Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-04-10

NAV J the spirit of this
prayer who has
II. F. COPE. thought that such a
petition made daily toll unnecessary;
who has thought Of its bringing about
that condition of life, ideal to many,
in which the needed meals would fall
from the heavens as the suitable sea-
sons between sleep and the pursuit 0
pleasure.
The spirit of the prayer puts a high
err significance into these simple words.
Each day comes with its deep needs,
it's heavy cares, its high possibilities,
its trying duties, its splendid joys, and
we ask not for three meals or five, but
for all that the day may have we may
find sufficient strength and sustenance.
1t takes more than a good breakfast
to equip a mar for the days business.
It takes a bracing of the Will, some
uplift of the heart; it takes some inner
impulse and power that helps US to see
the glory of 4 new day, to feel the
thrill of its possibilities, to face it with
delight. and to find in it every good and
CIV ely lIpplC 1 ! iiaS liA " ~.
There are hours every day when the
inner light burns dim, when the heart
seems to fail and almost faint, when
despair creeps YER us and the spirit
of pessimism comes VI like a bewil-
dering mist, when cynicism's cold
fingers lay themselves icily on our
warm faith in our fellows. Such per-
iods of depression and doubt become
habitual with some; they serve to
block every high endeavor.
These hours simply mean that the
inner life needs its daily bread: that
for the high business of living, for the
souls service in the world. we need
the food Of the spiritual life. The adj
vice to read a good and noble thought
every day, is some poem. n to see
some good picture OIL to hear an ele-
waiting strain of music every day is as
simple and practical as the advice to
take your meals regularly.
The physical plays a large part in
life, but it does not play the largest.
Or, IL it does, then there are reaches of
this physical that are s,ot to be ex-
plored by material observation nor sat
isfed with material supplies. You can
afford to neglect no need of your ma
ture, no aspect of your life. A heart
ache is just as real as an ache in the
empty stomach.
The tragedy of all our lives is that
we seek to satisfy them with the bread
that perishes divine as they are, we
seek to tie them down to the dust. We
shut out heaven and cry aloud in des-
pair that earth is so dark and its tasks
so irksome. Life becomes hopeless, as
1t seems to be empty of things to sat
isfy the higher life.
Yet this daily bread is not some
a to fall from the skies, Is not
some peculiar privilege belonging to a
few choice souls. 1t is to be had for
the taking. Our great heritage of
cheering thoughts, of noble ideals, of
visions that elevate and inspire, is at
the same time the cheapest and the
richest thing o~btainable.
To those who look for beauty every
common bush is o o. aflame with God;
to those who look for love, how won
1aZ
derfully rich is u poor humanity in
gentle kindness, in tender service, in
deep, thrilling sacrifices! They who
walk in the common walks of life,
mingling with men and doing this
worlds material tasks. find, if they but
have the open mind, that which gives
them faith and strength for their daily
living and for higher endeavor.
What though the hands be tied to
toilsome task, may not the heart go
out In memory of the best thoughts
that have ever come TO the race. in
Imagination of heroic scenes, in aspira-
tion after the best? May not the will
respond to every stimulus and aspira-
tion to greater life? May o our
hearts feed on those things that have
made men brave and GodliIse in the
past?
Is not this our deep need? Is not
this the bread we ought daily to de-
sire? For what is life to any of us
If it be no more than the feeding of
this outer shell. and what ma it not
become if it be the nurtnring of the
whole being by those ideals, and pas
sions, and service that have most
nightly moved our race in days gone
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