_Ah, love and love alone at last will solve All the vast, threatening questions that distract Mankind; that fellow-men in strife array, And the whole world with fierce contentions rend. Still keep your idle millions under arms-- Fed on the hard-earned substance of the poor-- Still watch each other with keen jealousy, Still slaughter thousands on the field of war, Or strive with statesman's craft to arbitrate; Thread the sly mazes of diplomacy, Try communistic cures for every ill, And when all fails at last, for lack of love, Try love--the mightiest of them all--and win!_
God of the light,--within, without, who hast lifted the curtain of night from our abodes, perfect now Thy blessing unto us, and take the veil from all our hearts, and make clear to us Thy holy presence. Filled with the everlasting light, may we look on each other, and on our work here below, and on the strifes and conditions of humanity, with a love and hope that are not of this world. May Faith, Hope and Love abide with us--and may we realize that the greatest of these is Love. Hasten Thou the time when by love alone Thy kingdom shall come, and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
_If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more starry, more immortal,--that is your success. All nature is your congratulation and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself._
Father, I have found Thy gift of life, a sweet and beautiful thing. It has known cloud and rain, but these have nourished it, and the darkness has sheltered it. It has felt driving storms, but these have strengthened it. It has known sunshine too. And now every day is a transfiguration and every night a benediction. Let thanksgiving be my prayer. What I need Thou wilt give. My hands Thou wilt touch with the soft petals of Thy flowers; and the arms of Thy strong care shall be about me. By the voices of brooks and rivers and winds and birds and little children Thou wilt speak to me, and in the deeper silences I shall hear Thy still small voice. Father, I thank Thee. Amen.
_Let us not care too much for what happens: Let us not leave our peace of mind at the mercy of events._