The Home Council

Washington’s Birthday

‘Tis splendid to live so grandly,
That long after you are gone,
The things you did are remembered,
And recounted under the sun;
To live so bravely and purely,
That a nation stops on its way,
And once a year, with banner and drum,
Keeps its thoughts of your natal day.

‘Tis splendid to have a record
So white and free from stain,
That, held to the light, it shows no blot,
Though tested and tried amain;
That age to age forever
Repeats its story of love,
And your birthday lives in a nation’s heart
All other days above.

And this is Washington’s glory,
A steadfast soul and true,
Who stood for his country’s honor
When his country’s days were few;
And now, when its days are many,
And its flag of stars is flung
To the breeze in defiant challenge,
His name is on every tongue.

Yes, it’s splendid to live so bravely,
To be so great and strong,
That your memory is ever a tocsin
To rally the foes of the wrong;
To live so proudly and purely,
That your people pause in their way,
And year by year, with banner and drum,
Keep the thoughts of your natal day.

—Margaret E. Sangster.

Washington’s Home at Mt. Vernon is a finer testimony to the greatness of his character than all the monuments of stone that can ever be built.

Alternate Reading: Luke 6: 37-49.

Love is Religious Life

Most men know love but as a part of life:
They hide it in some corner of the breast,
Even from themselves; and only when they rest
In the brief pauses of that daily strife,—
Wherewith the world might else be not quite so rife,—
They draw it forth (as one draws forth a toy),
And hold it up to sister, child, or wife.
Ah me! Why may not love and life be one?
Why walk we thus alone, when by our side,
Love, like a visible God, might be our guide?
How would the marts grow noble I and the street,
Worn like a dungeon floor by weary feet,
Seem then a golden court-way of the Sun!

—Henry Timrod.

Under a Canopy of Love

I say to thee, do thou repeat
To the first man that thou mayest meet
In lane, highway, or open street—

That he, and we, and all men, move
Under a canopy of love,
As broad as the blue sky above:

That weary deserts we may tread,
A dreary labyrinth may thread,
Through dark ways under ground be led:

Yet, if we will one Guide obey,
The dreariest path, the darkest way,
Shall issue out in heavenly day.

And we, on divers shores now cast,
Shall meet, our perilous voyage past,
All in our Father’s house at last.

—Richard C. Trench.

Alternate Reading: Romans 5:1-11.

Love is Religious Life

Most men know love but as a part of life:
They hide it in some corner of the breast,
Even from themselves; and only when they rest
In the brief pauses of that daily strife,—
Wherewith the world might else be not quite so rife,—
They draw it forth (as one draws forth a toy),
And hold it up to sister, child, or wife.
Ah me! Why may not love and life be one?
Why walk we thus alone, when by our side,
Love, like a visible God, might be our guide?
How would the marts grow noble I and the street,
Worn like a dungeon floor by weary feet,
Seem then a golden court-way of the Sun!

—Henry Timrod.

Under a Canopy of Love

I say to thee, do thou repeat
To the first man that thou mayest meet
In lane, highway, or open street—

That he, and we, and all men, move
Under a canopy of love,
As broad as the blue sky above:

That weary deserts we may tread,
A dreary labyrinth may thread,
Through dark ways under ground be led:

Yet, if we will one Guide obey,
The dreariest path, the darkest way,
Shall issue out in heavenly day.

And we, on divers shores now cast,
Shall meet, our perilous voyage past,
All in our Father’s house at last.

—Richard C. Trench.

Alternate Reading: Romans 5:1-11.

The Soul Destroyed by Worry

There was once a mother, to whom the good God had given a son, but she was so poor and lonely that she had nobody who could stand godmother to him. And she sighed, and said, “Where shall I get a godmother?” Then one evening there came a woman to her house who was dressed in gray and had a gray veil over her head. She said, “I will be your son’s godmother, and I will take care that he grows up a good man and does not let you starve; but you must give me his soul.”

Then his mother trembled, and said, “Who are you?”

“I am Dame Care,” answered the gray woman; and the mother wept; but as she suffered much from hunger, she gave the woman her son’s soul and she was his godmother.

And her son grew up and worked to procure her bread.

But as he had no soul, he had no joy and no youth, and he often looked at his mother with reproachful eyes, as if he would ask, “Mother, where is my soul?”

Then the mother grew sad and went out to find him a soul. She asked the stars in the sky, “Will you give me a soul for my son?” But they said, “He is too low for that.” And she asked the flowers on the heath; they said, “He is too ugly.” And she asked the birds in the trees; and they said, “He is too sad.” And she asked the high trees; they said, “He is too humble.” And she asked the clever serpents, but they said, “He is too stupid.”

Then she went away, weeping. And in the woods she met a young and beautiful princess surrounded by her court. When the Princess saw the mother weeping, she descended from her horse and took her to the castle, which was all built of gold and precious stones.

There she asked the mother, “Tell me why you weep?” And the mother told the Princess of her grief that she could not procure her son a soul, nor joy, nor youth.

Then said the Princess, whose name was “Love-of-Man,” “I cannot see anybody weep; I will tell you something—I will give him my soul.”

Then the mother fell down before the Princess and kissed her hands. “But,” said the Princess, “I cannot do it unless he asks me for it.” Then the mother went to her son, but Dame Care had laid her gray veil over his head, so that he was blind and could not see the Princess.

The mother pleaded, “Dear Dame Care, set him free.” But Dame Care smiled—and whoever saw her smile was forced to weep—and she said, “He must free himself.”

“How can he do that?” asked the mother.

“He must sacrifice to me all that he loves,” said Dame Care.

Then the mother grieved very much, and lay down and died. But the Princess waits for her suitor to this very day.

—Hermann Sudermann.

Alternate Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24.

From Jesus’ Sermon on the Mountain

About Praying

“And, when you pray, you are not to behave as hypocrites do. They like to pray standing in the Synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. There, I tell you, is their reward! But, when one of you prays, let him go into his own room, shut the door, and pray to his Father who dwells in secret; and his Father, who sees what is secret, will recompense him. When praying, do not repeat the same words over and over again, as is done by the Gentiles, who think that by using many words they will obtain a hearing. Do not imitate them; for God, your Father, knows what you need before you ask him.

“You, therefore, should pray thus—

The ‘Lord’s Prayer’

‘Our Father, who art in Heaven, may thy name be held holy, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done—on earth, as in Heaven. Give us to-day the bread that we shall need; and forgive us our wrong-doings, as we have forgiven those who have wronged us; and take us not into temptation, but deliver us from Evil.’

“For, if you forgive others their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also; but, if you do not forgive others their offences, not even your Father will forgive your offences.

About Fasting

“And, when you fast, do not put on gloomy looks, as hypocrites do who disfigure their faces that they may be seen by men to be fasting. That, I tell you, is their reward! But, when one of you fasts, let him anoint his head and wash his face, that he may not be seen by men to be fasting, but by his Father who dwells in secret; and his Father, who sees what is secret, will recompense him.”

—Matthew.

A Noble Deed

I hold this thing to be grandly true,
That a noble deed is a step towards God—
Lifting the soul from the common clod
To a purer air and a broader view.

—J. G. Holland.

Living a Christian

My children, I am to be with you but a little while longer. I give you a new commandment—love one another; love one another just as I have loved you. It is by this that every one will recognize you as my disciples—by the love you bear one another.

—Jesus.

Every Good Deed is Charity

Every good deed is charity. Giving water to the thirsty is charity; putting a wanderer in the right path is charity; removing stones and thorns from the road is charity. Our true wealth is the good we do. When one dies, men ask what property he left behind him, but angels ask what good deeds he sent before him.

—Anon.

Home is God’s garden of character; the soul may grow elsewhere, but it grows to perfection there.

Martin Luther

(Death Feb. 18, 1546. Lines written at Luther’s grave in Wittenburg.)

Here rests the heart whose throbbing shook the earth!
High soul of courage, we do owe thee much;
Thee and thy warrior comrades, who the worth
Of freedom proved and put it to the touch!
Because, O Luther, thou the truth didst love,
And spake the truth out, faced the sceptered lie,
E’en we, thy unforgetting heirs, may move
Fearless, erect, unshackled, ‘neath the sky.

—Richard Watson Gilder.

From Jesus’ Sermon on the Mountain

On Love

“You have heard that it was said—

‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy.’

I, however, say to you—Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you that you may become sons of your Father who is in Heaven; for he causes his sun to rise upon bad and good alike, and sends rain upon the righteous and upon the unrighteous. For, if you love only those who love you, what reward will you have? Even the tax-gatherers do this! And, if you show courtesy to your brothers only, what are you doing more than others? Even the Gentiles do this! You, then, must become perfect—as your heavenly Father is perfect.

About Giving

“Take care not to perform your religious duties in public in order to be seen by others; if you do, your Father who is in Heaven has no reward for you.

“Therefore, when you do acts of charity, do not have a trumpet blown in front of you, as hypocrites do in the Synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. There, I tell you, is their reward! But, when you do acts of charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your charity may be secret; and your Father, who sees what is in secret, will recompense you.”

—Matthew.

Possessions Shared Become Blessings

Thyself and thy belongings
Are not thine own so proper as to waste
Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.
Heaven does with us as we with torches do,
Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, ’twere all alike
As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touched
But to fine issues.

—William Shakespeare.

The Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount remains the manifesto of Jesus’ religion, and carries in spirit. His own irresistible charm—the freshness of new revelation. “Blessed,” said Jesus, opening His mouth with intention, and no one could have guessed what would follow. The world had its own idea of blessedness. Blessed is the man who is always right. Blessed is the man who is satisfied with himself. Blessed is the man who is strong. Blessed is the man who rules. Blessed is the man who is rich. Blessed is the man who is popular. Blessed is the man who enjoys life. These are the beatitudes of sight and this present world.

It comes as a shock and opens a new realm of thought, that not one of these men entered Jesus’ mind when he treated of blessedness. “Blessed,” said Jesus, “is the man who thinks lowly of himself; who has passed through great trials; who gives in and endures; who longs for perfection; who carries a tender heart; who has a passion for holiness; who sweetens human life; who dares to be true to conscience.” What a conception of character! Blessed are the humble, the penitents, the victims, the mystics, the philanthropists, the saints, the mediators, the confessors. For the first time a halo rests on gentleness, patience, kindness, and sanctity, and the eight men of the beatitudes divide the kingdom of God.

Jesus was an absolute and unreserved believer in character, and was never weary of insisting that a man’s soul was more than his environment, and must be judged not by what he held and had, but by what he was and did. Jesus’ demand was to do the “will of my Father which is in heaven,” and all of this kind made one family. He only has founded a kingdom on the basis of character; He only has dared to believe that character will be omnipotent. No weapon in Jesus’ view would be so winsome, so irresistible, as the beatitudes in action. His disciples were to use no kind of force, neither tradition, nor miracles, nor the sword, nor money. They were to live as He lived, and influence would conquer the world. Jesus elected twelve men—one was a failure—and trained them till they thought with Him, and saw with Him. Each disciple became a center himself, and so the Kingdom grew by multiplying and widening circles of influence.

—John Watson.

Have you doubted your immortality? have you been asking where Heaven is? Then go and live the Sermon on the Mount in your home and you will find the answer to both questions.

Alternate Reading: Acts 24:1-22.

From Jesus’ Sermon on the Mountain

On Impurity

“You have heard that it was said—

‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’

I, however, say to you that any one who looks at a woman with an impure intention has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye is a snare to you, take it out and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it thrown into the Pit. And, if your right hand is a snare to you, cut it off and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it go down to the Pit.

On Divorce

“It was also said—

‘Let any one who divorces his wife serve her with a notice of separation.’

I, however, say to you that any one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of her unchastity, leads to her committing adultery; while any one who marries her after her divorce is guilty of adultery.

On Oaths

“Again, you have heard that to our ancestors it was said—

‘Thou shalt not break an oath, but thou shalt keep thins oaths as a debt due to the Lord.’

I, however, say to you that you must not swear at all, either by Heaven, since that is God’s throne, or by the earth, since that is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the Great King. Nor should you swear by your head, since you cannot make a single hair either white or black. Let your words be simply “Yes” or “No”; anything beyond this comes from what is wrong.

On Revenge

“You have heard that it was said—

‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

I, however, say to you that you must not resist wrong; but, if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also; and, when any one wants to go to law with you, to take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and, if any one compels you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to him who asks of you, and, from him who wants to borrow from you, do not turn away.”

—Matthew.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.

—Psalms.

Real Love

Which alters when alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O not it is an ever fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

—William Shakespeare.

He that Shuts Love Out

And he that shuts Love out, in turn shall be
Shut out from Love, and on her threshold lie
Howling in outer darkness. Not for this
Was common clay taken from the common earth,
Moulded by God, and tempered with the tears
Of angels to the perfect shape of man.

—Alfred Tennyson.

God Buried in a Woman’s Soul

God buried in a woman’s soul
A treasure rare
For His safe keeping, till the day
That he to whom it was bequeathed
Should, by some look, or whisper breathed,
Beseech his birthright hid away.

She kept it long, for safety locked
Deep in her heart,
And there it grew more fair, more bright;
But no one brought the magic key
That claimed the treasure held in fee:
So, deeper still, she buried it from sight.

At last the Donor spoke and said:
“Give lavishly
To all you meet from out your store;
A heart of love, like purse of gold,
Unspent, but curses those who hold.”
Yet as she gave, the hoard but grew the more!

—Eva Dean.

Alternate Reading: Acts 22:1-22.

From Jesus’ Sermon on the Mountain

“Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to do away with them, but to complete them. For I tell you, until the heavens and the earth disappear, not even the smallest letter, nor one stroke of a letter, shall disappear from the Law until all is done. Whoever, therefore, breaks one of these commandments, even the least of them, and teaches others to do so, will be the least-esteemed in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever keeps them, and teaches others to do so, will be esteemed great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Indeed I tell you that, unless your religion is above that of the Teachers of the Law, and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

On Anger

“You have heard that to our ancestors it was said—

‘Thou shalt not commit murder,’

and

‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to answer for it to the Court.’

I, however, say to you that any one who cherishes anger against his brother shall be liable to answer for it to the Court; and whoever pours contempt upon his brother shall be liable to answer for it to the High Council, while whoever calls down curses upon him shall be liable to answer for it in the fiery Pit. Therefore, when presenting your gift at the altar, if even there you remember that your brother has some grievance against you, leave your gift there, before the altar, go and be reconciled to your brother first, then come and present your gift. Be ready to make friends with your opponent, even when you meet him on your way to the court: for fear that he should hand you over to the judge, and the judge to his officer, and you should be thrown into prison. I tell you, you will not come out until you have paid the last penny.”

—Matthew.

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but a grievous word stirreth up anger.

—Proverbs.

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe,
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

—William Blake.