September 25

Ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.--DEUT. xii. 7.

Sweet is the smile of home; the mutual look
When hearts are of each other sure;
Sweet all the joys that crowd the household nook,
The haunt of all affections pure.
J. KEBLE.

Is there any tie which absence has loosened, or which the wear and tear
of every-day intercourse, little uncongenialities, unconfessed
misunderstandings, have fretted into the heart, until it bears something of
the nature of a fetter? Any cup at our home-table whose sweetness we have
not fully tasted, although it might yet make of our daily bread a continual
feast? Let us reckon up these treasures while they are still ours, in
thankfulness to God.
ELIZABETH CHARLES.

We ought daily or weekly to dedicate a little time to the reckoning up of
the virtues of our belongings,--wife, children, friends,--contemplating
them then in a beautiful collection. And we should do so now, that we may
not pardon and love in vain and too late, after the beloved one has been
taken away from us to a better world.
JEAN PAUL RICHTER.