Inwardly be free of all hopes and desires, but outwardly do what needs to be done. Without hopes in your heart, live as if you were full of hopes. Live your heart now cool and now warm, just like every one else. Inwardly give up the idea ‘I am the doer’, yet outwardly engage in all activities. This is how to live in the world, completely free from the least trace of ego.

-Maharamayana

A New Year’s Greeting – Reverend William D. Smith

Text below was printed in a religious periodical called “The Christian Work and Evangelist” in January 1904.

I wish you Health enough to make work a pleasure;
Wealth enough to supply all necessary needs;
Grit enough to battle with difficulty and overcome it;
Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them;
and Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.

I wish you a Cheerfulness that shall make others glad;
a Charity that shall see some good in your neighbor;
a Love that shall move you to be useful and helpful;
a Faith that shall make real the things of God;
and a Hope that shall remove all anxious fear concerning the Future.

I wish you the Dignity which befits the children of God;
the Humility which is needed in every follower of Christ;
the Prayerfulness which develops and enriches the soul;
the Push and Progress which were manifested in the life and labors of our Saviour;
and the Piety and Perseverance which come from the abiding presence and influence of the Divine Spirit.