strong and true, and womanhood that is gracious and tender and beautiful. The old can thank thee that their life is nearly done. They need little; they have received much; but they may ask thee that their last days may be their best days, as the sun after its glorious course sets in beauty. So we all need to pray. We may not voice this prayer. Words can not express it. Forms can not contain it. No ritual can grasp it. It is the silent attitude, the waiting of the soul before thee. The thirsty earth puts up no cry to thee-its thirst is its cry. The hungry child puts up no cry to thee-its hunger is its prayer. Our need is our prayer, our conscious need our deepest prayer; and it is thy spirit, invisible to us, in which we live and move and have our being, that simply reveals to us that our greatest wealth may be our greatest poverty, and that our time of greatest strength may stand next day to our period of greatest weakness. So we ask that we may be conscious that in thee we live and move and have our being. Thine eye comprehends all things. Thy providence feeds all things in its universal lovingness. All things are fed by thee, nothing forgotten, no weakness passed over, no obscure place unswept by thy searching eye. In this thought of an infinite providence and allproviding love, we rest and wait. We know not anything. We are like little children crying in the night. Our only language is a cry. We feel after thee if haply we may find thee, though we know thou art not far from any one of us. Thou art beside those that mourn, though they see thee not. Thou art beside those that are tempted, though they know thee not. Thou art beside those that do wrong, though they are not conscious of thee-the strong, helpful, comforting God. And now, bless all who are here to-day, according to their need. We may not voice it or try to phrase it. Each soul knows itself better than one can speak for it. Only make us want to live better and think better thoughts and do juster deeds and kindlier acts. So shall each day be our best day and we shall grow from strength to strength and from grace to grace, making each passing day a stepping stone by which we rise to better things. Bless all men, women and little children that are here to-day, those who are sick, those who are nursing them and ministering to them; bless those who are absent; bless the stranger who is visiting us and who finds here in his Father's house his rightful place. And may thy peace which passeth understanding, and thy joy which lifts all burdens, be with us to-day, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. BURIAL SERVICE. Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. "Lead, kindly Light! amid th' encircling gloom, The night is dark, and I am far from home, Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see "I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou I loved to choose and see my path, but now I loved the garish day, and spite of fears, Remember not past years. "So long thy power has blessed me, sure it still Will lead me on O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till The night is gone; And with the morn those angel faces smile Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!" |