The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-01-02
FINE SERMON
DELIVERED BY
REv.MR. ALLEN
CONGREGATION OF ST. KATHA-
RINE's CHURCH SUNDAY MORN
ING HEARD AN IMPRESSIVE
NEW YEARS TALK BY THE
ARCHDEACON.

Archdeacon VIM. B. Allen of St.
katharine's church delivered a most
Impressive sermon at the church Sun
day morning, which was as follows:
SO teach US to number our DAYS
that we may apply our hearts unto
wisdom" Psa 90:12
The completion of an old year and
the coming OF new one represent an
event of tremendous Importance The
earth and the sun are wheels in the
great clock that measures time for
mortal man. God has appointed to
man a handful of years numbered b..
three score and ten. But it is the
passing of the old year and the coming
of the new that tell us how far we
have journeyed from the cradle and
how near we have come to the con-
fines of the grave. To the little child
1t is matter of pride and joy to be
able to say it is one year older. To
the mature man who realizes how
much of commerce., beauty, eloquence
philosophy and justice can be crowded
into twelve months, the passing of a
year is accompanied with pathos-
silence-and the sense of mystery.
Man parts reluctantly with a year
when he has only a few golden sum-
mers and autumns left IN the wane OF
his life. For the thoughtless, the very
fact that the year ends in silence. with
out any thunder stroke or booming
signal seems to dull the appreciation
of the magnitude of the event. As
tronomers tell US that our earth and
all it's fellow planets represent masses
of fire, thrown off from the swirling
sun.
Slowly the fiery drop has cooled into
a habitabIe world, until now this drop
that separated from the sun is a
planet, is covered with happy homes,
schools, cities and a rich civilization.
And is there, my dear people, anything
fancifuI or unlikely in the thought that
the year, the old year, is a golden drop,
flung off by the souls life?
Stored With Treasures.
Slowly the old year has been stored
with it's treasures of thoughts and
deeds and ambitions and achieve
ments With infinite care the Pilgrim
fathers stored their ships with roots
and seeds for future harvest and
against the needs of the new world.
Not otherwise the year is a boat, stored
with soul treasure. The greatest har-
vests are invisible. The real sheayes
are the intellect. The sweetest fruits
are ripened on the boughs of affection:
the gold and gems that are most
precious are virtues and sound char
acter.
All this treasure is unseen by mortal
eyes, when it is stored in the old year,
that. like a ship. puts out into the
night and the sea, and sails beyond the
horizon to drop anchor in the harbor
of God
God never takes anything away save
for the purpose of substituting a richer
gift With Him the last stage is the
best.
Always Better Further On.
In His world it is always better
further on. For him who trusts in the
Lord and doeth good there is never a
descent frem the best to the good, but
always an ascent from the bad to the
best. The trunk of the tree is good
but the leaf is better: the leaf is good
but the blossom has a sweeter fra
GRANGE, the blossom falls, that the fruit
may swell, but the fruit is better than
the fading, falling blossom the fruit
ripens and the chiid's hand pIucks il
for food and the fruit reappears in the
boys sturdy growing life and richer
thought, and every stage that passes
gives place to that which is better and
higher. What if the years have takes
away your youth and physical force
Let them go; the years brought more
than they took. BIest in childhood
with its innocence, glorious the beauty
and strength of youth and the win