Praise, Home, and Daily Work

ALL Thy works praise Thee, O Lord, and Thy saints give thanks unto Thee. On mountain and field and flower and sky Thou hast set Thy glory. The hearts of men and women and little children Thou hast filled with happiness. "The whole round world is bound with golden chains about Thy feet." O give us spirits attuned to the harmonies of Thy universe, that this day we may join in the swelling chorus of praise that ever magnifies Thy name. Lift us up into Thy joy, before which sorrow hides her face and pain and fear fly away.

We bless Thee for Thy self-revelation in Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Master. We have stood in His presence and have heard Him say, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." In Him Thou hast come among us, cleansing our soiled hearts, healing the wounds of body and of mind, giving rest to the troubled conscience, and opening the blind eyes to the beauty and brightness of the world. As we listen to His voice, grief becomes a scorn of ills and the weaknesses of life become our glory. As we look into His face we seek nothing but that we may love Him with all our hearts and serve Him with all our might. O Christ, Thou Son of God, let the Spirit which bore Thee to the Cross abide in us! Touch us with the glory of Thy Sonship, with the power of Thy surrendered life, that we, no longer the servants of the world, may become the sons of God!

Bless us, our Father, in all our work and in all the relations of life. Sanctify the life of the home. May its memories abide with us to strengthen us in the hour of temptation, to comfort us in the hour of sorrow. May children love and honour their parents, and may parents be tender and considerate with their children, knowing how delicate is the child-soul, and how easily harshness casts it down. Pour out a spirit of kindness and goodness in the home, that all the members of it may be bound each to each in bands of mutual love and service that may not be broken. Bless us in the larger world where we toil and suffer. We thank Thee for work and the opportunity to work. Grant that our labour may be congenial to us; that we may do it with ease and a sense of mastery. Let us not be enslaved to our tasks, but may we feel ourselves greater than they, and ready for still nobler efforts. Save us from sullen discontent, from fruitless war with the circumstances of our lot. Make our hearts obedient, that by the untoward things of experience we may win a larger and a freer life. Give us the spiritual vision and a desire to pass beyond ourselves, to think of the needs of others, to make the world a little better than we found it. Put within us Christ's yearning for the redemption of the world. Kindle within us His passion for the souls of men. Uphold us with the faith that Thou hast called us into fellowship with Him, as Thy co-workers in the achievement of Thy purpose of good. In this faith let us cheer the mourner, raise up the fallen, relieve the needy, forgive the wrongdoer, and praise the lover of simplicity and goodness. While we give to others, give Thou to us, that we may grow more and more in the spirit of helpfulness and generosity, both in word and deed; And unto Thy name we will ascribe praise and honour and glory, world without end. Amen.