Passaic City record., 1896-01-25
RELIGIOUS READING.
BEGINNING A 1Ew YEAR.

BEGINNING A IEw YEAR.
TIE old and time-honored way of begin
ning New Year was to SIT down and cata-
logue all ones sins, and then for ca b blotted
page of life turn over a new leaf, write on its
margin
s.Henceforth shall none but pure and virtu-
Gus deeds
Be here recorded"
sincere and commendable resolve in every
case, no doubt. but how seldom adhered to
amid the stress of unceasing temptation and
the burden of long established habit! Ere
the first quarter of the year was spent, what
tempest of sighs and tears has been wont to
rise over broken resolves and betrayed
promises! What an infinitely small proper
lion of the good, old-fashioned New Years
vows was ever kept!
And why not? Is not the earnest, serious
VOW good way to begin reform? No; 1t
is superficial. Vows, are, as a rule, of very
slender moral value. They are simply the
expression of q strong emotional tendency or
purpose. We all know how little vows are
trusted or esteemed in practical affairs.
man vows he will pay you one hundred dol
lars, which he has borrowed in three months
time. Do you 20 away satished2 Hardly
You exhort from him written and signed
statement that he will pay the money, and
then you feel safe for he has allowed you to
put the moose of the law about his throat land
to the shame of human nature be 1t said that
this sort seems to be the only binding agree
ment between man and man.
No, the vow is always superficial. 1t does
not go deep enough. 1t does not sufficiently
compel and involve man may promise
with the most earnest and sincere good
will, yet when the stress comes, his vow may
snap like reed. And as the strength Of his
promise to others, so is 1t apt to be to hlm-
self-indeed, it will be even weaker to him
self, as rule, because he does not stand in
cuch yuhOloaomp fear of the weak creature he
knows himself to be.
The old way of beginning New Year, then
the vowing, leaf-turning Way-ls mere
convention and pleasantly. Most OF us show
the degree to which we esteem 1T by the lgnt
way we speak of it. When absolutely serious
it is good as far as it goes, but, unfortunately
it doesn't go far. The expressed resolve to
'break off, to change ones habit, to do the
right thing hitherto undone, and leave un-
done the wrong thing hitherto done, IS prac-
tically of very little ethical account. Satan
rustes a million such fallen resolves beneath
his feet, as the November wind rustles the
green promises of the spring. Few lives are
reformed by mere resolves.
What, them is the strong moral and ethical
beginning? In what way may we rightfully,
and with some measure OF commence, enter
upon the personal life of a New Year?
First by taking heart OF courage from the
victories and achievements of the year that
is past Nothing succeeds like success, IS
proverb that is good deal more than nall
true. The accumulative power OF either good
or evil is tremendous. Il you nave gained
any victory over yourself during the year, or
accomplished any distinctively good work or
attained at any high spiritual experience, 1t
shall be q tower OF strength for you IN the
year to come. Take the moral impetus OF
every good thought or word, or deed, IN
your past life to help you on your heaven
ward way in the year to come. mere are
courage and strength in the memory OF past
achievements. Think on them!
Then, again, you shall begin your New
Year well, if you pray God to help you make
it a better year than last. A prayer Is as
less self-reiant function. When you VOW to
put the responsibililty-to large degree at
any 1ate-upon yourself. But when you
pray, you appeal to God to be the source OF
your strength and the sustainer OF your en-
deavor. VOW implies confidence; prayer
implies humility. 1t is infinitely better to go
forth withersoever, saying. "God help me
than to go saying, II will!'' God can make
your New Year blessed and fruitful. He Will.
if you ask Him. But there is little in the
spirit of the vow that is not also prayer:
which His omnipOtence will sustain.
Finally to begin your New Year well, be-
gin it with immediate righteousness. DO
not wait until the second of January to do
any good thing. Do it the first thing in the
morning of the first days of the year. The
contemplating, lazy piety that devotes even
a day to the luxury of imagining what 1t
will do, has too little backbone or vital energy
to accomplish anything important, though
the centuries of God were hers. The man
who really means to be better Christian in
1856 than in 1895 will certainly not let the
observation-disclosures -sixty-siXth part of the
New Year slip away without doing something
to prove it.
Rejoice pray-work These are the three
good ways to begin the New Year. Don't sit
down to make vows, ,and don't start journal
to prove how imperfectly you will keep them.
Just emphasize the good that has always
been in your life, pray for the new righteous
ness that you desire, and begin the good
work of the New Year as promptly as the sun
begins his. If you follow these directions,
you will not be called upon to shed any tears
over tho turned leaf which the wind OF the
world blew back again.
PRESENT AND FUTURE.
We can shape our present, and thereby
oroata n futI1ra We can cry to God for the