ,

law that holds the worlds in place that keep s ,

t hem in their cou rses that restrains the sea with

,

in its bounds that send s the rain up on the earth

, ,

an d pours rivers towards the eternal fl oods of

the ocean I n these we revere the e ; but m ore in
.

the heart of man in the l aw of thy righteous

,

ness thy good ness and in the beauty of thy

, ,

holiness An d may we b e p artakers Almight y

.
,

One of something of thine own gr eatness and

,

gl ory ; may our conscien c es respond quickly t o

thy least c ommand ; may our hearts leap up
gladly to lo v e thee ; may our wills be blessed in
thee— in obedience to th ee ; and may an ete rnal
Ro c k eve r be our refu ge and our streng th .

168
 We a sk thy ble ssing Holy One upon our
, ,

homes up o n our kindred and our friends

, ,

whereve r they are on the earth ; and we pray for

those t oo wh o are in heaven blessed as they are
,

indeed in the nearer presenc e of God And ma y .

we all live as in thy presence wherever we are ;

an d by sea or land by night or day may we b e
, ,

livin g a spirit ual life hid in the eternal life of

,

the Lor d AM EN
. .

O tho u S ea rc her of all hearts S ear c h me a nd

,

kn ow me and see if there b e any wi cked way in

,
”
me and lead me in the way everlasting
,
Let .

th at b e the p rayer of thy servants and b y th y,

Spi r it p urify the sp ir itu al rays tha t dawn up on

our mind s ; and amid wo rlds and suns amid p er ,

p l exity or d an ger or fea r may we e v er be se c u r e

,

in thine e te r nal S p i rit and th y eternal l ife .

169
 D E C E M BE R 8, 1 8 89 EVENIN G
Aft er th e d e a th o f Je ff er s on D avi s
' .
)

0 TH O U A L M IG HTY GOD, I nfinite and Holy One ,

w e adore thy power and thy p rovidence ; we

bless thine inspiring Sp irit and p aternal love ;
and we come again in the evening hour to ou r
, ,

place of prayer and we look up to thee with

,

devout and holy feeling We confess our S ins.

,

our weaknesses and our oft going astray ; and

,

we p ray thee to rec eive us as we are ret u rned,

t o thee and remind ourselves of thee our ,

strength our refuge and our r est

, ,
.

For al l tokens of thy p ower in the world

around we ever bless thee ; for the tokens of thy
p rovidenc e in the world of mankind we ever re
j oice and are glad with reverent joy and glad
ness ; and we thank thee f or eve ry token of a
divine guidance a divine p ower that the life of
,

—
man aff ords that in al l ages an d time s an d
,

p eri od s thou hast had witnesses of thee in saints

and prophets and martyr s ; that thou hast been
with thy p eople evermore ; and that every wise
c a use and e v e ry j ust ente rp rise and p ower of
,

1 70
man, has been promoted by thy p rovidence and
thy will .

We thank thee Almighty God for our c oun

, ,

t ry — for its fair an d large domain for its

, ,

happy p eople its thronging industries its insti

, ,

tut ions of learning of law and religion ; and ,

that under the protection of a wise and great

,

c onstitution that looks up on all men as equal ,

equal before God — we thank thee that the p eo

,

ple have p eace An d we ask thy blessing Al

.
,

mighty Father that all the memories of the past

, ,

that all the strifes and war of the past may be ,

year by year forgotten ; and as the gentle stream

of history fl ows on toward the eternal sea may

prejudice be assuaged may good feeling be ,

kindl ed and may c ommerce and intercourse and

,

learning and religion fl ow like rivers of goodness

an d blessing through all our land .

Almighty Father we ask thy blessing and we , ,

implore thy inspiring Sp irit f or every just and ,

generous sentiment for every magnanimo us ,

feeling for every word of faith and confidence

,

and truth Let thy p eople be led by thy p rovi

.

dence ; let them be guided by a p illar of cloud b y

day and of fir e by night ; and here may blessing
and hon or abide forever an d forever .

Let thy blessing be upon all the p eople of the

c ity— upon all classes and fortunes an d condi
tions of men Chastise repr ove bless pity, and
.
, , ,

1 71
lift up a cc ording to the want the distr ess the
, , ,

weakness of the waywar dn ess of all mankind ,

an d let all th y p eople b e blessed in the

eternal good will of God
-
.

172
 D E C E MBE R 1 5, 1 8 8 9

O I NFIN ITE AN D H OLY ON E in the evening ho ur

,

we are come again to our p lace of prayer F o r .

the quiet day for its fre e dom from common

,

duties and labors for its happy opp ortunities

,

f or occasion of thought and teaching and medi ,

ta tion and prayer we th ank thee

,
We thank . .

thee f or home s consec rated by many charities ;

for life sweetened by many pure aff ections ; and
for all the consecration which these receive fro m
thy blessing and thy Sp irit An d we l ook to thee
.

now with gratitude and ask from thee more and

,

more We ask from thee the ab undant enligh t

.

e n m ent of thy Spiri t — that gentle heave nl y and ,

gracious influence which descending up on the

,

hearts of men from the Sp irit of God lea ds them ,

into all truth illumin es their minds with c ele s

,

tial light and gives bea uty and order and l aw

,

and inspiration and love to our being .

Al mighty One l ook u p on us we pray thee ,

, ,

with all thos e feelings whi c h thou hast taught us

in thy word and by the gospel of thy Son tha t
thou dost hold toward all thine earthly c hildren .

Look with patien c e up on our ign oranc e our ,

1 73
weaknes s our fo r getf ulne ss or our indiff erenc e
, , .

Awaken our mind s to finer sensibilities ; insp ire

our imaginations that w e may see t ruth from

afar and seeing and feeling that we belong to

,

thy family that we re c eive our life from thee

, ,

and our nature is like thine own ma y we feel in ,

deed that we have a gr eat destiny a great h Op e , ,

a n inextinguishable being .

We thank thee Al mighty God for those ri ch

, ,

treasu res of the p ast that have come down to us ,

and are a source of enj oyment to u s — f or the ,

lives of the great and the good the humble and ,

the true those who have imbued the world with

,

something of their own beauty who have in ,

spired the heart of man with something of the

truth they received from Go d and have handed ,

it down to us ; and may we hand it down to the

generations that come after us Thou h ast had .

a royal line of heroes and martyrs and saints ;

they h ave been here and there up on the earth in
al l p eriods of time and history — men and ,

women wh o were ready to live or die for the

truth and who gloried in their d evotion and in
,

their self sur render to what they thought best

-

and truest .

Almighty God inspire us with deep er senti

,

ments for the common daily duties of human

l ife the daily ro und of l ife its ever returning
, ,
-

ca r es , its monoton ous anx i eties that the y all ,

1 74
may be lifted up an d gl orifi ed and made the
,

teaching and d iscipline which fit us for immortal

life
.

Holy Father we ask thy blessing upon all thy

,

p eopl e to night Let thy blessing be up on every

-
.

dwelling Comfort those wh o are in trouble and

.

distress ; help them to bear their troubles and

,

give them a word of comfo rt and help in their

distress ; and increase our human sympathies
un til we feel that our great distinction is
we are human .

1 75
 DE C E M BE R 2 2 , 1 8 8 9

O GOD our Father all creatures praise thee ; thy

, ,

works praise thee ; and our hearts bless thee .

Thou Spirit of eternal life thou al l holy and all ,

-

g ood come by thy gracious Spirit to thy p eople

,

now and give us that divine c ommunion with

,

thyself which is the life of our life and the light

of our light ; and let the beauty of the Lord our

God be upon us — something of the beauty of

,

thine eternal excellence the beauty of thy j oy , ,

the beauty of thy love We are very p oo r and .

needy and our need is our blessing ; that we

,

need thy Sp irit that we need thy grace that we

, ,

need thy strong supp orting hand and thy ho ly

p rovidence thy p aterna l c are is indeed ou r
, ,

blessing .

Thou who in thine eternal strength knowest

n o change or shad ow of age look down with ,

gentle and tender regard up on us in our earthly

v icissitudes in our changing seasons and years
, ,

in our feeble or failing earthl y days and give us ,

t o know and feel and to be p artakers of thine

eternal strength .

We come to thee O God to our p lac e of , ,

1 76
prayer from the daily experienc es O f human life .

Some of us c ome in joy and gladn ess some in ,

pain and tears ; give us all to rej oice in God ou r ,

M aker ; to rej oice in his comm anM ent in the ,

strength and power of his hand in the tender ,

n ess of his mercies and the righteousness of his

r etributions ; an d so may we f ee l that here on
eart h we a re entering into that higher life that
b elongs ever to the sons of G od .

We thank thee Holy Father for all the kindly

, ,

c harities the hallowed loves the sacr ed bonds of

, ,

our earthl y lot We thank thee for the symp a

.

thies we have for our fellow beings — that when ,

they are in distress we are in distress ; that when

,

they are cast d own we feel that we put our ,

han ds feeble though they are beneath them and

, ,

lift them up An d we thank thee that we may

.

humbly feel that in these divine symp athies we

have something in our hearts of a revelation of
thy heart ; and may w e in our best moments cry
“
unto thee 0 that my hea rt were as thy heart
, ,
”
and that wholly .

Almighty God tho u F ather of man tho u

, ,

M aker and Sustain er of the worlds give us a ,

dwelling place in the strength of thine etern al

-

p ower and truth a n d commandment p ea c e in ,

thine inspiring Spirit and hop e in thy g r eat ,

p romises Let thy blessing b e up on us we p ray

.
,

thee and up on all thy human f am ily everywhere

,

1 77
on ea rth e v e rywhere in heaven L et thy Sp irit
, .

and thy gra c e c omfort ins p ire enc ourage and

, , ,

bless Forgive our sins and help us t o fo rsak e

.
,

them ; and by thy wisdom do thou b e wiser th an

our un derstanding ; and by th y strength do tho u
be stronger than our strengt h AM EN . .

Alm ighty God our F ather inspire by thy

, ,

Spirit every good sentiment and p ure d esire in

our hearts . Giv e us that depth of wisdom to
kn ow our wants and knowing our wants may
,

they be supplied from divine and etern al fo u n

tains ; and may we increase in wisdom may we ,

increase in moral and spiritual life and may we ,

see that the eternal r ock of safety and strength

is within ; a feeling of being at one with th ee at ,

one with our selves at one with the world AM EN

,
. .

178
 JANU AR Y 5 , 1 8 9 0 MOR NIN G

O GOD, our Father thou Almighty and

,
glor Al l -

io us One we comprehend thee not ; thou art past

,
“
our un derstanding We p ass our days as a
,
” “
tale that is told from everlasting to everl ast
ing thou a rt God
,
I f in the midst of thy gr eat
.

n ess and surrounded by the tokens of thine infi

nite p ower we are ever quite overcome and feel
,

that we are little and nothing if in the midst of

,

thy works or in the whelming fl ood of thine eter

nal yea rs we feel our weakness we feel that in ,

the crowds of the generations of men that are

moving on w e are quite lost from thee and to thy
l ove and thy wisdom O God may we remember
, ,

that tho u dost count the stars ; that thou dos t call
the hosts of heaven by name even as a shepherd
,

of I srael cal led h is sheep by name ; that tho u

holdest the ocean in the hollow of thine hand ;

and unknown an d littl e as we seem sometimes in
our moments of discouragement or doubt or de
spair may we r emember that thy c are is infinite
, ,

thy love is boundl ess and ever watchful and that

-
,

the mountains in their eternal stren gth are no t

so much t o thee as one h um an hear t The moun .

1 79
 ta in h as no grief it has no sorrow it h as no joy
, , ,

and if it ever seems to weep it is but the rain ,

falling from the clouds The o c ean sends up its

.

eternal voice to thee but it i s not a p rayer it is

, ,

not a p enitenc e it is not a sorrow it is not a j oy

, ,
.

Almighty One may we cheri sh these things

,

th ese human things in our hearts and ever b e

—
,

r efreshed and stand off against the world with

c onscious power in the light of God .

We thank thee Al mighty One thou M aker

, ,

and Guardian of our human days here on earth ,

that there are so many of thy children that can

give testimony and witness to the goodness and
the mercy of God Led by thy hand cherish ed
.
,

by thy love guarded by thy providen c e the aged

, ,

man at evening as he looks abroad upon the dis

,

tant horiz on or into the deep heaven can say in ,

“
his heart in silence and in p eace
,
B ehold the ,
”
goodness and the mercy of God The child loo ks .

fo rward with boundless hop e and bounding , ,

with exp ectation and j oy knows n ot what is be

,

fore him ; but he h as been taught a gentle prayer

and his evening p illow is made smooth by the
thought that he h as a Father in heaven ; and so
our earthly days from childhood and youth and
,

manhood and age are surrounded by infused by

, ,

the immanent and ever present God -

.

And now we pray thee Almighty One that , ,

our hea rt s may use rightly every moment every ,

1 80
event every oc casion and every thing ; and f or
, ,

getting the step s taken in the p ast may we make ,

a new beginning in the race for an eternal crown .

M a y we remember that we are surrounded by a

cloud of witnesses —n ot on earth merely or
,

chie fl y but the W

,
itnes ses that have gone forward
and look d own up on us from a higher sphere ;
wh o symp athi z e with our stru ggles wh o mourn ,

at our failures and who rej oice at our success

,
.

An d so may our hearts b e temp ered and kept by

thy insp iration ; may we ever be awake to every
sense of duty ; may we esteem c onscience more
than any earthl y goods ; and may we esteem our
greatest p ossession the po ssession of p ower
—
,

over ourselves to do right to revere God to do

, , ,

justly and to walk humbly

,
.

N OW Holy Father b e with us thy people ; be

, , ,

with all men thy children ; let thy Spirit go

,

forth ench urch ing itsel f in the human world

, .

M ay that kingdom of God which thy Son fore

told and taught may it b e coming ; and may thy
,

human rac e h e lifted and lifted nearer and near

er to it ; and may we ourselves be p artakers in it ;
and may that kingdom abide in our hearts .

N ow l et thy blessing b e with all thy p eople

a c cording to their wants those who are grieved -

and afflicted those wh o are glad and happy,

,

those who are opp ressed and c ast down in

—
desp air all al l — may they have the Sp irit the
, , , ,

1 81
blessing and the c are
, of God, the c ommon
Father of all AM EN. .

O God hear now the prayer of thy p eo p le that

, ,

that which is best in their hearts in p urp ose an d

,

in desire by thy quickening Spirit and grac e

,

may b e abundantly fulfill ed Forgive our sins ;

.

lift us up from all our downfalls and our des

p air ; an d enco ur age us by thy wor d from on
high c alling us to v i cto ry to duty and to eternal
, , ,

life
.

1 82
 JANU AR Y 5, 1 8 9 0 — EVENIN G

GOD, ourFather in the stillness of the evening

,

hour we are come again to our p lace of praye r .

The nightly hosts are ma rshaled up on the sky ;

the earth tu rns upon its soft and S ilent axis ;
day and night morning and evening noonday
, ,

an d darkness are all subj ect to thy Command

ment ; and all things and all creatur es are sus
, ,

t ained by thy p ower and prote c ted by thy c ar e .

We confess with reverent and fili al feeling that

c are We own with gratitu de a wisdom greater
.

than ou rs a kn owledge that includes our igno

,

rance and a l oving kindness and a tender mercy

,
-

that are from everl as ting t o everlasting .

An d now Holy One thou E te r nal Spirit

, , ,

dwell in our hearts we p r ay thee ; kindle anew

,

that light that lighteth every man that cometh

into the world ; and may we feel that the gosp el
of thy Son is the renewal of our nature the r e ,

viving of ou r p ower th e strength and ann unci a

,

tion of all that is best in us of all that is true and ,

pure and good M ay we unde rstand his word s

.

“
that he spoke saying That he came not to de
,
”—
stroy but to f ulfill
, t o fulfil l thy word spoken
,

of old ; to fulfill that c ommon natu re whi c h tho u

183
hast given us of thyself ; to make us p ar t ake rs of
life more ab undantly An d may we see this life ;
.

may we enjoy its p ower ; may we be led through ,

its grace and through its benediction in the ,

S implest walks of life in the humblest place of,

duty ; and in all may we discern that it takes no

great theater of this world to hold the kingdom
of God ; each on e of us in our pla c es in our , ,

daily and ever returni ng duties in the c onstant

-
,

relation with our fellow beings may we be con ,

sc ious that we are go v erned by d ivine p ower of ,

will of conscience of beauty and of truth ; and

, , ,

may reverence for thee and abundant symp athy ,

with our fellow men h e to us the constant wit

,

ness th at the Spirit of God is upon us ; and as

thy S on ascended from his baptism and the
“
Spirit light ed up on him saying This is my be , ,
”
loved Son in whom I am well pleased may we
, , ,

thy children have something of the same divine

,

benediction and kn ow that we and God are one

, .

Holy Father let thy tender care be in eve ry

,

dwelling and in every hea rt ; let thy kingdom of

p e ac e and righteousness and p ower be incre asing
in glory and strength ; and as we each on e in th y ,

good time go forward beyond th es e earthly

,

scenes ,
may we be satisfied with the app oint
ments of Heav en and may we tr ust that what
,

ever is best for us will be done by almighty wis

dom goodness and power AM EN
, ,
. .

1 84
 JA NUA R Y 1 2 , 1 8 9 0

O I NFINI TE AN D H OLY ON E we lift u p our hea rts

,

to thee in reverence and holy fear ; w e bow down

in humble contrition and p enitence ; we prais e
thee we glorify thee thou Lord God Al migh ty
, ,
.

An d c ome n ow by thy gr acious Spirit to our

, ,

hearts and re v eal unto us the hi dden things of

,

thy gra c e and thy lov e T emp er our minds t o

.

the d aily exp erien c e of our earthl y lot ; and teach

u s through all vicissitudes of change or disap
p ointment or dec ay to win the V i c tory of our be
ing th e triumph of our faith the purp ose O f our
, ,

l ife and to find that life hid with Christ s in

’
,

G od .

We thank thee always f or the c ommon gifts of

thy p ro vi d ence gifts that are so common that
,
-

we are quite inclined to forget them — daily ,

blessings hourly comforts which dem and our

, ,

gratitude and our love but whi ch we are quit e

,

dis p osed to think belong to us as though we had ,

earned them by the labor of our own hands or

wrought them by our own skill .

Almighty God forgive our weaknesses pity

, ,

them we p ray thee Teach us a bette r mind and

, .
,

1 85
save us from the conceits of the world We thank .

thee Alm ighty Father that thou hast so richly

, ,

endowed our being that in the humblest thin gs

,

the sp iritual mind can discern beauty and grace

and loveliness The simplest acts of daily life
.

may have a halo of wonder and beauty around

them ; and the simplest c ircumsta nces of our
earthly lot the plainest duties the daily round
, ,

of care may have something more than sunset or

,

sunrise glory ; and we thank thee for that p ea c e

of hea rt which thy servants enj oy and which is

beyond all understanding of the wisdom of the

world We thank thee Al mighty God for and
.
, , ,

our hearts are lifted up a s we read the story of ,

self renunciation of thy servant of old who

-
,

would not quench his thirst with the water that

the mighty men brought to him but he p oured it ,

out rather as an oblation to God We thank thee .

f or the story of that w omanly heart whi ch so u ght

to retrieve and bring back light and life and
peace to her heart as sh e broke the p recious oint
ment and p oured it upon the head of Jesus Fo r .

every act of mo ral beauty f f or every act of spiri

tual life for every grace that adorns life and
,

gives wonder and mystery to our being we thank ,

thee thou I nspirer of all

,
.

We pray for that wisdom Almighty God that

, ,

shall teach us to discern beauty and t ruth and

loveliness in our daily affairs in our work our
, ,

1 86
p lodding our ever c onstant and returning c are
,
- .

M ay we see in thy p rovidence a loveliness beyond

what the world calls succ es s — something for the
m ind to r est on something with which the hea rt
,

may be r efreshed .

Holy Father we ask thy blessing always up on

,

al l our brethr en the c ommon family of man

,
.

Thy p romises we cann ot fathom ; the myste ry of

time and events we c an see into but a little way ;
but we bless thee that the upright man that the ,

goo d and true hea rt c an d o what it may c an —

, ,

do its d uty and l ook up unto God and say

, ,

N ow thou Almighty and All righteo u s One thy

,
-
,

s ervant hath d one what h e could ; do thou th e

rest We ask th y ble ssing up o n us Holy Father
.
, ,

that by thy Spirit and gra c e our hearts may be

so temp ered and our wil ls may be so attu ned we ,

may live and a c t as we believe ; that we ma y put

our b est though ts and our best feelings into daily

p ra c ti c e ; and that the bare and ru gged w al ls of

life may b e entwined with beautiful vin es of
charity of l oveliness and of t r uth
, Al l of
,
.

which we ask as thy children in the nam e of

, ,

thy Son Jes us Christ AM EN . .

Almighty God our F athe r re c eive new the

, ,

d evout and humble desires and prayers of our

hear ts We wish that we were altogether at our
.

best ; we would that the best imp ul s es the p ur est ,

1 87
desires and t rue lo v e controlled ou r lives ; and
,

that our whol e being was in accord with thy

divine grac e and thy inspiring Spirit s Encour
age us greatly ; strengthen us with eternal right
eousness ; and give us thy children wande ring
, ,

wherever we may be give us the p e ac e of God

, ,

which passeth unde rs tanding AM EN . .

1 88
 JA NUA R Y 1 9, 1 890

GOD, our Father in heaven , M aker of all thing s

a n d I nspirer of men Holy Providence of our
,

lives E ternal Spirit of life and joy and strength

,

and p eace we thy children come again in our a c

,

customed hour to lift up our hear ts to thee in

p rayer in solemn p raise in awf ul j oy We com e
, ,
.

as we are from the c ommon daily experiences of

,

l ife its ordinary cares its p e rplexities its

, , ,

anxieties its gl adness its j oy and its pea c e

, , , .

Whatever that daily life h as been to us whateve r ,

it h as brought to us of better exp erien c e and of

purer knowledge we come n ow to confess all as
,

of thy Spirit and thy grace ; an d we thank thee

f or this divine p rovidence of ou r ea rthl y lot b y ,

which thou hast given us enough to do — work , ,

c are anxiety p r ovision foresight industry

, , , , ,

in these all we wo ul d see thy hand ; we woul d see

and own thy teaching ; we wo ul d own thy gu id
anc e and in spirin g Spirit .

We pray thee Almighty One to help us with

, ,

fortitude of will and with pur e feelings to re

ceive th y ble ssings with gratitude and th y trials

with p atient resignation And may we think .

1 89
h ow little we know ; and may we think h ow
bles sed it is often that we know so l ittle Tho u .

art omniscient ; thou knowest all things ; tho u

knowest the hearts of men ; in thy hands a r e the
issue of life and the issue of death Wh y sho ul d .

we need feeble as we are to know much ? We

, ,

implor e thee O God to receive us int o thine all

, ,

p rotecting care into th y w is e and Holy Sp irit ;

,

and do better things for us than our wisdom c an

think or than our hea rts c an wish or our hop e s
can a sp ire .

Holy Father we impl ore thee for those things

,

that thou knowe st we most need — for a filial ,

heart for wide and generous human symp athies

, ,

f or all that belongs to us that makes us p eculiar

ly human and p eculiarly childre n of God Al .

mighty One forgive our sins we implore thee

, , ,

and sep arate them from us as far as the e a st is

from the west Those wh o ar e sincerely p eni
.

tent let them be restored in the gladness and j oy

,

and p eace of thy forgiveness and grant unto us ,

all in the private e xp eriences of our own hearts

, ,

that increase in wisdom that increase in love , ,

which sh al l lead us to believe in thee more full y ,

which Shall give us a complete triumph over th e

illu sions of the world ; and if we live to age to ,

exp erien c e or to worldly honor may we conside r

, ,

the bloom of age the wisdom of experience and

, ,

the glory of worldly honor to be the fa c t that we ,

1 90
kn ow thee t he ever loving and t ru e God and
,
-
‘

Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent An d thus

,
.
,

upon the summit of human days may we look ,

abroad over all our earthly exp erien c e and ex

claim with gratitude and trust and hop e Be ,

hold the wisdom the goodness and th e merc y of

, ,

God .AM EN .

Alm ighty God tho u M aker of us all imi) ress

, ,

up on our hearts all their pure and true senti

ments and help us to b elieve and t o act as we
, ,

b elieve the best things th e best feel ings the best

, , ,

thoughts I ncrease our human regard ; give us a

.

higher elevation of h uman tho u ght and feeling ,

from which we c an look up on ou rselves as we

are and up on our fellow men as we wish that
,

they were ; an d may thy hol y provide nc e the ,

wise teachings of thy Sp irit — may they all b e ,

for us and fo r our fell ow men now and forever , .

1 91
 JA NU A R Y 2 6, 1 8 9 0 MOR NIN G

O GOD our Life and our Light the clo u ds are

, ,

scattered ; the sun comes forth in his strength ;

thy glorie s are revealed in the constant and
eternal p rocession of thy p ower thy go od nes s , ,

and thy love ; and we ar e come in the order of,

our days and the customary hour again to this ,

our place of prayer We have left our homes

.
,

endeared to us by their many kindly charities ,

their wall s entwined with ple as ant vine s of

beauty l ov e and ho p e Chastened it may be
, ,
.
, ,

by trials deeply enriched by tend er sorrows en

, ,

coura ged and bl essed by mortal hop es we ar e ,

c ome here to our c omm on pla c e of prayer to ,

make common sup p lication u nto th ee in the name

O f th at c ommon nature which thou hast inspired ,

and in the name of thy Son the C aptain the, ,

Leade r and Guide of all .

We come with ac custome d blessing to thee We .

have no new word to sp eak of our wants our ,

weaknesses or our S ins ; it is the same of t

,

r ep eated story of c hil d like ignoran c e of child ,

l ike l ove of childlike weakn ess wandering or

, , ,

forgetfulness But O God, howeve r c h ildlike we

.
,

192
a r e or indifi erent or forgetful now coming b ack ,

to love thee and then forgetting thee again thy

, ,

go odness keeps on forever ; thy p atience is an

eternal strength ; and thy love fl ows as a rive r
'

through the landscape e ver strong ; and thou a rt

,

never sorry that thou hast done us good The .

calling and the gifts of God have no rep entanc e ;

thy heart is ever ful l ; thy Sp irit is ever going
forth ; thou art ever ench urch ing that Spirit in
the common world of men .

We implore thy blessing now Almighty One , ,

that our hearts attuned to pure feeling to rever

, ,

ent and devout sentiments to simple chil dl ike ,

faith may sit in heavenly places and b e taught

, ,

by thy Son and thy Spirit .

Comfort those wh o are in deep anxiety and in

sore dist ress ; lift up those wh o are almost o v er
whelmed in despair ; enlighten the minds of the
ignorant and send rays of divine light and peace
,

and glory upon the souls that are imprisoned and

in darkness Give thy Spirit abundantly to all
.

thy human creatures ; inspire good men more

abundantly that their light may shine and that
their works may testify of God our F ather ; and ,

may we in some humble ea rthl y measur e be

, ,

imitators of thee— children of God in thy like ,

nes s in thy love following thy word and com

, ,

mandment and trusting to thee and exp ecting

, ,

from thee all good AM EN . .

1 93
 Almighty God our Father fulfill now in our
, ,

hea r ts every pure desire every heavenly thought

, ,

and eve ry sweet afi ection ; and may gratitu de

and blessing ever give u s p eace and j oy in thy
providence and Spirit ; and even as thy gifts are
ever and ever without repentance so if we have
,

gone abroad in a world of thy maki ng and of thy

providence if we have done any good if we have
, ,

given any good gifts may we never rep ent of

,

1 94
 JANU AR Y 2 6 , 1 8 9 0 EVENIN G

A LM IG HTY GOD thou I nsp irer of men we thank

, ,

thee for thy prote c ting c ar e We invoke now thy

.

gracious presence and thy Holy Spirit L et thy .

p rovidences be f or all men ; thy Spirit inspirin g

them with jud gment and knowledge and reason
and understanding and righteousness B less tho u .

our common c ount ry our beloved land ; en

,

lighten the minds O f all rule rs the President of ,

the United States his counselo rs the Congress

, , ,

the governor s of states the elders of cities ;

,

and everywhere may the min ds of men be

illumined as by a light fro m above and reason ,

itself trans form to angelic moral beauty .

Let thy blessing be u pon our city t o night -

.

M ay intelligence increase ; may virtue abound ;

may righteousness be our law with genero us ,

sympathies f or our fe llow men and justness and ,

uprightness before God Let thy blessing be

.

up on all those wh o are heavily tried or affli ct ed ,

by p overty by distress by sickness ; wh o are

, ,

brought nigh unto death An d over all and .

,

through all and in all do thou be the I nspiring

, ,

Spirit the up holding Provi d ence the p aternal

, ,

God . AM EN .

1 95
 F EB RUAR Y 9, 1 8 9 0

ALM IG HTY GOD thou M aker and I nspirer of men

, ,

we invoke thy blessing on us now and implore ,

the enlightening light of thy Spirit purifying ,

our minds and hearts and making us children of

the light— tho se wh o love thee who lo v e the ,

t ruth wh o love the ways of righteousness wh o

, ,

l ove our neighbors and wh o love God

,
Let that .

gracious Spirit fl ow in divine grac e and benedi c

tion among us ; let our common and daily duties
b e adorned with unearthl y beauty ; and let us
fin d in the commonest oc cupations of life a teach
ing of God a teaching of eternal wisdom a guide
, ,

an d help of con scienc e a purifyin g grac e of our

,

minds and hearts .

We implore thy gracious benediction and thy

tender p ity upon all who su ff er in any way ,

wh o su ff er wrong who su ff er di stress who are in

m
, ,

any wo e of b ody or of ind Check the p roud .

,

the thoughtless and the selfish I ncrease our

,
.

hum an feelin g and our con sciousness of d ep end

ence up on one another ; and may we feel and
lea rn more and more that our great distinction is
that we are human that w e belong to the com
,

mon l ot of man that we belong to the common

,

1 96
famil y of God and that we can look up to him
,

imploring his mer c y h is providence and h is

, ,

grace to guide us on t o a great and c omm on

d estiny
.

Father in heaven forgive our sins ; pity our

,

wea kn esses ; lift us up if we are fallen ; encour

age uS if we are desp airing ; and may we all cr y
”
from our heart s ,
Lead me on my Ho st
, .

1 97
 F EB RUAR Y 1 6, 1 8 9 0 MOR NIN G

WE are come again to our ho use of p rayer ; again

we lift up v oice in sol emn j oy and gladness
our ,

in holy and devout meditation imploring and be ,

seech in g thee tho u Almighty One Thy going

,
.

fo rth thy holy providence thine ever enchurch

, ,
-

ing Spirit are with us Thou guidest u s by thy

,
.

strong an d mer c iful hand and art wiser for us,

than we can know or tell ; and even in our for

l orn and half forgotten ways of thoughtlessness
-

and s elfishness thou art still pursuing the divin e

,

husbandry of thy Spirit and art teaching us in

,

ways that we know not an d leading us up t o,

heights fr om which we Shal l l ook back upon our

past folly and weep over it and be ashamed f or
it Lift us up Almighty God into such heights
.
, ,

now Give u s a c lear illumination of divine r e

.

ligion and pure aff ection and p enitent lo v e that ,

we may feel what manner of men we are what ,

beings we are what life we le ad what love sways

, ,

us and what princip le is our gu ide

, .

Holy One we thank thee for the ever present

,
-

privilege we have of looking abroad on thy works

and beholding thee in mo untain on the sea and , ,

198
thr ough gentle valleys and b y grea t rive rs and ,

in the cataclysms of the world and the thorn ed

service of the earth We find the wonders of thy
.

p ower in the parable of human life and being i n ,

our own s oul s nd our character befor e G od ; and

a
whil e no ea rthquake or storm or temp est quite
destr oys the world so may no folly of ou r s quite
,

ruin us but b y th y gr ac e c oming swiftly to our

,

r esc ue the sun of thy Sp irit beaming eve r up on

,

us may the good l essons of our exp erien c e c ome

,

t o life again and make our h earts to shine with

beauty and be glad and the gentle rains descend
, ,

the sun shine suns ris e and set and dews fall,
, ,

and all be gr een again .

Holy F ather impress us deeply we p ray thee

, , ,

by thine ever present S p irit I mp ress us with a

-
.

sense of the earnestnes s the r ealit y the solem

, ,

nity and the hop e of human life

, Correct us .

with wise severity if thou wilt and give us a

, ,

heart to desire that thou shalt never draw ba ck

thy corre c tions until our hearts are indeed re
—
newed renewe d by thy Spi rit renewed by our ,

own e xp erience .

Almighty God we ask thy blessing up on all

,

our fellow beings We pray to be lifted into som e

.

serene height of human feelings where we shall ,

see the world of men as it is and we S hall feel ,

that we are what we are and no more and no ,

l ess . M ay the va gue distin c tions of life be b an

199
ish ed from our mind s M ay we learn to feel .

with gratitude that our great distinction is that

we are human that we belong to the common
,

family of God an d we are c al led to b e sons of

,

God ; and may we be living in the world day by

day admonished of the uncertainty of life and
, ,

yet fully conscious that our mortality is but an

event in our be ing and that tho u wilt lead us
,

forward to new exp erience to new fields of ac ,

tion and to the wonders and unsp eakable p ower

,

of eternal life .

Almighty God hear our prayer ; forgive our

,

sins ; give us fortitude to meet every emergency

of life eve ry trial every disapp ointment and

, , ,

every j oy ; and may we be ever strong in thee ,

our Rock our Refuge our D efense

,
AM EN,
. .

Almighty God our Father we thank thee fo r

, ,

serene heights of holy visions which as we look ,

afar and see something of the hop e and p ower of

thy grace and thy providence we think better of ,

ourselves — however meanl y we may think —we

, ,

thi nk hopefully we think wisely ; and our hop es

,

seem great enough to save us forever and for

ever F or th ese V isions we thank thee An d may

. .

the outward world be a p arable of our souls a ,

p arable of thy providence of thy love th y , ,

Spirit and thy grace evermore AM EN

,
. .

200
 F EB R UAR Y 1 6 , 1 890 EVENING

O TH OU unt o whom all c reatures l ook and on ,

whom all creatures wait thou Op enest thy han d

,

and give st meat to every living creature ; th ou

givest daily bread and p rovidest for all the
creatures that thou h ast made ; thy holy provi
d en c e is over the world of men ; and as early as
time began thou di dst hav e witnesses of thyself ;
and all the heights of the worl d blaz e with
t okens of thy presen c e thy gui d an c e an d thy
, ,

p ower Righteousness is thy throne and judg

.

ment is thy dwel ling place forever ; and tho u gh

-

j ustice b e put off and th y king d om is long c om

ing yet it is s u re ; thy justice is eternal thy
, ,

t ruth is e v er fast
- .

Almighty God we imp l ore thy bles sing upon

,

our minds and hearts that they may be con

,

firmed in the e ver comin g of G od s kingdom in

-
’
,

the continual a dvan c e and progr ess of man s ’

earthl y lot an d fo rt un e and in the imp rovement

,

and gr owth in power of h is mo r al and Sp iritual

estate Let thy blessin g be up on all g ood insti
.

tutions of society —up on all the c ou r ts of l aw

, ,

up on assemblies and legislatures up on schoo ls ,

201
of learning upon c h urc h es of religion ; and may
,

religion law learning charity human good

, , , ,

ness be in c reased and glorified in the world Let .

thy pities and tender mer c ies b e u p on all those

who are oppress ed whose l ot is hard whose f or
, ,

t unes are feeble and who are feeb l e in their

,

own p owers fee ble in the endowments of he aven,

,

such as are given to the common lot of man .

Lift up the oppressed ; encourage and enl ighte n

those who are al way s on the verge of de sp air ;
and comfort and bless all ac c ording to thy good
ness An d let wisdom and righteousness and
.
, ,

judgment prevail .

We ask thy bl essing Al mighty God up on the

, ,

p eopl e of the city to night up on all class es and

— -

conditions and fortunes of men ; up on the weak ,

the wayward the wicked ; up on th e strong the

, ,

proud or the haughty that thes e may be chas

,
—
,

t ised and that those may be look ed up on with

,

ten derness and lifted up with infini te grac e Eu .

lighten our minds we p ray thee b y thy sp irit

, , ,

to discern all goodn ess to sympath y with all ,

human S infuln e ss and to aspiration s towards

,

thee for every human being AM EN . .

202