We come to Thee, our Father, that we may more deeply enter into Thy joy. Thou turnest darkness into day, and mourning into praise. Thou art our Fortress in temptation, our Shield in remorse, our Covert in calamity, our Star of Hope in every sorrow. O Lord, we would know Thy peace, deep, abiding, inexhaustible. When we seek Thy peace, our weariness is gone, the sense of our imperfection ceases to discourage us, and our tired souls forget their pain. When, strengthened and refreshed by Thy goodness, we return to the task of life, send us forth as servants of Jesus Christ in the service and redemption of the world. Send us to the hearts without love, to men and women burdened with heavy cares, to the miserable, the sad, the broken-hearted. Send

us to the children whose heritage has been a curse, to the poor who doubt Thy Providence, to the sick who crave for healing and cannot find it, to the fallen for whom no man cares. May we be ministers of Thy mercy, messengers of Thy helpful pity, to all who need Thee. By our sympathy, our prayers, our kindness, our gifts, may we make a way for the inflow of Thy love into needy and loveless lives. And so may we have that love which alone is the fulfilling of Thy law. Hasten the time when all men shall love Thee and one another in Thee, when all the barriers that divide us shall be broken down, and every heart shall be filled with joy and every tongue with melody. These gracious gifts we ask, in Jesus' name. Amen.

II

INFINITE Source of life and health and joy! the very thought of Thee is so wonderful that in this thought we would rest and be still. Thou art Beauty and Grace and Truth and Power. Thou art the light of every heart that sees Thee, the life of every soul that loves Thee, the strength of every mind that seeks Thee. From our narrow and bounded world we would pass into Thy greater world. From our petty

and miserable selves we would escape to Thee, to find in Thee the power and the freedom of a larger life. It is our joy that we can never go beyond Thy reach; that even were we to take the wings of the morning, and fly unto the uttermost parts of the earth,

or were we to make our bed in hell, there should we find signs. of Thy presence and Thy power. Wherever we may go Thou art with us, for Thou art in us as well as without us. We recognise Thee in all the deeper experiences of the soul. When the conscience utters its warning voice, when the heart is tender and we forgive those who have wronged us in word or deed, when we feel ourselves upborne above time and place, and know ourselves citizens. of Thy everlasting Kingdom, we realise, O Lord, that these things, while they are in us, are not of us. They are Thine, the work of Thy Spirit brooding upon our souls.

Spirit of Holiness and Peace! Search all our motives; try the secret places of our souls; set in

the light any evil that may lurk within, and lead us in the way everlasting. Take possession of our bodies. Purge them from feebleness and sloth, from all unworthy self-indulgence, that they may not hinder, but help the perfection of our spirits. Take possession of our wills that they may be one with Thine, that soul and body may no longer war against each other, but live in perfect harmony, in holiness and health. May we be willing to cut off the right hand, or pluck out the right eye, if only we may feel Thy life pulsing within us, and share the blessedness of all

good and pious men. Wake us as from the sleep of death, and inspire us with new resolves, and keep us blameless in body, soul and spirit, now and ever. Let