December 5

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. — Heb 10:24

A cold wind stirs the blackthorn
To burgeon and to blow,
Besprinkling half-green hedges
With flakes and sprays of snow.

Through coldness and through keenness,
Dear hearts take comfort so:
Somewhere or other doubtless
These make the blackthorn blow.
— Christina G. Rossetti.

There are some men and women in whose company we are always at our best. All the best stops in our nature are drawn out by their intercourse, and we find a music in our souls never there before.
— Henry Drummond.

Prayer

My Father, I thank thee for life. Make me sensitive to the unseen influences that bring thy messages. May I be led where great riches may be found through small kindnesses, and where I may learn from the meek the beauty of earth. Amen.