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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 emphasizes the importance of seeking God's will in every aspect of our lives, especially in times of difficulty or uncertainty. She highlights the significance of even the smallest acts of love and mercy, as they are seen as offerings to God Himself. Tileston encourages individuals, regardless of their circumstances, to humbly ask God, 'What wouldst Thou have me to do?' knowing that God desires each person to serve Him in various ways, whether through comforting others, showing kindness, or patiently waiting for His guidance.
What to Do?
Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? ACTS 10:6 EVERY task, however simple, sets the soul that does it free; Every deed of love and mercy, done to man is done to Me. HENRY VAN DYKE FOR each one of us, whether on a bed of pain, in feebleness and uncertainty of purpose such as comes with ill-health or overstrained nerves, or whatever else may be our immediate condition, nothing is more urgent, nothing more behooves us than to ask, "What wouldst Thou have me to do?" For, whatever our state, however helpless and incapable, however little service to God or to our neighbor seems within our power, there is no doubt at all as to His willing us to do something. Not necessarily any great thing; it may be only some little message of sympathy and comfort to carry to one even more lonely than we are; it may be some tiny pleasure to a little child, or a kindly word or glance to one whose own fault has cut him off from general kindness and pity; it may be even only in humble patience to stand and wait till He makes His will plain, abstaining the while from murmur and fretfulness; but, in some shape or other, be certain that your Master and Lord hears and will answer your question, "What wouldst Thou have me to do?" H. L. SIDNEY LEAR
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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.