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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 transformation that occurs when we behold the glory of the Lord, being changed into His image from glory to glory. She challenges believers to seek to think and speak God's thoughts and words alone, allowing His divine perfections to be reproduced in every aspect of their lives. The standard to aim for is nothing short of the life of the Eternal Son of God, with His holiness and purity being the model to follow in all circumstances. The Christian life should reflect the Master's life, filled with hope and surrounded by an uplifting atmosphere that impacts all who come into contact with it.
Reflecting Christ
But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory. 2 CORINTHIANS 3:18 TRY life in me be shown! Lord! I would henceforth seek To think and speak Thy thoughts, Thy words alone; No more my own FRANCES R. HAVERGAL NOTHING short of the Life of the Eternal Son of God--the Holiness, the Purity of God, is the standard at which we are to aim; that is to be reproduced in our circumstances; the Divine Perfections are to be translated, reproduced in our life, our home, our trials, our difficulties, our age of the world. Let us ask ourselves, What is the special likeness of Christ that He would reproduce in me? What are the features of His Life that He calls me to imitate? What pattern would He set before me in my work, my circum-stances, my difficulties? What are the inspirations of grace that He would urge me to cultivate and cherish? ARTHUR C. A. HALL The Christian life must be in its own degree some-thing like the Master's own life, luminous with His hope, and surrounded by a bracing atmosphere which uplifts all who even touch its outer fringe. HUGH BLACK
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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.