God's Minute 3/11

He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.--Psalm 103:14

O LORD, we come to Thee in the name of Jesus, Who is the way, the truth, and the life. Thou art a great God, and we would approach Thee with feelings of reverence and holy fear. But Thou art also our Father, having created and redeemed us, and we come with the love and confidence of children. We thank Thee that we have a friend and advocate in Heaven, even our Saviour, Who was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, and Who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. We adore Thee, the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Every good gift is from Thee. All our hopes are in Thee. Cast us not away from Thy presence. Look with compassion upon us, and blot out all our sins.

Teach us Thy will, and lead us in a plain path. Make us willing to be used in Thy Kingdom. Forbid that we should lay a stumbling block in the way of another. As we grow in years, may we grow in grace. Prosper Thy Church in this and all lands. Speedily bring all nations to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. We ask it in His Name.

Amen.

Charles P. Wiles, D.D.,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

God's Minute 3/10

We are more than conquerors through Him Who loveth us.--Romans 8:37

HEAVENLY FATHER, the strength of all who put their trust in Thee, be with us each day, we pray Thee, to uphold our hands and guide our hearts that we may give of our best to Thy service.

Thou knowest our weakness, how much we care for the opinion of others. Give us of Thy strength, that we may never be afraid to do Thy will. Each day there come temptations. sorrows, successes; may we be ready to meet each with a clear faith in Thee and an earnest trust in Thy goodness.

Help us as we go about our daily task, in the mill or the office, the school or the home, to have pure thoughts and clean lips.

May we try to give ourselves in helpfulness to those with whom we come in contact, each day making some one happier by word or deed, so that, as the evening comes and the shadows lengthen, we may go to our rest happy in having been of service to the world.

Grant that we may, by our surrender to Thee, and our sacrifice for others, gain the strength to bear the cross, following His footsteps, in Whose Name we offer this, our imperfect prayer.

Amen.

Rev. Edward H. Bonsall, Jr.,
Morton, Pennsylvania

Possible Dürer/Seuss connection?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Throughout his life, Dürer was interested in oddities of nature. The walrus has pushed the front half of his body into the picture and is looking at the observer with his peculiarly glassy gaze; this has led to the suggestion that Dürer created the study from a chopped off walrus head or stuffed animal, and completed the rest from his imagination. The study was to be used as a detail in the altar painting of an enthroned Madonna and Child surrounded by eight saints and angels playing instruments, but this work was never produced. At the top left Dürer wrote: "Das dozig thyr van dem ich do das hawbt conterfett hab, ist gefange worden in der niderlendischen see und was XII ellen brawendisch mit für füssen" (The animal which I have drawn this picture of was captured in the Dutch Sea and was twelve cubits in size with four feet). Web Gallery of Art

(If Dürer himself says the animal had 4 feet, I wonder why an art critic thinks he was working from just the head. He seemed to know a lot about the specimen.)

This is for MissM's young sons. The Walrus reminds me of a Dr. Seuss drawing. I wonder if Theodor Geissel was inspired by Dürer:

God's Minute 3/9

The Lord is good to the soul that seeketh Him.--Lamentations 3:25

INFINITE FATHER, Thou art our life and light, our hope and redemption. We have tried the world and found it a treat emptiness; we come back to Thee Who art eager to fill our souls with everlasting truth and mercy.

We come with a song in our hearts, for the list ofThy benefits is beyond our counting. We thank Thee for the stirring, stimulating days of the prestent, with their opportunities for improvement and service, their concern for the poor and ignorant. We thank Thee for the mysterious, inviting days which are to come, laden with secret stores for our replenishing, hidden delights, and dark experiences for our training.

We thankThee for the silent heroisms of the home; for the hallowed drudgeries of hospital and sick chamber. We thankThee that, despite the cleaverness of wicked men and the foolishness of good men, the Kingdom makes steady advance. Thy bounty unto us is without boundaries. And yet we baffle Thy plans, thwart Thy love, and wander wretchedly from the way of Jesus. We return unto Thee this morning to have our stains removed, our petty shams stripped away, and our hearts fortified. Have compassion upon us, and bring us all by and by to our Father's home, through the riches of grace in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Rev. Hugh Elmer Brown,
Seattle, Washington

This is the one

I told myself that I wouldn't post a funny search line until just the right one came along. This is the one:

"How to truly clone living things."

Mine was the number one hit. Hmmm.