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Mary Wilder Tileston
Mary Wilder Tileston was born on August 20, 1843, in Salem, Massachusetts, to Caleb Foote, owner and editor of the Salem Gazette, and Mary Wilder White Foote. Raised in a family with strong intellectual and religious ties—her brother Henry Wilder Foote became a Harvard-educated minister, and her brother Arthur Foote a noted composer—she attended private schools in Salem. On September 25, 1865, she married John Boies Tileston, a publisher’s son, and they had seven children: Mary, Margaret, Roger, Amelia, Wilder, Edith, and Eleanor. The family lived in Concord, Massachusetts, on a 200-acre farm from around 1874 to 1882, then moved to Salem and later Brookline, Massachusetts, where she died on July 3, 1934. Tileston’s career was centered on her literary contributions rather than preaching. Her most notable work, Daily Strength for Daily Needs, a collection of prose, verse, and scripture for daily reading, sold over 250,000 copies by 1910 and was highly regarded. She compiled other devotionals, including Prayers Ancient and Modern (1897) and children’s works like The Child’s Harvest of Verse (1910), reflecting her love for spiritual literature. While not a preacher by occupation, her anthologies served a preaching-like function, offering spiritual guidance to readers. Her legacy lies in these writings, which continue to inspire, rather than in a formal ministerial role.
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Mary Wilder Tileston, through the words of Dora Greenwell and William Bright, emphasizes the importance of finding joy in Jesus by allowing Him to fill our hearts with His joy completely. She encourages offering each day, including its activities and leisure, to God, seeking His presence in every aspect of our lives. Tileston urges believers to align their thoughts, actions, and companionships with what would please the Lord, assuring that focusing on Jesus and His will brings unimaginable peace and comfort.
Looking Up to Jesus
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. JOHN 15:11 THOU bringest all again; with Thee Is light, is space, is breadth and room For each thing fair, beloved, and free, To have its hour of life and bloom. Each heart's deep instinct unconfessed; Each lowly wish, each daring claim; All, all that life hath long repressed, Unfolds, undreading blight or blame. DORA GREENWELL LET us offer up to Him each day, and all its occupations, yes, and all its relaxations--as it begins, --and beg Him to let us somehow "see" Him throughout it. Let us trust Him with the hallowing of our ordinary "secular" interests, let us try to shape each day's life so as best to please Him. "Would our Lord like me to say this or to read that? Would He sanction this train of thought or of fancy? When I go with that companion, can I imagine His drawing near and walking beside us?" This habitual "looking up to Jesus," this repeated reference to His will and pleasure--does it seem to us likely to be oppressive, restrictive, burdensome? Let us only try it, and judge for ourselves: it will turn out to be a source of peace and comfort indescribable. WILLIAM BRIGHT
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Mary Wilder Tileston was born on August 20, 1843, in Salem, Massachusetts, to Caleb Foote, owner and editor of the Salem Gazette, and Mary Wilder White Foote. Raised in a family with strong intellectual and religious ties—her brother Henry Wilder Foote became a Harvard-educated minister, and her brother Arthur Foote a noted composer—she attended private schools in Salem. On September 25, 1865, she married John Boies Tileston, a publisher’s son, and they had seven children: Mary, Margaret, Roger, Amelia, Wilder, Edith, and Eleanor. The family lived in Concord, Massachusetts, on a 200-acre farm from around 1874 to 1882, then moved to Salem and later Brookline, Massachusetts, where she died on July 3, 1934. Tileston’s career was centered on her literary contributions rather than preaching. Her most notable work, Daily Strength for Daily Needs, a collection of prose, verse, and scripture for daily reading, sold over 250,000 copies by 1910 and was highly regarded. She compiled other devotionals, including Prayers Ancient and Modern (1897) and children’s works like The Child’s Harvest of Verse (1910), reflecting her love for spiritual literature. While not a preacher by occupation, her anthologies served a preaching-like function, offering spiritual guidance to readers. Her legacy lies in these writings, which continue to inspire, rather than in a formal ministerial role.