July 3

“It is when a man begins to know the ambition of his life not simply as the choice of his own will but as the wise assignment of God’s love; and to know his relations to his brethren not simply as the result of his own impulsive affections but as the seeking of his soul for these souls because they all belong to the great Father-soul; it is then that life for that man begins to lift itself all over, and to grow towards completion upward through all its length and breadth. That is a noble time, a bewildering and exalting time in any of our lives, when into everything that we are doing enters the spirit of God, and thenceforth moving ever up toward the God to whom it belongs, that Spirit, dwelling in our life, carries our life up with it; not separating our life from the earth, but making every part of it, while it still keeps its hold on earth, soar up and have to do with heaven; so completing life in its height, by making it divine.”

PHILLIPS BROOKS

“Ye loved the Lord with all your hearts;
In Him ye loved the souls of men;
Your joy was freely to impart
Your best, and ask for nought again;
No selfish greed, no lack of power,
Defiled your bounties’ kindly shower.

“Whate’er ye planned, began, achieved,
Ye kept one pure and steadfast aim,
To make the Christ yet more believed,
To win more worship to His Name;
And every truth and rule ye taught
Into your daily life was wrought.”