Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-01-14

overtake it, Many men and women
are wasting precious days that might
be used for Christ by not getting up on
time and starting the work of the day
OH time and systematically and prompt
ly meeting all demands as they come
up for settlement.
Wasting Time.
This warming against the wasted min
utes of the early morning is far more
necessary than some of us have here
tofore supposed. When we waste the
early minutes of the morning we waste
the very best minutes of the whole
day. Tie old proverb says: Beauty
sleep is always taken before II o'clock
ut night Every hour of sleep before
midnight Is worth two taken in bed
after that time" Along exactly the
same line of thought | say, Every
hour of work done before or 10
o'clock in the morning is worth at
least two hours of work after IL o'clock
noon" There is something about the
ozone of the early atmosphere. some
thing about the exhilaration of the
early morning. that arouses us and
fires us and drives us on and clarifies
our brains. so that we can accomplish
ut least double the work in one half
hour then than in any half hour of the
afternoon or evening. Early to bed
and early to rise makes n man healthy,
wealthy and wise" has just as much
truth tackled on to the last injunction
as on to the first.
Almost without exception the great
workers of the world have been early
risers. While other men were In bed
they were at their desks or In their
laboratories or down at their offices or
out making their investigations. Har-
ry Lee once said To his great leader, the
Father of His Country, "Sir. We sol
diers are amazed mt the vast amount or
work you can accomplish" Sir" an
swered General George Washington. II
do what | do because | rise every
morning ut 4 o'clock. and great deal
of my work is done while others are
asleep" How did Walter Scott write
his many books? He arose every morn
ing ut ;. He then cleared away his
correspondence He laid out his plans
of work. and by breakfast time" he
said. Il have broken the neck Of the
days work" Frederick the Great did
not need any one TO describe for him
the rising sun. During all the long
seven years war which has been the
marvel of European strategists for
century and half he saw with his
own eyes the sun rise every morning.
But. though the great work of nearly
all our great workers was due TO the
fact that they were early risers. many
of us linger i'm our beds in the morn
ing just as long as possible. Instead
of living up TO the old proverb We say,
Late to bed and late TO rise" and We
fritter away the late hours of the night
on doing nothing. just as in the morn
ing we fritter them away in bed.
A Family History.
what time does your rising bell
ring:" | ask. oh" you answer. I'VE
do not have any rising bell; we get up
when we are slept out" What time
does your breakfast bell ring?" I'VE do
not have any breakfast bell" you an
swer. when we are slept out. we get
up and dress and go to breakfast. That
is the history of our house" oh, no.
That is part of the history; it is not all.
l will tell you the rest of II. When you
awake. you get up and dress. but you
do not all dress at the same time. First
the father has his breakfast. Then one
or two of the children straggle down.
Then the mother comes last. or the
elder sister Then the breakfast, which
ought to take just twenty-five minutes.
drags out over an hour. The children
run off TO school. The father hurries
away to business. The servant girls
dishes are not washed for an hour and
half later There has been no time
for prayers. Everything in the home
goes topsy turvy merely because the
family did not arise together, eat to-
gether. pray together and go to work
at the same time. The wasted minutes
of the early morning are directly re-
sponsible for whole days and weeks
uiiu uiOutus Vi llle WdSteu tue SeTN-
Ice of the Master "The Austl1ans lost
the battles of Lodi and Arcola," said
Napoleon, because they did not appre-
ciate the value of five minutes" The
reason many men waste whole days of
life's service that might have been con-
secrated for Christ Is because they do
not appreciate the value of the sacred
minutes in the early hours of the morn
ing.
Utilize the Minutes.
How do we diminish our service for
Christ by lost days? BY not improv-
ing the fragments of time that lie scat
tered about us during the days work,
by not utilizing those extra few min
utes here and there to fit ourselves in
diligently by reading and study for
the work God has given us to do, by
supposing that God will let us inter-
pref the passage. ASK. and We shall
receive; seek. and We shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened to you," when
our lips are dumb, when our feet are
palsied and know nothing about the
right paths to tread. when our hands
NJ hol