Many of our troubles are God dragging us, and they would end if we
    would stand upon our feet and go whither he would have us.

    —­Henry Ward Beecher.

    Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and mine ordinances; which if a
    man do, he shall live in them.

    —­Leviticus 18. 5.

Gracious Lord, I pray that I may have reverence for that which is pure and holy, and that my soul may delight in the presence of the good.  Help me to so live that I may have the memory of precious deeds, and that I may not have to depend on the service of others to supply contentment for my closing days.  Amen.

JUNE TWENTY-FIFTH

William Smellie died 1795.

Antoine Jean Gros died 1835.

Lucy Webb Hayes died 1889.

    In every feast remember there are two guests to be entertained—­the
    body and the soul; and what you give the body you presently lose,
    but what you give the soul remains forever.

    —­Epictetus.

We take pains and weary to faultlessly clothe the body.  We persevere, and often struggle, to adorn the mind.  As we pass through the rays of truth, sometimes we find, after all we have put on, we have left bare the soul.

    —­M.B.S.

    For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
    and forfeit his life?

    —­Matthew 16. 26.

Lord God, help me to understand that thou hast made the principle of truth so that I cannot add to it, nor take from it, lest in altering it I might destroy it.  May I never try to make my purpose cover the truth, but without fear, face the light where truth shines the brightest.  Amen.

JUNE TWENTY-SIXTH

Archbishop Robert Leighton died 1684.

Dr. Philip Doddridge born 1702.

George Morland born 1763.

    Why are we so glad to talk and take our turns to prattle, when so
    rarely we get back to the stronghold of our silence with an
    unwounded conscience?

    —­Thomas a Kempis.

    I have read that those who listened to Lord Chatham felt that there
    was something finer in the man than anything which he said.

    —­Ralph Waldo Emerson.

    Speech is like the cloth of Arras opened and put abroad, whereby the
    imagery doth appear in figure; whereas in thoughts they lie but as
    in packs.

    —­Plutarch.

    Keep thy tongue from evil,
    And thy lips from speaking guile.

    —­Psalm 34. 13.

Tender Father, make me more watchful of the time that I give to useless thoughts and words, and save me from cutting words, which make deeper impressions than can be cut with sharp tools.  Forgive me for the hours that have not been profitable; I would I had them back, for my heart and mind have need of them.  Amen.