The Wall

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“What a dear old wall that is that runs along by the river there! I never pass it without feeling better for the sight of it. Such a mellow, bright, sweet old wall; what a charming picture it would make, with the lichen creeping here, and the moss growing there, a shy young vine peeping over the top at this spot, to see what is going on upon the busy river, and the sober old ivy clustering a little farther down! There are fifty shades and tints and hues in every ten yards of that old wall. . . . It looks so peaceful and so quiet, and it is such a dear old place to ramble round in the early morning before many people are about.” Jerome K. Jerome, “Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)” Ch. 6 (1889)

"New Year Prayer" by A.B. Simpson

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"Lord, I would ask for a holy year;
Spent in Thy perfect will;
Help me to walk in Thy very steps--
Help me to please Thee still.

Lord, I would ask for a year of faith;
Give me Thy faith divine.
Taking my full inheritance,
Making Thy fullness mine.

Lord, I would ask for a year of love;
Oh, let me love Thee best!
Give me the love that faileth not
Under the hardest test.

Lord, I would ask for a busy year,
Filled up with service true;
Doing with all Thy Spirit's might
All that I find to do.

Lord, I would ask for a year of prayer--
Teach me to walk with Thee;
Breathe in my heart They Spirit's breath;
Pray Thou Thy prayer in me.

Lord, I would ask for a year of joy,
Thy peace, Thy joy divine,
Springing undimmed through all the days,
Whether of shade of shine.

Lord, I would ask for a year of hope,
Looking to Thee to come,
And hastening on that year of years,
That brings us Christ and Home."

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