The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1920-12-31
The Old Year and
the New
A Sermon for New Years Eve
by
REV. STEPHEN PAULSON

My Times are in Thy hand.-Psalm 81 liz
| CAD and solemn are the last hour
| ~ of the dying year. Only a few
months ago a New Year Wa
given unto us, fresh and pure from
Gods great storehouse Of time. /
has spent its life upon the earth, ant
| it's footprints will never be effaced
The departing year has brought to III
Gods numberless blessings; it ha!
seen many noble deeds done, and i
has seen progress in many depart
ments of life.
The passing of another year must
emphasize to every thoughtful person
the swift flight Of time. Looking
backward over the past years of oul
life they seem to shrink to the size
Of beads strung around child's neck
Seeking an image of mans career, the
prophet sees his days swifter than a
weaver's shuttle; his years swifter
than an arrow, curving as it rises to
it's fall. What is mans life? he asks.
1t is a cloud dissolving in the SUM-
shine. 1t is a summer brook swollen
by sudden rains, but soon running out
and leaving the stones bare again.
1t is a tale that is soon told.
These last days of the old year urge
us to husband well the time that is
still given us. To a shrub year
means only leaf; to the vine, a clus-
ter; to the tree, new ring of wood.
But to a man a year means large
portion of his life which has been
used or wasted. Youth often unthink.
ingly throws all responsibilities on the
years to come. To him everything
seems possible in the future. Then he
thinks to have time for education.
Then he will practice economy and
thrift, let the present be prOdigal as
1t may. The morrow will suffice for
the forming Of habits and the building
Of character. So daZzled by the fu-
ture the youth allows the years to
slip through his hands, and the result
is a man who is an intellectual infant
and moral feebiiCg. AS you pause
now and think over the past, you
must realize tsIat the morrow holds
no harvests which the laborers called
yesterdays did not sow and cultivate.
There wGs an ancient custom of put
ting an hourglass into the coffin Of
the dead to signify that their time
had run out-a useless notification to
them. Better pnt the hourglass into
the hand of every living man to show
him hcw swiftly the sands of life do
flow. But, after all, time is of value
only as we make the best use of it.
We live In deeds, not years; in thoughts,
not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should cour: time by heart-throbs.
He most lives
the best
The old year may hold our many
failures, many disappointments, many
bitter regrets. The New Year holds
out to us hope and promise, for my
times are in Thy hand, o Lord. 1t
should comfort us when we think of
the brevity of our years, to realize
by contrast the length of Gods years.
We have but a short time to work,
and it is well to remember that In
order that we may be dilligent. But
God has whole eternity in which
to work, and 1t is well to remember
that also, so that we may cease from
fretfulness and impotence at the slow
progress Of His kingdom among us.
Jesus Christ has not ceased from His
redemption of the world, nor has God
been defeated in His plans for hu-
manity, for the times of men and
nations are in His hand.
For most of us the memory Of the
past is a chamber of discomfort. Let
therefore the old year bury from
sight its story of sin and sorrow and
failure. Let there be sincere repent
ance for the follies of the past. and
then let a new man step forth to meet
with hope and determination the glad
New Year which God desires shall be
a blessed year for every child of
earth. When God forgives, He for
gives utterly, He casts mans sins
'into the depths Of the sea-" Why
then should memory thrust its hooked
pole into the sea to dredge the bot
tom and bring up by the locks some