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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 importance of trusting in the name of the Lord and staying upon God, even in times of darkness and uncertainty. She emphasizes the power of hope and trust in God, as seen in the unwavering faith of Isaiah, Paul Gerhardt, Robert Leighton, and Samuel Rutherford. Tileston encourages believers to continually repeat and sing praises to God, chiding their distrustful hearts into believing and hoping for His redemptive work in their lives.
Trust Is the Answer
Who is among you that walketh in darkness and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. ISAIAH 1:10 THE heart that yet can hope and trust, And cry to Thee, though from the dust, Is all unconquered still. PAUL GERHARDT PRESS this upon thy soul, for there is not such another charm for all its fears and disquiet; therefore repeat it still with David, sing this till it be stilled, and chide thy distrustful heart into believing: "Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him." Though I am all out of tune for the present, never a right thing in my soul, yet He will put forth His hand and redress all, and I shall yet once again praise, and therefore, even now, I will hope. ROBERT LEIGHTON Oh, that we could breathe out new hope, and new submission, every day. Our waters are but ebb, and come neither to our chin, nor to the stopping of our breath. I may see (if I would borrow eyes from Christ) dry land, and that near: why then should we not laugh at adversity, and scorn our short-born and soon-dying temptations? SAMUEL RUTHERFORD
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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.