The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1916-08-31
Prayers by Famous Men

l. o Lord God, we pray that we may
be inspired to nobleness of life in the least
things. May we dignity all our daily life.
May we set such sacredness upon every
part of our life, as means appointed for
the glorious ends of our edi6catiop, that
nothing shall be trivial, nothing unimpor-
tant, and nothing dull, in all the daily
round.-Henry Ward Beecher.
2. o Lord, by all Thy dealings with us,
whether of JOY or pain, of light or darkness,
let us be brought to Thee. Let us value
no treatment of Thy grace simply because
it makes US happy or because it makes us
sad, because it gives US or denies us what
we want; but may all that Thou sendest us
bring us to Thee, that, knowing Thy per-
fectness, we may be sure in every disappoint-
ment that Thou art still loving us, and in
every darkness that Thou art still enlighten-
ing us, and in every enforced idleness that
Thou art still using us-yea, in every death
that Thou art giving us life, as in His death
Thou didst give life to Thy Son, our
Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.-Phillips
Brooks.
5. May we not suffocate our souls in the
worlds atmosphere, but 60 up to the noun
tain-top, where the air is fresher and purer.
May all our work have finer finish, and
may we put into it a nobler and more ex-
allied purpose, because it is done for Thee.
Thou hast encouraged every confidence by
telling us to call Thee "Father.'' Increase
our intimacy so that we may tell Thee what
we could tell to no other-Yes, even what
we do not express to ourselves.-MaltL
Davenport Babcock.
4. OGod, animate us to cheerfulness.
May we have joyful sense of our blessings,
learn to look on the bright circumstances
of our lot, and maintain perpetual content
edness under Thy allotments. Fortify our
minds against disappointment and calam-
ity. Preserve US from dependency, from
yielding to detection. Teach us that no
evil is intolerable but guilty conscience;
and that nothing can hurt us if, with true
loyalty of affection, we keep Thy COM
mandments and take refuge in Thee. Amen.
William Elery Claiming.
5. Lord God of the solitary, look upon
me in my loneliness. Since may not keep
this Christmas in the home, send it into my
heart. Let not my sins cloud me in, but
shine through them with forgiveness in the
face of the child Jesus. Put me in loving
remembrance of the lowly lodging in the
stable of Bethlehem, the sorrows of the
blessed Mary, the poverty aud exile of the
Prince of Peace. For His sake, give me
cheerful courage to endure my lot, and an
inward JOY to sweeten it.
Pure my heart from hard and bitter
thoughts. Let no shadow of forgetting come
between me and friends far away; bless them
in their Christmas mirth; and hedge me in
with faithfulness, that l may not grow un-
worthy to meet them again.
Give me good work to do that l may
forget myself and find peace in doing it for
Thee. Though l am poor, send me to
carry some gift to those who are poorer,
some cheer to those who are loneIier, since
they have not known the friendship of Jesus.
Grant me chance to do kindness to one
of His little ones, and light Thou my
Christmas candle at the gladness of an in
nocent and grateful heart.
Strange is the path where Thou leadest
me, but let me not doubt Thy wisdom nor
lose Thy hand today. Make me sure that
the Eternal Love is forever unveiled in Jesus,
Thy dear Son, to save US from sin and
solitude and death. Teach me that l am
not alone, but many hearts, all round the
world, join with me through the silence
while pray in His name: "Our Father,
which art in Heaven. Henry van Dyke.