The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1852-10-06
Sunhay Reahing,
From the Banner Of the Cross.
Hours for Heaven.

in reverie; when my attention was at
tracted to little volume, on a marble,
slab, entitled "Hours for Heaven" which
had been presented to me by my kind and
faithful pastor, exactly ten years before
when he thought my hours were num-
bered, and death was standing at the door,
ready to convey me to shat bourne from
which no traveller returns" How deeply
then regretted that all my past hours
had not been spent N preparation for
heaven Every earthly object had then
lost its attraction; and resolved, if my
life were preserved, to redeem my mis-
spent time. determined to renew my
baptismal and confirmation VOWS, and to
be "Christ's faithful soldier and servant
until my life's end" When l opened this
little book, all these thoughts and reso-
lutions recurred to me, and was startled
by the voice of conscience, saying, "since
that time, your existence has been pro-
longed $1,000 HOURS How many of
them have been spent in prayer and
praise? How many in reading and me-
ditating upon Gods Word? How many
Of the hours in which you were apparently
engaged in worshipping God, in his holy
temple, were really hours for heaven p
Did humility, faith, and repentance give
fervour to your supplications Did the
most adoring contemplation of the Divine
perfections, and the most lowly reverence,
characterize your devotions, when in the
more immediate presence of the High
and Lofty One before whom angels and
archangels veil their facesi Did you lis
ten to your duty with an honest heart in
order to practice it9 Have you carried
your religion into all the business of life
Has every transaction been characterized
by strict integrity instead of aoorldiy poll
eye Has your heart, like that of the sera-
phim, burned with love to God and man
and has the law of loving kindness ruled
in your heart, evincing its vitality in kind
and gentle words, and disinterested acts of
benevolencea Have you walked in your
oVn house with a perfect heartl Has
your conversational your social intercourse
manifested the spirit of the angelic song
you have united in singing, in the Sane
tuary, "peace, GOOD WILL towards meni"
Has your tongue never been sullied with
the venom of slander or vituperation, pro-
ceeding from the latent and unsuspecting
envy and malignity of your temper, pro-
ducing harsh and uncharitable judgmentsl
How often have you set at defiance the
prohibition, Judge not, that you be not
judged 2 Were those hours for heaven
which you wasted in the indulgence of
discontented, gloomy, and murmuring
thoughts, and melancholy anticipations
and misstrust of Providence; instead of
praising your Heavenly Father for a.! the
mercies bestowed upon his ungrateful child,
and |" trusting his love for all to come :"
Were those hours for heauen which you
wasted in observing the errors and faults
of Others, and investigating their motives
of action, which would have been so much
more proftably employed in selferan,ina-
tion, and analyzing your own actuating
principlesf How have even your good
works been debased by your pharisaic self.
exaltation, and your depreciation of others
who were incomparably superior to your
self, in all the passive christian virtues and
gracesl Were those hours for heaven
which you spent in brooding over the un-
kindness, neglect, and sights of others,
(which were often imaginary, and fire.
quently unintentioral y in embittering the
feelings and prejudicing the minds of
others against those you supposed inimical
to you, and in cultivating reciprocal ami
nosityl How much more pleasantly you
would have passed your time in recount
ing the various little tokens of affection
anu respect you were constantly receiving:
and how much more proftably, in using
every means Of conciliation, and praying
God to change their hearts, and to give
them right judgment
How many hours have you lost in list
lessness and inaction; how innumerable
have been vour sins Of omission for which
there is no excuse, as you ere taught from
your earliest childhood, by precept and
example, ." he that knoweth to do good,
and doeth it not, to him it is SIM"
How many more hours have you spent
in sensual indulgences, than in cultivating
the spiritual affectionsl
Is this the way you have adhered to