The Home Council

Live Your Best Today

Be not therefore anxious for the morrow; for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

—Jesus.

Live the Present Hour

Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live,—be good! You cannot live the past; you cannot live the future. Your life is compressed into the present. The present is the same to all. It is all that anyone really has. You cannot lose either the past or the future, for you do not possess either. The present hour is your sole possession. Then make the most of what you have. Reverence that which is best in the universe and also reverence that which is best in thyself. Let not future things disturb you; for you will come to them, or will not come to them, as God may appoint. At any rate you cannot carry into the future more than you have in the present.

—Marcus Aurelius Antonius.

For Tomorrow and Its Needs

Lord, for to-morrow and its needs I do not pray;
Keep me, my God, from stain of sin just for to-day.

Help me to labor earnestly, and duly pray;
Let me be kind in word and deed, Father, to-day.

Let me no wrong or idle word unthinking say;
Set Thou a seal upon my lips through all to-day.

Let me in season, Lord, be grave, in season gay;
Let me be faithful to Thy grace, Dear Lord, to-day.

And if, to-day, this life of mine should ebb away,
Give me Thy sacrament divine, Father, to-day.

So for to-morrow and its needs I do not pray;
Still keep me, guide me, love me, Lord, through each to-day.

—E. R. Wilberforce.

Alternate Reading: Acts 5:17-42.

Jesus at Work in the Sabbath

Sometime after this there was a Jewish Festival; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, near the Sheep-gate, a Bath with five colonnades round it. It is called in Hebrew Bethesda. In these colonnades a large number of afflicted people were lying—blind, lame, and crippled. One man who was there had been afflicted for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw the man lying there, and, finding that he had been in this state a long time, said to him:

“Do you wish to be cured?”

“I have no one, Sir,” the afflicted man answered, “to put me into the Bath when there is a troubling of the water, and, while I am getting to it, some one else steps down before me.”

“Stand up,” said Jesus, “take up your mat, and walk about.”

The man was cured immediately, and took up his mat and began to walk about.

Now it was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured:

“This is the Sabbath; you must not carry your mat.”

“The man who cured me,” he answered, “said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk about.’ “

“Who was it,” they asked, “that said to you ‘Take up your mat and walk about’?”

But the man who had been restored did not know who it was; for Jesus had moved away, because there was a crowd there. Afterwards Jesus found the man in the Temple Courts, and said to him:

“You are cured now; do not sin again, for fear that something worse may befall you.”

The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. And that was why the Jews began to persecute Jesus—because be did things of this kind on the Sabbath. But Jesus replied:

“My Father works to this very hour, and I work also.”

This made the Jews all the more eager to kill him, because not only was he doing away with the Sabbath, but he actually called God his own Father—putting himself on an equality with God.

—John.

The Sultan’s Lesson

A Sultan placed before his throne one day
Three vases—one of gold, one amber, and one clay;
And when his seal was set upon each urn,
His three sons, at his bidding, chose in turn.

Upon the golden vase “Empire” was writ;
Resplendent jewels all around it stood;
The eldest grasped that vase and opened it,
But shrank to find it brimming full of blood.

“Glory” upon the amber vase shone bright;
Fresh wreaths of laurel twined the letters o’er;
The second seized it quick; but ah, sad sight!
‘Twas filled with dust of heroes known no more.

No word was written on the vase of earth;
But still the youngest son advanced his claim;
He oped the urn amid the courtiers’ mirth,
And naught was in it save God’s holy name.

The Sultan to the throng of courtiers turned,
And asked which of the vases weighed the most.
Various the thoughts which in their bosoms burned,
And came to speech among the glittering host.

The warriors said, “The golden vase of Might”;
The poets said, “The amber vase of Fame”;
The sages said, “The vase emblem of Right,—
The globe is lighter than God’s written name.”

Then said the Sultan, “Sons, remember well
The meaning of the lesson read to-day;
When the scales tremble betwixt good and ill.
The name of God will all the rest outweigh.

—W. R. Alger

Alternate Reading: Acts 5:12-16.

An Ethical Creed

No church since the early centuries has had the courage to formulate an ethical creed, for even those bodies of Christians which have no written theological creed, yet have implicit affirmations or denials of doctrine as their basis. Imagine a body of Christians who should take their stand on the Sermon of Jesus, and conceive their creed on its lines. Imagine how it would read, “I believe in the Fatherhood of God; I believe in the words of Jesus; I believe in the clean heart; I believe in the service of love; I believe in the unworldly life; I believe in the Beatitudes; I promise to trust God and follow Christ, to forgive my enemies and to seek after the righteousness of God.” Could any form of words be more elevated, more persuasive, more alluring? Do they not thrill the heart and strengthen the conscience? Liberty of thought is allowed; liberty of sinning is alone denied.

Who would refuse to sign this creed? They would come from the east and the west, and the north and the south, to its call, and even they who would hesitate to bind themselves to a crusade so arduous would admire it, and long to be worthy. Does one say this is too ideal, too impractical, too quixotic? That no church could stand and work on such a basis? For three short, glorious years the church of Christ had none else, and it was by holy living alone, and not by any metaphysical subtleties, the Primitive Church lived, and suffered, and conquered.

—John Watson.

Alternate Reading: Acts 4:1-20.

Jesus the Supreme Authority on Human Life

Did Jesus not teach, while carrying the Cross, that we stood to God as children to a Father, and must do His will; that for no sin was there, or could there be, forgiveness till it was abandoned; that the state of the soul, and not the mere outside life, was everything; that the sacrifice of self, and not self-aggrandisement, was His method of salvation; that love was life? and when He said,— “Believe in me”; “Carry my cross,” was He not calling men to fulfil His Gospel?

If anyone had come to Christ at Capernaum or Jerusalem, and said, “Master, there is nothing I so desire as to keep Thy sayings. Wilt Thou have me, weak and ignorant although I be, as Thy disciple?” can you imagine Christ then, or now, or at any time interposing with a series of doctrinal tests regarding either the being of God or the history of man? It is impossible, because it would be incongruous. Indeed if Christ did revise and improve the conditions of discipleship, we should learn that from His last address in the upper room. But what was the obligation He then laid on the disciples’ conscience, as with His dying breath? “This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you.” It is the Sermon on the Mount in brief.

—John Watson.

God Reigneth

Jehovah reigneth; let the earth rejoice;
Let the multitude of isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him:
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

—The Psalms.

The Blindness of Riches

Is there no hope? the sick man said.
The silent doctor shook his head.
Thus said the man with gasping breath:—
I feel the chilling wound of death;
Since I must bid the world adieu,
Let me my former life review.
I grant, my bargains well were made,
But all men overreach in trade;
‘Tis self-defense in each profession;
Sure, self-defense is no transgression.
The little portion in my hands,
By good security on lands,
Is well increased. If unawares,
My justice to myself and heirs
Hath let my debtor rot in jail,
For want of good sufficient bail;
If I by writ, or bond, or deed,
Reduced a family to need,—
My will hath made the world amends;
My hope on charity depends.
When I am numbered with the dead,
And all my pious gifts are read,
By heaven and earth ’twill then be known,
My charities were amply shown.
An angel came. Ah, friend! he cried,
No more in flattering hope confide.
Can thy good deeds in former times
Outweigh the balance of thy crimes?
What widow or what orphan prays
To crown thy life with length of days?
A pious action’s in thy power;
Embrace with joy the happy hour.
Now, while you draw the vital air,
Prove your intention is sincere:
This instant give a hundred pound;
Your neighbors want, and you abound.
But why such haste? the sick man whines:
Who knows as yet what heaven designs?
Perhaps I may recover still;
That sum and more are in my will.
Fool, says the vision, now ’tis plain,
Your life, your soul, your heaven was gain;
From every side with all your might,
You scraped, and scraped beyond your right;
And after death would fain atone,
By giving what is not your own.
Where there is life there is hope, he cried;
Then why such haste?—so groaned and died.

—John Gay.

Alternate Reading: Mark 10:1-12.

Jesus at Work

At sunset, all who had friends suffering from various diseases took them to Jesus; and he placed his hands upon every one of them and cured them. And even demons came out from many people, screaming “You are the Son of God.” Jesus rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

At daybreak, Jesus went out and walked to a lonely spot. But crowds of people began to look for him; and they came to where he was and tried to detain him and prevent his leaving them. Jesus, however, said to them:

“I must take the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, for that was why I was sent.”

And he continued to make his proclamation in the Synagogues of Judaea.

—Luke.

We May Not Climb the Heavenly Steeps

We may not climb the heavenly steeps
To bring the Lord Christ down;
In vain we search the lowest deeps,
For Him no depths can drown.

But warm, sweet, tender, even yet
A present help is He;
And faith has still its Olivet,
And love its Galilee.

The healing of the seamless dress
Is by our beds of pain;
We touch Him in life’s throng and press,
And we are whole again.

O Lord and Master of us all,
Whate’er our name or sign,
We own Thy sway, we hear
Thy call, We test our lives by Thine.

—John G. Whittier.

The New Law of Jesus

I now understand the words of Jesus: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say to you, that ye resist not evil.” Jesus’ meaning is: “You have thought that you were acting in a reasonable manner in defending yourselves by violence against evil, in tearing out an eye for an eye, by fighting against evil by criminal tribunals, guardians of the peace, armies; but I say unto you, renounce violence; have nothing to do with violence; do harm to no one, not even to your enemy.” In saying this Jesus formulated a new law whose effect would be to deliver humanity from its self-inflicted woes. His declaration was: “You believe that your laws reform criminals; as a matter of fact they only make more criminals. There is only one way to suppress evil, and that is to return good for evil, without respect of persons. For thousands of years you have tried the other method; now try mine, try the reverse.”—As fire cannot extinguish fire, so evil cannot suppress evil. Good alone, confronting evil and resisting its contagion, can overcome evil.

—Lyoff N. Tolstoi.

Alternate Reading: Psalm 1.

Letters from God Everywhere

And to glance with an eye or show a bean in its pod confounds the learning of all times,
And there is no trade or employment but the young man following it may become a hero,
And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheel’d universe.
And I say to any man or woman, “Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.”

I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then,
In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass,
I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is sign’d by God’s name,
And I leave them where they are, for I know that whereso’er I go, Others will punctually come forever and ever.

—Walt Whitman.

Always Something Sings

Let me go where’er I will,
I hear a sky-born music still:
It sounds from all things old,
It sounds from all things young,
From all that’s fair, from all that’s foul,
Peals out a cheerful song.

It is not only in the rose,
It is not only in the bird,
Not only where the rainbow glows,
Nor in the song of woman heard,
But in the darkest, meanest things
There alway, alway something sings.

‘Tis not in the high stars alone,
Nor in the cup of budding flowers,
Nor in the redbreast’s mellow tone,
Nor in the bow that smiles in showers,
But in the mud and scum of things
There alway, alway something sings.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Alternate Reading: Luke 5:17-26.

Jesus Praying Alone Before Daylight

In the morning, long before daylight, Jesus rose and went out, and, going to a lonely spot, there began to pray. But Simon and his companions hastened after him; and, when they found him, they exclaimed:

“Every one is looking for you!”

But Jesus said to them:

“Let us go somewhere else, into the country towns near, that I may make my proclamation in them also; for that was why I came.”

And he went about making his proclamation in their Synagogues all through Galilee, and driving out the demons.

Cure of a Leper

One day a leper came to Jesus and, falling on his knees, begged him for help.

“If only you are willing,” he said, “you are able to make me clean.”

Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out bis hand and touched him, saying as he did so:

“I am willing; become clean.”

Instantly the leprosy left the man, and he became clean; and then Jesus, after sternly warning him, immediately sent him away, and said to him:

“Be careful not to say anything to any one; but go and show yourself to the Priest, and make the offerings for your cleansing directed by Moses as evidence of your cure.”

The man, however, went away, and began to speak about it publicly, and to spread the story so widely that Jesus could no longer go openly into a town, but stayed outside in lonely places; and people came to him from every direction.

—Mark.