Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1904-05-26
"THE VALUE OF A DAY"
A Brilliant Sunday Discourse By Rev.
Donald Sage Mackay.
We Should Not Waste Efforts IN Talking Piati'
tudes About the Shortness Of Time.

teNU was from JOhu
twelve hours in the day" DR.. Mackay
said: ,-e.;
My text this evening is Christ,s detlnl-
ton of day: care there not twelve hours
in tbe dav?" And what of it? you ask:
This much at least. The day is great deal
longer than some people seem to imagine.
1t IS indeed one Of the dreariest, as 1t Is
one of the oldest OF moral reflections,
which forever dwells upon the shortness
of time and the swiftness OF its hignt;
More mournful eloquence and dolefui
poetry have been inspired by that one
theme than by any other in the catalogue
of human thought. OF course, time IS
short, and its fight is swift. but are there
not twelve hours in the day.. 10 each
man sufficient time has been given to do
the task assigned to him. That is the sol
emn practical truth emphasized by our
Saviour here. and it is one that perhaps
we hardly ever think OF; not the shortnesss
of time, but its sufficiency for the tasks OF
life Are there not twelve hours in the
day? That is our subject, the value OF
dav, abundance of time to do the duties
which must be done, to bear the burdens
which must be borne, to lace the trIals
which God sends
At the outset / want to see how these
words of Christ rcbuke two very opposite,
but very common, tempers which men as
sumo in regard to time and its opportunl'
ties. On the one hand. Christ rebukes
here that morbid spirit which in hopeless
impotence is forever bewaling the short
ness of time, its loss OF opportunities in the
past and its smallness of opportunities IN
the present. 80, if had only done so and
so twenty years ago, how much better oh
had been to, day." one man cxclaims, and
he sits down in sort of sentimental fatal
ism, bewailing his unhappy lot, making no
real effort to better it. To such man
Christ says in effect, Never mind the past;
it is gone; you cannot recall 1t; but are
there not twelve hours in the day? Do the
best you can with this day and its precious
hours" Vain regrets for the past are the
worst kind of dissipation of the present.
Bat, on the other hand, these words not
less strongly rebuke that opposite spirit,
which, because life seems to stretch through
long vista of seventy or eighty years, Is
prodigal of its time thinks that the duties
of the present can well enough be mort
gagged on the opportunities of the future.
"What does it matter, after all, II young
man souanders a few years IN sowing ms
wild oats? Nature is generous. 1ou can
bank on her resources. A few years OF
misspent timc-well. it won t matter TWEEN
ty years after this" So in effect many
men argue. SO they stake life and ,mnnor,.
taltN Oh lnc chances Oh tHt iutulc' hhh
to that temper Christ says: Are there not
twelve hours in the day." Only twelve.
Steal ten o; them for sin to-day and You
cannot give twenty-five of them for God
tomorrow. Only twelve hours. Sufficient
to do lfes duties in, hut not sufficient to
serve God and the devil in. Twelve hours.
Abundance of time, but not moment too
much, not Il second too many.
Are there not twelve hours in the day.
1t was Jesus Christ who asked that qucs-
ton. Have you never been struck with
what | must call the frugallty of Christ
not only in respect OF time. but OF every
thing else; Christ was pre-emlnently
frugal man. not prodigal with His re.
sources, not spendthrift with His powers
He had the riches of the universe III His
grasp. No millionaire that ever lived
could command such resources; and yet
when out of these resources He had fed a
multitude of 5000 people. what was it He
said to His disciples? Gather up the frag-
ments. that nothing be lost" He was anx
ious for the crumbs. Frugal, not parslmo.
Nous, He realized the value of the little
things in life.
So too, in this m tier of time From
everlasting to everlasting He is God. BE.
fore Abraham was. | am" the heir of all
the ages. And yet He counts life by its
hours twelve hours in the day, while we,
the frail, helpless children of day. pre-
sume TO measure life by its wears. How
old are vous And the Young man in the
exubersnce of his vitality counts life bv its
years, and replies: Twenty, thirty years
old" How old art thou said Pharaoh
to the aged Jacob. And the patriarch,
though . was l37 wears old at the time
counted his life by its DAYS. and Jacob
said unto Pharaoh: Few and evil have the
DAYS of the veors of nv nilprimoge been !"
II was by it's davs that the old man reck.
oned life,
e. ,, a., .a -.
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. .ne as-eho"s"' ou' ho' ehouSh anu u
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pn"''Le .eleelahf .he spirl,"ai aspect VI
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pace altoeetner TO Lemehper 'hav lnIs
poWSer Oh using .ne hours ol gay aho
e e; up 1aese pIe. "n lrag'nen'S ..
.lmu, ilelnen.,y caheu oue moments
oeauy ' h secre. Oh some o, lne most sue
cesSlul i'ves. one OF 1ne sttlhinH 'eStlmo'
mas OF geography. inoeed, rs th'S' that
grea,tI many endnring regulations IN tho
Worlu nave peeh oallt out OF !he ouu mo,
fnrnotto =, ,,'r e Us,i't Nv '3 fns she
forgotten are remembered TO-DAY Tor what
they ach'eveu IN odd moments IN me
tweNe hours OF the day. Vne OF the pest
TRANSACTIONS of Lucretus; the great Latin
writer, was tue work OF busy London
doctor while gong his daily round among