The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-12-31

a SERMON FOR TODAY.
Boast not thyseif Of TOMORROW; for thou
forth.-PrOverbs 27.1.
At midnight tonight this year Of
our Lord 1905 viii pass into history
and a new year viii be born. Another
milestone in the worlds history viii
be passed; every member Of the hui
man race will be another year towards
the change that must come to all. It
is time for retrospection and also a
time for looking forward into the
future.
There is something unspeakably
sad in the death of the Old Year.
Although it seems as though we have
known it only short time, it is like
an old friend. TO many it has
brought joy to others sadness; some
have scored great successes during its
passing days, others have had more
than their share Of failure; to many
there are tender memories clustered
around 1905, while others will recall
it only with bitter disappointment.
Yet all thinking humanity cannot but
regret its going.
As we stand by the deathbed of the
Old Year and watch its departure into
the Past, the swiftness with which
Time passes is forced upon US. What
a brief time it has been since we well
coined 19O5i We have scarcely
learned to write it correctly at the top
of our letters. and now it is already
leaving us! How far away seems
1907 and how recent was 1904. We
can hardly realize how swiftly the
years fly.
And now, as we shall shortly stand
by the open grave of the Old Year.
what recoIlectons come to us2 How
have we treated 1905? What sort of
a record have we made during the
past twelvemonth? Are the deeds
good or bad that it has craven on the
immutable tablets of the Past?
Very likely 1905 has brought us
much that was pleasant We have
had a fair degree of success. To some
it has brought the pangs of a great
sorrow. They have had to give up
some loved form and follow it out to
the cemetery on the hill, and as the
clods fell on the coffin lid they have
fallen on tender hearts also. To some
it has brought opportunities improved,
and to others-many Others-oppor-
tunities wasted. They are past and
gone, gone with the Old Year. We
can call them back no more than
we can delay the fight of time
single moment.
But a New Year is dawning, and
with it may come new opportunities.
new joys-and new sorrows. To the
young especially it is fraught with
joyful anticipation. Yet how uncer-
tain it all is! None can tell what
even its first day will bring. Ere an
other New Year rolls around many
an earthly career will be closed for
ever. Every day Of 1906 VIII see new
graves dug, and the never-endfng
procession of old and young across
the River of Death will continues
it has for centuries.
Most individuals, however, will look
forward to new successes to be scored
and new achievements to be won It
is right and proper that we should
do so, otherwise this old world of ours
would make little progress and we
would leave it no better for our hav-
ing lived in it. It is right that we
should look ahead and plan to make
1906 more satisfactory both to our
/ selves and those around US than 1905
has been. But in our mmost hearts
/ 1t is well to remember always that
/ the future is not ours-onIy the pres
ent. Solomon, the Wise Man, never
| spoke truer than when he said, Thou
knowest not what a day may bring
forth; boast not myself of tomorrow. -
We poke considerable fun at New
Years resolutions because some of
them are so short-lived, but in gen
| eral determination to do better and
make more of the future than we have
of the past should be soTemnly under
taken by everyone, and an earnest
effort put forth to keep It DAY by day.
And now the Old Year is about to
go forth into the night-19O5. with its
joys and sorrows, its successes and
failures. is about to be laid away in
the tomb of the Past. A New Year
is dawning- Farewell, Old Year; well
]