Milford chronicle., 1906-11-23
Calnaqe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt TalmaGe. D. D.


this sermon, which is especially timely
at the beginning of winter. The
preacher pleads for wise and care
full method of spending the leisure Pc
riod of the day. The text is Psalm
civ, %, Man goeth forth unto his
work and to his labor until the even
ing"
| never take a walk or ride upon a
street car or enter a store or finish
tourney upon a railroad train without
being impressed with the universal
fact that this is a busy world Most
people are in a tDeadmill Of ceaseless
activity OF course there are individ-
ual exceptions to this rule, but the
vast majority Of the human race are
working Just as hard and as long
hours as it is possible for them to do.
We may think that some men are not
working up to the full limit of their
mental and physical capacity, but if
we once put ourselves in these mems
places invariably we will find out that
we could not work harder than they
Il we tried to do their kind Of labor.
''What a lazy fellowr' once said
gentleman who was impatiently
watching a workman employing tank
Of water into the drain by means
of a bucket "Why, l could fill that
bucket twice to his once!" At last he
determined to set his workman an
example of the right kind Of industry.
So he took the pail out Of his en-
ployee's hands and went toAwork with
intense zeal. The water simply few
out of that t. k. Instead of filling the
pail two or three times a minute. he
emptied six or eight bucketfuls Of
water a minute. ''There." he said to|
his workman "Why do you not work
like thatY' "Please, your honor" an
swered the workman, ''would you be
kind enough to so on working that
way for another twenty minutes? /
never doubted that six pals could be
emptied in a minute, but what l want
to know is how long you could keep
on working at that rate if you had to
work all day long" 1t is easy enough
for good race horse to run a mile
under three minutes but how many
miles could he cover at that rateFl
Yes, I am right when I assert that the
vast majority Of people are working
up to the full limit of their physical
and mental capacity. If they were
compelled to do much more, they
would soon have a physical collapse
as an overdriven horse might be easily
killed if forced to go far at racing
speed.
Now, want to consider with you
what we shall do with our evenings.
am not here to talk about what we
shall do as clerks down at the store, !
when the eyes of our employers are on
us. But what shall we do with our
winter evenings, when we are practic-
ally our own masters and can do with
our time as we will?
. The evening, in the first place, should |
be the home hour. 1t is the time when
man should get acquainted with his
family. 1t is the time when he should |
become a child again. Then, instead |
of being like Paul and putting away |
"childlsh things" he should drop the |
cares of the store and play bean bag |
with his children and shoot marbles |
with his boys across the figures of the |
carpet and tell stories to his little |
ones, as Eugene Field used to make |
rhym for his babies. 1t is the time
when you should try to beat your big
gest boy at a game Of checkers and |
when you should read your eldest
daughters latest composition and find |
out how she likes her new teacher. |
Then, after the babies are put to bed
and the good night prayers have been |
said and the kisses given. it is the |
time when you should draw your chair |
up to the sitting room fire alongside of |
your wife's chair. While she is darn |
ing the stockings is the time when you |
should open to her your whole heart |
al tell her everything about your
b, es and your plans. Before you mar
ried her you did not think any winter
night too cold or too damp when you
waded through the snow to visit her
in her fathers home. Surely you can
afford to spend few evening hours
with her alone. as you Ssed to do be-
fore she became the mother Of your
babies. But, alas, alas, how many men
there are who look upon an evening
spent at home in the family circle as
a wasted night! How many there are
who when you talk about their days OF
counting shrug their shoulders and say
Eyes, yes; know. But those days are
gone for good. l suppose we all have
to be silly once in awhile. but have
outgrown my lovers age a long time
ago"
OutRrOwn the Lovers Age.
My brother, have you a right to out
grow your lovers age? Have you a
right to steal from the home those sa-
cred hours which you ought to conse-
crate to the companlonship Of your
wife and children? Shall we do as
many men are doing who never have
their children think of their fathers ex-
cent as money making machines ?