January 5, 2025
To be glad of life,
Because it gives you the chance
To love, and to work, and to play, and to look up at the stars.
To be satisfied with your possessions, but not contented with yourself…
To despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness,
To fear nothing except cowardice.
To be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts,
To covet nothing that is your neighbor’s,
Except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners.
To think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends,
And every day of Christ.
To spend as much time as you can, with body and with spirit,
In God’s out-of-doors –
These are little guideposts on the footpath to peace.
From Henry Van Dyke, (1852 – 1933) author, pastor, professor of English at Princeton
