The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1907-01-11
IDLE THOUGHTS.
EXIT 0lD-..tNTtR NEW.

liiilS
the old and the new, and upon the
heels OF one, silently treads the foot
oi another.
The record is closed and filed away
in the great book OF time, irrevocable,
Interchangeable. All the force OF hui
manity, the demons of hell nor even
the angels of heaven, can unlock the
vaulted gates that seal the past,-the
hour has passed and the nineteen hun
dred and seventh year has been ush-
cred in. Closed and forever sealed!
All! let us take one last peep into the
deeds recorded in the great clerks
office. Interchangeable though they be.
What of ialscness have we to face
on the great day when the seals are
| broken and the books laid open? Peer
/ ing into the days OF the past year. can
we not now see the base treachery of
our hearts i'll dealings with both man
and God? The awful realization surges
over us that many words and deeds
have been false to the core. When
the heart said one thing, our lips spoke
another and our hands wrought still
another. Living in the light OF true
knowledge, we have deliberately chosen
the false False standards have been
. ours and our lives untrue to the
knowledge OF right. The baubles OF
life have won us over with their tinsel
glow. and the true. the lasting, has
gone unsought. With bowed head we
have ral.ed in the weeds of life and
the crown above was unnoticcd. False
Sham! Emptiness!
The petty griefs and ieuds OF man
G kind have engrossed our time. Thi
l. little quarrel and yonder slight los
o have blinded our isIHtityt to pr;cv,
~ v'Siona rost treasure. The storms O
lie have swept the shores OF time an,
a our sand play-houses were washe,
c away The winds of adversity hav,
: Dlown hard and we saw the collapse o
c our castles OF straw. And with h,m,,
weakness we sat idly by and wept il
our grief Petty quarrels have same,
the God-allotted vitality and force O
= our lie. Oh! how ridiculous is quar-.
reEl!anggs Eaggs hHhtifiRs Hhstifisers 'nn1at and customs have
been ours, such as would shame
the ancients. The refined cruelty. le
gained theft and perjury, cultured bar.
DariSm, low pleasures and perverted
tastes, sanctioned indecencies and oper
wickedncss,-all these have we gloried
ln' regardless OF times inevitable and
irrevocable record. Sin, in all its
beautiful and hidcous forms. has been
our daily companion and ''hand in
hand we walked the downward slope
toward death" And cold did we grow
! ft"~~ord TIE faitn III our fathers: ir1,un,
upon insult we heaped upon it
Slander and spite! OH who can
escape the accusing voice of these de-
mons Through our lips, again and
again, have Kissed the hel-aden fumes
OF hatred; and our very words have
been angry darts, tipped with venom
Gus SANDER. If not that, then the
small words, shyly spoken but bearing
germ OF distrust and intending to
poison the heart OF another. Over
teacups. i'll the office and on the street.
that one little word has founded a
kingdom OF hell. How much pain and
sorrow have we caused ourselves and
others, simply because spite was the
motive OF actiono Think!
Add to1e -.
Isl your account? Over the long. black
recordfal few light hecks: may be- seen:
few good deeds have been d6fie. but
so choked are they by the evil. thew
have no redeeming power. Good deeds
never did save man. Viewing, then,
the awful record of our past year,
where shall we fly for refuge?
lhe gift Of One whose birth we
have just commemorated can over
shadow all the evil OF our past. But
more: we are given a new trial, hence
the coming OF another year.
The past is sealed: the future lies ONT
before. AS an open walk. What will be
the footprints at the close Of nineteen
hundred and seven. 1t is ours to de-
eide May we not say with Tennyson:
King out the old and ring in the
new Let the past bury its dead: let
the vault hold its skeleton,-we have
opportunity to build anew, to refash-
ION our lives and become the valiant
and Tree true and kind, that our
Maker intended. The future is before