September 3

“May it not be a comfort to those of us who feel we have not the mental or spiritual power that others have, to notice that the living sacrifice mentioned in Rom. xii I, is our ‘bodies’? Of course, that includes the mental power, but does it not also include the loving, sympathising glance, the kind, encouraging word, the ready errand for another, the work of our hands, opportunities for all of which come oftener in the day than for the mental power we are oftenb tempted to envy? May we be enabled to offer willingly that which we have.”

“I ask thee for a thoughtful love,
Through constant watching wise,
To meet the glad with joyful smiles,
And wipe the weeping eyes,
A heart at leisure from itself,
To soothe and sympathise.”

A. L. WARING

September 2

“An occasional effort even of all ordinary holiness may accomplish great acts of sacrifice, or bear severe pressure of unwanted trial, especially if it be the subject of observation. But constant discipline in unnoticed ways, and the spirit’s silent unselfishness, becoming the hidden habit of life, give to it its true saintly beauty; and this is the result of care and lowly love in little things. Perfection is attained most readily by this constancy of religious faithfulness in all minor details of life, consecrating the daily efforts of self-forgetting love.”

T. T. CARTER

“Whoso neglects a thing which he suspects he ought to do, because it seems to him too small a thing, is deceiving himself; it is not too little but too great for him, that he doeth it not.”

E. B. PUSEY

“The best perfection of a religious man is to do common things in a perfect manner. A constant fidelity in small things is a great and heroic virtue.”

ST. BUONAVENTURA

September 1

“We complain of the slow, dull life we are forced to lead, of our humble sphere of action, of our low position in the scale of society, of our having no room to make ourselves known, of our wasted energies, of our years of patience. So do we say that we have no Father who is directing our life; so do we say that God has forgotten us; so do we boldly judge what life is best for us; and so by our complaining do we lose the use and profit of the quiet years. Oh, men of little faith! Because you are not sent out yet unto your labour, do you think God has ceased to remember you? Because you are forced to be outwardly inactive, do you think you, also, may not be, in your years of quiet, ‘about your father’s business’? . . . It is a period given to us in which to mature ourselves for the work which God will give us to do.”

STOPFORD BROOKE

“We are too fond of our own will. We want to be doing what we fancy mighty things; but the great point is, to do small things, when called to them, in a right spirit.”

R. CECIL

August 31

“Don’t object that your duties are so insignificant; they are to be reckoned of infinite significance, and alone important to you. Were it but the more perfect regulation of your apartments, the sorting away of your clothes and trinkets, the arranging of your papers, - ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might’, and all thy worth and constancy. Much more, if your duties are of evidently higher, wider scope; if you have brothers, sisters, a father, a mother, weigh earnestly what claim does lie upon you, on behalf of each, and consider it as the one thing needful, to pay them more and more honestly and nobly what you owe. What matter how miserable one is, if one can do that? That is the sure and steady disconnection and extinction of whatsoever miseries one has in this world.”

CARLYLE

“Be useful where thou livest, that they may
Both want and wish thy pleasing presence still.
. . . . . . Find out men’s wants and will,
And meet them there. All worldly joys go less
To the one joy of doing kindnesses.”

GEORGE HERBERT

August 30

“That aptitude for teaching which God has bestowed upon a woman may perish through want of exercise; it may be called forth by exercise. It may be turned into vanity and display; it may be redeemed to the highest and yet the lowliest uses. It may be overlaid with mere formal instruction; it may be quickened and directed by honest practical education. It may be regarded as a special gift which exalts individuals of the sex; it may be cultivated as a common gift of which all have some measure, and of which no one is to boast. It may be left to the accidents and impulses of the world; it may be carefully watched over and cherished as something exceedingly precious, which neither its possessors nor society can afford to waste.”

F. D. MAURICE

“He is the best teacher of others who is best taught himself; that which we know and love we cannot but communicate.”

Dr ARNOLD

“In life, as in art, and as in mechanics, the only profitable teaching is the teaching by example.”

FROUDE

August 29

“The tiniest bits of opinion sown in the minds of children in private life, afterwards issue forth to the world and become a public opinion; for nations are gathered out of nurseries, and they who hold the leading strings of children may even exercise a greater power than those who hold the reins of government.”

“He made it a rule (from which he never departed), not to take a child suspected of a fault, at unawares, by sudden question or hasty accusation, the stronger thus taking an unfair advantage of the weaker and defenceless creature, who, in the mere confusion of the moment, might be tempted to deny or equivocate. . . .
“He was careful, too, not to confuse or ‘confound’ his children by a multiplicity of small rules. Certain broad distinct laws of conduct were laid down. ‘It is difficult enough to keep the Ten Commandments,’ he would say, ‘without making an eleventh in every direction.’ This, combined with his equable rule, gave them a sense of utter confidence and perfect freedom with him. They knew what they were about, and where to find him, for he had no ‘moods’ with them, while with theirs he could yet sympathise and be patient.”

From Life of Charles Kingsley

August 28

“All true guidance consists in calling up from within the souls of men the powers that are living and working in the secret abysses of those souls.”

Bishop TEMPLE

“What is wanted is not to suggest a course of action, but a habit of thought, which will modify not one or two actions only, but all actions which come within the scope of that thought.”

HELPS

“From the life of Christ he had learnt this great principle of education: to make men recognise their own spiritual capabilities by throwing himself upon those capabilities.”

From Life of F. W. Robertson

“It is the way, the way of victory, the way of love, the faith that conquers the world, - that power of a pure heart to see the best, and exercise faith beyond experience.”

ANNIE KEARY

August 27

“He pointed out that while in truth those who are in authority have a solemn duty to perform in correcting evil, still it is equally a duty to administer all such corrections so lovingly, and with so simple a desire for God’s glory and the real good of the person corrected, as to take away the sting of reproof. He went so far as to say that it is better to withhold a deserved rebuke than to administer it ungraciously, and that judicious silence was far preferable to the truth roughly told. ‘You will catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a whole barrel of vinegar’, he used to say.”

From Life of S. Francis de Sales

“Even a punishment may become unjust unless it is administered in the spirit of love.”

JEAN INGELOW

“’To speak the truth in love’, to reprove wisely and tenderly, is a lesson which it may take a lifetime to learn; but it must be striven after if we would keep the balance true between wisdom and feeling. Let us not have sympathy at the expense of sound practical common sense, or we shall do more harm than good.”

ELLICE HOPKINS

August 26

“Find fault, if you must find fault, in private if possible; and some time after the offence rather than at the time. The blamed are less inclined to resist when they are blamed without witnesses; both parties are calmer, and the accused party is struck with the forbearance of the accuser, who has seen the fault, and watched for a private and proper time for mentioning it.”

SYDNEY SMITH

“There is more dignity and hope of success in a simple expression of disapprobation on the discovery of a fault, accompanied by a declaration that all further explanation is reserved for a calmer moment, than in any heated reprimands.”

Mdme. NECKER DE SAUSSURE

“He had the rare art of giving comfort, advice, and even blame with such humble gentleness, such entire freedom from any assumption of superiority, that it could not wound the sorest heart, nor irritate even the most rebellious spirit.”

From Life of F. W. Robertson.

August 25

“Remember, in speaking to any one you wish to help, that the more earnest and unconscious of self you are, the better you will help them. Probably the words you think most telling will affect them least, while those you think nothing of, God will use for their good. Leave all results with God. You are not always digging up the seeds in your garden to see how they are growing. Trust all to God, and He will bless your work. . . .
“Remember, God always works, very slowly and very surely; the bud is formed slowly, opens slowly. We must work as God works, not with the great strides self-love would like to work with.”

H. MONSELL

“A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace.”

EMERSON

“All we do which is good or permanent is done in us or through us, consciously or unconsciously, by a divine Spirit, with Whom, if we work cheerfully and obediently, the work thrives, if proudly and resistingly, it is marred.”

F. D. MAURICE

August 24

“There is a rest and a heaven, which souls weary of this earth may find, but it is discovered best in the world’s midst, seeking its good, and doing His will who lived and died to save it.”

Dr. J. KER

“The rewards of duty are not rest from labour, but greater tasks.”

FOLLEN

“For this of old is sure,
That change of toil is toil’s sufficient cure.”

LEWIS MORRIS

“To the giver shall be given;
If thou would’st walk in light
Make other spirits bright;
Who, seeking for himself alone, ever entered heaven?
In blessing we are blest,
In labour find our rest;
If we bend not to the world’s work, heart and hand and brain,
We have lived our life in vain.”

C. SEYMOUR

August 23

“The woman singeth at her spinning wheel
A pleasant chant, ballad, or barcarole;
She thinketh of her song, upon the whole,
Far more than of her flax; and yet the reel
Is full, and artfully her fingers feel
With quick adjustment, provident control,
The lines, too subtly twisted to unroll,
Out to a perfect thread. I hence appeal
To the dear Christian Church – that we may do
Our Father’s business in these temples mirk,
Thus swift and steadfast, thus intent and strong;
While thus, apart from toil, our souls pursue
Some high, calm, spheric tune, and prove our work
The better for the sweetness of our song.”

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

“There are, in this loud stunning tide
Of human care and crime,
With whom the melodies abide
Of th’ everlasting clime;
Who carry music in their heart
Through dusky lane and wrangling mart,
And ply their daily task with busier feet
Because their hearts some holy strain repeat.”

KEBLE

August 22

“Leave results to God.”

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

“Like many other reformers, she at first hoped for a more quick return for her labours; but as the years went on, she learned, as they have learned, that God had greater designs in view than any which came within their human calculations.”

From Life of Catherine of Siena

“Quiet, patient work often brings startling results. The heart is melted at last and the conscience touched.”

Bishop WALSHAM HOW

August 21

On working a Guild. “It is a matter in which we can only pray for wisdom to deal with individual cases; but it has often seemed to me that a good rule to adopt would be ‘Love them, and pray for them, and leave them alone as much as possible.’ – To be ever on the watch for results is not good. It is like pulling up the growing plant to examine its progress. It is well to remember that though ‘Duties are ours – results are God’s’”

“I am glad to think
I am not bound to make the world go right;
But only to discover and to do,
With cheerful heart, the work that God appoints.
I will trust in Him,
That He can hold His own; and I will take
His will, above the work He sendeth me,
To be my chiefest good.”

JEAN INGELOW

"Much of the ability to do good is in the disposition to do it. The very breathing of a benevolent heart is a species of doing good.”

HARVEY

August 20

“One lesson, Nature, let me learn of thee,
One lesson which in every wind is blown,
One lesson of two duties kept at one,
Though the loud world proclaim their enmity –

Of toil unsevered from tranquillity!
Of labour, that in lasting fruit outgrows
Far noisier schemes, accomplished in repose,
Too great for haste, too high for rivalry!

Yes, while on earth a thousand discords ring,
Man’s fitful uproar mingling with his toil,
Still do thy quiet ministers move on,

Their glorious tasks in silence perfecting;
Still working, blaming still our vain turmoil,
Labours that shall not fail, when man is gone.”

MATTHEW ARNOLD

“And work all silently
And simply . . . as God does it all;
Distort our nature never for our work,
Nor count our right hands stronger for being hoofs,
The man most man with tend’rest human hands
Works best for Man – as God in Nazareth.”

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

August 19

“In your occupations try to possess your soul in peace. It is not a good plan to be in haste to perform any action that it may be the sooner over. On the contrary, you should accustom yourself to do whatever you have to do with tranquillity, in order that you may retain the possession of yourself and of settled peace.”

Madame GUYON

“By putting off things beyond their proper times, one duty treads upon the heels of another, and all duties are felt as irksome obligations, - a yoke beneath which we fret and lose our peace. In most cases the consequence of this is, that we have no time to do the work as it ought to be done. It is therefore done precipitately, with eagerness, with a greater desire simply to get it done than to do it well, and with very little thought of God throughout.”

F. W. FABER

“A pure, single, stable spirit is not distracted though it may be employed in many works; for that it doeth all to the honour of God, and being at rest within, seeketh not itself in anything it doth.”

THOMAS à KEMPIS

August 18

“This spirit of ‘Restful Dependence’ is an inward rest, which in most cases is brought out of great effort, great struggling. . . . It is a rest which enables us to work, not apart from God, but in harmony with God. and so there is no waste of force as there is when we work in merely the natural way. . . . We have rushed from place to place, feeling that something must be done, and that we must go and do it ourselves, that very moment! And afterwards we found that if only we had knelt down and committed it to God, the work would have been far better done. We should have had God with us next day, or whenever God’s time had come, whereas on that day, when we ran about so quickly, we were working by ourselves, and of course the Finite cannot do as much as the Infinite; man cannot accomplish as much as God. Work done out of harmony with God comes to nothing, but work done in a rightful spirit, drinking in of the Love of God, is eternal work. It is divine work, though done by human instrumentality, therefore it shall last when heaven and earth shall pass away.”

Bishop WILKINSON

“However she appears before me in these bright working years of her life, it is always with the same gentle manners and movements, never too hurried or too important to attend to other people’s affairs, however tedious or trivial, or to give a helping hand when it was wanted.”

From Life of Annie Keary

August 17

“In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”

ISAIAH XXX 15

“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.”

I PETER V 7

“A great many people imagine that the pressure of burden and care is wholesome; to take life hard is considered praiseworthy. It is looked upon as a kind of self-indulgence to take life easy. Now there is no doubt that a spirit of intensity and care, up to a certain point, is required for a wholesome condition of mind. But a care that brings burdens, that takes away light, that deprives us of happiness, has passed beyond the wholesome line. Now if this spirit of care did any good or led to any desirable result, there would be some justifying reason for it. But instead of that it does harm; it is not only useless, it is mischievous. There are two atmospheres in which you may work, the atmosphere of trust and the atmosphere of worry. The atmosphere of trust is a religious atmosphere, and the atmosphere of worry is a worldly atmosphere.”

August 16

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”

SOLOMON

“I should never have made my success in life if I had not bestowed upon the least thing I have ever undertaken the same attention and care that I have bestowed upon the greatest.”

C. DICKENS

“I hate to see a thing done by halves; if it be right, do it boldly; if it be wrong, leave it undone.”

GILPIN

“What shall I do to gain eternal life?
Discharge aright
The simple dues with which each day is rife –

Yea, with thy might.

Ere perfect scheme of action thou devise
Will life be fled;
While he who ever acts as conscience cries
Shall live, tho’ dead.”

SCHILLER

August 15

“The longer I live, the more I am certain that the great difference between men, between the feeble and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is energy, invincible determination. A purpose once fixed, then death or victory. That quality which will do anything that can be done in this world.”

BUXTON

“Don’t speak of what you are going to do. Do it.”

W. H. HUNT

“Try thyself inwardly till thou findest the highest thing thou art capable of doing, faculties and outward circumstances being both duly considered, and then do it.”

J. S. MILL