The Home Council

The World Stage

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.

—William Shakespeare.

Facing the Future Unafraid

One who never turned his breast, but marched breast forward,
Never doubted clouds would break,
Never dreamed, though right was worsted, wrong would triumph,
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, sleep to wake.

No, at noonday in the bustle of man’s work-time
Greet the unseen with a cheer!
Bid him forward, breast and back as either should be,
“Strive and thrive!” cry “speed—fight on, fare ever there as here.”

—Robert Browning.

Alternate Reading: Proverbs 8.

Abou Ben Adhem

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace.
And saw within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said,
“What writest thou?” The vision raised its head,
And, with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered, “The names of those who love the Lord.”
“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still; and said, “I pray thee then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow-men.”
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again, with a great waking light,
And showed the names whom the love of God had blessed,—
And, Lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest!

—Leigh Hunt.

The Gift Without the Giver

For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,—
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me.

—James Russell Lowell.

Alternate Reading: Job 28:12-28.

The Prayers of Nations

“Oh, World-God, give me Wealth!” the Egyptian cried.
His prayer was answered. High as heaven behold
Palace and Pyramid; the brimming tide
Of lavish Nile washed all his land with gold.
Annies of slaves toiled ant-wise at his feet;
World-circling traffic roared through mart and street;
His priests were gods; his spice-balmed kings, enshrined,
Set death at naught in rock-ribbed charnels deep.
Seek Pharaoh’s race to-day, and ye shall find
Rust and the moth, silence and dusty sleep.

“Oh, World-God, give me Beauty!” cried the Greek.
His prayer was granted. All the earth became
Plastic and vocal to his sense; each peak,
Each grove, each stream, quick with Promethean flame,
Peopled the world with imaged grace and light.
The lyre was his, and his the breathing might
Of the immortal marble; his the play
Of diamond-pointed thought and golden tongue.
Go seek the sunshine race; ye find to-day
A broken column and a lute unstrung.

“Oh, World-God, give me Power!” the Roman cried.
His prayer was granted. The vast world was chained
A captive to the chariot of his pride;
The blood of myriad provinces was drained
To feed that fierce, insatiable red heart.
Invulnerably bulwarked every part
With serried legions and with close meshed code;
Within, the burrowing worm had gnawed its home;
A roofless ruin stands where once abode
Th’ imperial race of everlasting Rome.

“Oh, Godhead, give me Truth!” the Hebrew cried.
His prayer was granted. He became the slave
Of the Idea, a pilgrim far and wide,
Cursed, hated, spurned, and scourged with none to save.
The Pharaohs knew him, and when Greeks beheld,
His wisdom wore the hoary crown of Eld.
Beauty he hath foresworn, and Wealth and Power.
Seek him to-day, and find in every land;
No fire consumes him, neither floods devour;
Immortal through the lamp within his hand.

-Emma Lazarus.

And Another:

Oh, Father God, give me love, the American cries.
May this prayer be granted! May he play the noble part
Of brother of man; and by pity for him who lies
In any human need, be known as the tender heart.
May his sympathies reach the farthest man of earth,
Whether rich or poor, of high or lowly birth;
Whose life is not a striving for selfish treasure,
Whose glory is not gold, nor power, nor narrow clan.
But abundant living without stint or measure,
And everywhere stands a true, brave American.

Alternate Reading: Proverbs 3.

From Jesus’ Sermon on the Mountain

“Do not judge, that you may not be judged. For, just as you judge others, you will yourselves be judged, and the measure that you mete will be meted out to you. And why do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye, while you pay no attention at all to the beam in yours? How will you say to your brother “Let me take out the straw from your eye,” when all the time there is a beam in your own? Hypocrite! Take out the beam from your own eye first, and then you will see clearly how to take out the straw from your brother’s. Do not give what is sacred to dogs; nor yet throw your pearls before pigs, lest they should trample them under their feet, and then turn and attack you.

Encouragement to Prayer

“Ask, and your prayer shall be granted; search, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you. For he that asks receives, he that searches finds, and to him that knocks the door shall be opened. Who among you, when his son asks him for a loaf, will give him a stone, or when he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, wicked though you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give what is good to those that ask him!

The Golden Rule

“Do to others whatever you would wish them to do to you; for that is the teaching of both the Law and the Prophets.

The Two Roads

“Go in by the small gate. Broad and spacious is the road that leads to destruction, and those that go in by it are many; for small is the gate, and narrow the road, that leads to Life, and those that find it are few.”

—Matthew.

And I smiled to think God’s greatness flowed around our incompleteness,
Round our restlessness His rest.

—Elizabeth B. Browning.

Crossing the Delaware

Everything’s easy after it’s done;
Every battle’s a “cinch” that’s won;
Every problem is clear that’s solved—
The earth was round when it revolved!
But Washington stood amid grave doubt
With enemy forces camped about;
He could not know how he would fare
Till after he’d crossed the Delaware.

Though the river was full of ice
He did not think about it twice,
But started across in the dead of night,
The enemy waiting to open the fight.
Likely feeling pretty blue,
Being human, same as you,
But he was brave amid despair,
And Washington crossed the Delaware!

So when you’re with trouble beset,
And your spirits are soaking wet,
When all the sky with clouds is black
Don’t lie down upon your back
And look at them. Just do the thing;
Though you are choked, still try to sing.
If times are dark, believe them fair,
And you will cross the Delaware!

—Joseph Morris.

Alternate Reading: Job 29:11-25.

Home

The beauty of the home is order,
The blessing of the home is contentment,
The glory of the home is hospitality,
The crown of the home is godliness.

—Anon.

If You Want A Thing Bad Enough

If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
Give up your time and your peace and your sleep for it,
If only desire of it
Makes you quite mad enough
Never to tire of it,
Makes you hold all other things tawdry and cheap for it,
If life seems all empty and useless without it,
And all that you scheme and you dream is about it,
If gladly you’ll sweat for it,
Fret for it,
Plan for it,
Lose all your terror of God or man for it,
If you’ll simply go after that thing that you want,
With all your capacity,
Strength and sagacity,
Faith, hope and confidence, stern pertinacity,
If neither cold poverty, famished and gaunt,
Nor sickness nor pain
Of body or brain
Can turn you away from the thing that you want,
If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it,
You’ll get it!

—Berton Bealey.

Alternate Reading: John 4:1-42.

The Truth-Seeker Meets Truth

While Jesus was in Jerusalem, during the Passover Festival, many came to trust in him, when they saw the signs of his mission that he was giving. But Jesus did not trust himself to them, since he could read every heart and because he did not need that others should tell him what men were; for he could of himself read what was in men.

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who was a leading man among the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night, and said to him:

“Rabbi, we know that you are a Teacher come from God; for no one could give such signs as you are giving, unless God were with him.”

“In truth I tell you,” exclaimed Jesus, “unless a man is re-born, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

“How can a man,” asked Nicodemus, “be born when he is old? Can he be born a second time?”

“In truth I tell you,” answered Jesus, “unless a man owes his birth to Water and Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. All that owes its birth to human nature is human, and all that owes its birth to the Spirit is spiritual. Do not wonder at my telling you that you all need to be re-born. The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes, or where it goes; it is the same with every one that owes his birth to the Spirit.”

—John.

Live To-Day

Prepare to live by all means, but for heaven’s sake do not forget to live. You will never have a better chance than you have at present. You may think you will have, but you are mistaken.

—Arnold Bennett.

The Habit of Decision

Men who have left their mark upon the world have been men of great and prompt decision. They have been men who do something—and do it at once. Success rides upon the hour of decision.

—O. S. Marden.

Indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o’er lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seise this very minute:
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

—William Shakespeare.

The Prayer of a Great Minister

Father, I will not ask for wealth or fame,
Though they once would have joyed my carnal sense:
I shudder not to bear a hated name,
Wanting all wealth, myself my sole defense.
But give me, Lord, eyes to behold the truth;
A seeing sense that knows the eternal right;
A heart with pity filled, and gentlest ruth;
A manly faith that makes all darkness light:
Give me the power to labor for mankind;
Make me the mouth of such as cannot speak;
Eyes let me be to groping men, and blind;
A conscience to the base; and to the weak
Let me be hands and feet; and to the foolish, mind;
And lead still further on such as Thy kingdom seek.

—Theodore Parker.

Alternate Reading: Ruth 1:1-18.

Jesus at a Wedding

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus himself, too, with his disciples, was invited to the wedding. And, when the wine ran short, his mother said to him: “They have no wine left.”

“What do you want with me?” answered Jesus. “My time has not come yet.”

His mother said to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.”

There were standing there six stone water-jars, in accordance with the Jewish rule of “purification,” each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants: “Fill the water-jars with water”; and, when they had filled them to the brim, he added:

“Now take some out, and carry it to the Master of the Feast.”

The servants did so. And, when the Master of the Feast had tasted the water which had now become wine, not knowing where it had come from—although the servants who had taken out the water knew—he called the bridegroom and said to him:

“Every one puts good wine on the table first, and inferior wine afterwards, when his guests have drunk freely; but you have kept back the good wine till now!”

This, the first sign of his mission, Jesus gave at Cana in Galilee, and by it revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

After this, Jesus went down to Capernaum—he, his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; but they stayed there only a few days.

Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem

Then, as the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple Courts he found people who were selling bullocks, sheep, and pigeons, and the money-changers at their counters. So he made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the Temple Courts, and the sheep and bullocks as well; he scattered the money of the money-changers, and overturned their tables, and said to the pigeon-dealers:

“Take these things away. Do not turn my Father’s House into a market-house.”

—John.

The First Disciples of Jesus

The next day, when John was standing with two of his disciples, he looked at Jesus as he passed and exclaimed:

“There is the Lamb of God!”

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. But Jesus turned round, and saw them following.

“What are you looking for?” he asked.

“Rabbi,” they answered (or, as we should say, Teacher), “where are you staying?”

“Come, and you shall see,” he replied.

So they went, and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was then about four in the afternoon. One of the two, who heard what John said and followed Jesus, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him: “We have found the Messiah!” (a word which means Christ, or Consecrated). Then he brought him to Jesus. Fixing his eyes on him, Jesus said:

“You are Simon, the son of John; you shall be called Kephas” (which means Peter, or rock).

The following day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip, and said to him: “Follow me.”

Philip was from Bethsaida, and a fellow-townsman of Andrew and Peter. He found Nathanael and said to him:

“We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and of whom the Prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph’s son!”

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” asked Nathanael.

“Come and see,” replied Philip.

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said:

“Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!”

“I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You shall see greater things than those! In truth I tell you,” he added, “you shall all see Heaven open, and ‘the angels of God ascending and descending’ upon the Son of Man.”

—John.