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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 preaches about the ascension of Jesus, emphasizing that His parting blessing was transformed into a promise of eternal love and unwavering care for His people. She highlights that although Jesus physically left His disciples, He took all their hearts, minds, and love with Him to the Father's heart of love in heaven, where they now rest with Him in unity. Tileston encourages believers to see themselves as clear mirrors reflecting the glory of Jesus, as they are one with Him in the Father's presence.
Parting Blessing
And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. LUKE 24:51 LIFT up our thoughts, lift up our songs, And let Thy grace be given, That while we linger here below, Our hearts may be in heaven. C. F. ALEXANDER THE parting blessing of our Lord was changed in the moment of its utterance into a pledge of eternal love, of unfailing and ever-watchful care for the well-being of His people. JOHN ELLERTON When the living presence of Jesus was taken away from His own, it was not that they were to have Him less, but in a lovelier, in a diviner way. For when He rose up to heaven, He took there with Him, all their hearts, and all their minds, and all their love. So is it with us. He is gone up to heaven, into the bosom of the Father, into the Father's heart of love, and we ascend up there with Him, with all our hearts, and all our love, and rest where He resteth, in the Father's heart. There is there no separation, but one life, one existence, as He is one with the Father. And thus it is that being one with Him we can be as clear, bright mirrors that reflect His glory. HENRY SUSO
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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.