APRIL NINTH
Reading edition
Fisher Ames born 1758.
John Opie died 1807.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti died 1882.
Gather a shell from the strown beach And listen at its lips; they sigh The same desire and mystery, The echo of the whole sea's speech. And all mankind is this at heart— Not anything but what thou art: And Earth, Sea, Man are all in each. —Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
And as, in sparkling majesty, a star Gilds the bright summit of some glory cloud; Brightening the half-veil'd face of heaven afar; So when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud, Sweet Hope! celestial influence round me shed, Waving the silver pinions o'er my head. —John Keats.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
—Romans 15. 13.
Almighty God, may I ever know the generous glow that comes with an overwhelming desire to cultivate the soul. With hope may I find the way through the darkness that leads to immortality, even if I may have to experience the weariness that may accompany it. Amen.