The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-05-26

by day. Think, for eXainPIe, VI sue 1o1.
of idle reveries. useless, almless Dreaming,
respectable loaiing, that many OF US gye
ourselves up 10 throughout the Day. ~ -
ros perhaps that our thoughts are Vicious
or impure, but simply that our minds ger
INTO y stale of suspended animation, dur.
ing which an uncurbed fancy makes havoc
of our will power. paralyzcs our energys
and robs us Of the days most precious OPP
portunities. Meditation. indeed; Is not
id,crcsS--quet. restful thought, IN wn'cn
the soul dreams It's vlsioES tor service,
not wasted time. But the mistake 50
mary o: is make Is tia. ar moEisnss Oh
meditation are lost in hours OF idle dream
;na which leads us nowhere save only into
the maze: of selfish indulgence and senti-,
mental fancy. Twelve hours in the day,
and how many lost in foolish dreaming!
Think. too, what waste in gossip, IN
needless, thoughtless talk. 1t Is not tnat
we are deliberate scandal-mongers, out
simply that to pass the time we indulge III
a kind of talk about our neighbors ana
friends, the results OF which for evil are
greater than we may ever know. Who can
Estimate the regulations that have been
wrecked, the lives of promise that have
been crippled, the usefulness for good IN
the world that has been checked by tine
retailing of evil SANDER throughout the
twelve hours of the day!
Once more, think of the hours consumed
in the pursuit of merely selfish pleasure.
Indifferent to the bitter cry OF outcast hu.
manity, callous to the great moral needs or
the hour that come knocking at our doors,
how many of us use up the twelve hours
in the pursuit of schemes whose one pur-
pose is for self and sell alone: Busy we
may be, but so busy with the affairs OF SEN
that we have no time to spend Tor the COM
mon good, for the needs OF man., or tne
glory of God. Twelve hours! and all .oi
Them strangled upon the altar of self-not
one given up to God, to wing its way up
ward like incense before the eternal thrones.
Look back upon the week lat Is gone,
with its treasury of hours, and what record
have they left upon the tablets OF the soul;
How MANY hours of last week witnessed
YOU on your knees before God: How manJ
hours did you give to prayer! How many,
hours did YOU give to studying the Bible!
How many to thinking thoughts OF love
and translating them into deeds OF KIND
ness? How many to crucifying sell ana
enthroning Christ? How many! Perhaps
not even one. And YET on these hours we
are building character for eternity; out q
these hours is growing that immortal sen
with which at last We must stand peIore
the judgment seat of God. Twelve hours
in the day to work out your salvation, ana
how many men are using these twelve
hours in working out their perdition!
How. then, are we gong to redeem our
days. make the most of those twelve hourly
so that at last no upbraiding memory shan
recall them with sorrow end shame.
I would not be so foolish as to say that
this power to use time Alright means tnas
we are to fill up each separate hour With
some determined, conscious effort. That
would be impossible, and, even If 1T were
possible, it would turn US into self-con-
scious prigs and moral pedants. You can.
not detach every hour and say, as Frankiin
said in his diary, that this hour Will De de-
voted to such an, such duty, tnat no;s
to some other duty, and SO on: That woul9
destroy great deal OF the inspiration OF
life and would turn existence into grind
inc macline. No, the hours ere to be re-
deemed, not so much by what We do IN
them as by the spirit we bring to them, oy
the temper in which we use them. Lee
every day be Begin with its season OF spe-
cial PRAYER. Let it have its moments shut
off for communion with God. And then
these moments, however brief, OF conse-
| Grated prayer, will give tonic to the resi-
of the day vhich will make impossible that
| fippant dissipation of time which Is 80
ruinous to character.
There are two things that this spirit OF
prayer will produce in our use OF tne
| twelve hours in the day. Srst, 6rayer
| produces a sense of urgency, 2 spirit OF
haste, if you like, but not spirit q hurry.
| It intensifes the thought that time IS SNORT
| and vet enough for each one OF US to 90
| something for God 1t is that feeling OF
| urgency in regard to each day as it comes
that it should leave the record OF some.
thing attempted, something gwen Tor Coo
and our fellow men, that gives richness 70
| life. a beauty to character, sunny ra-
| dance to the soul, that makes earth tne
| threshold of heaven. Nothing IS more dls-
g,sting than to meet people. who SIMPLY
! loaf through life, without any sense OF ur-
cency. As the saying goes, they do, not
| care whether school keeps or not iney
are not worried about the 'orfds necessl'
| ties. What we want IS this sense q ut-
gency. Time is short, and yet long enough
| with prayer to do something thaI Win
abide when we have passed away inat y
the first thing that prayer brings 70 tns
| twelve hours OF the day.
The second thing is a sense of calmness,
| n spirit of serenity. How often we. mes
and worry beneath :he pressure OF i.fei
| The friction of care reduces the effective
ness of our energy. Many men are wearing
Themselves out before their time, simply
because they have this hallucination that
there is not time enough. They get into .
fever of worry because the days are TOO
short. But prayer brings to us the thsught
| that God has given US time enough, ana ~
He asks from US is to live and work by the
day. In His service we are only day lebor-
ers. With tomorrow we have nothing to
do. The command is, Go, work to-day,
and the promise is, Il will pay you penny
a day." Gods wages are paid, not by tae
| month nor the week, but by the day. Each
day brings its duty, but each day brings
its grace and strength and blessing as wei:
Build little fence af trust ~
Around to-day. Ts;6t
FIJI the space with loving work, =.
And therein stay. ~
Look not through the shelterlng bars :.
Upon tomorrow;
GOO will help thee bear what comes
OF joy or sorrow,D 3y.
With some OF us here this evening the
dav OF life is young The morning light
/ still lends freshness TO your youthful ar
dor. But with othe-s of Is it IS already
| the eleventh hou:. the eleventh hour In
| iife's busy day. Although we know 1t not,
| the dusk OF time IS falling fa.s. The swl-
| light of our years 5 deepening and high up
| H. Lo,tr,, or thn Soul