The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1921-01-06
OPPORTUNITY.


What's that? Webster defines it as
a time or place favorable for execut-
ing purpose; a suitable occasion;
| chance.
Opportunity knocks at our door, but
| it as it passes you. There is an old
it sit passes you. There is an oily
couplet that is full of wisdom:
THE first occasion offered quickly
take,
Lest thou repine at what thou didst
forsake."
You have heard the old saw: "Much
water runs by while the miller
sleeps" Many opportunities are lost
by necessity. We simply must sleep,
though some of our sleep is slothful.
Then is when the opportunity slips
away from US. Our neglect is re-
sponsible for that, but the past is gone
and we can do nothing with it. The
poet as he listened to the click of the
mill wheel, wrote:
"And a proverb haunts my mind,
And as a spell is cast;
The mill will never grind
With the water that is past"
Know your opportunity, and sieZe
| it at once. If you miss your tide, your
boat may be laid high and dry without
| chance of floating
Has trust been committed to you :?
| You must be true to it or you suffer
the consequences of your negligence
| You have talents, privileges and pos
sessions for which we must give an
account to the Great Judge. Your time
| is trust, not to be cherished or lost,
just as the fancy may suggest. Each
| day is filled with splendid possibilities
| of good-good for ourselves; of self
| discipline; of improvements; of
| good to others; of kind words spoken
helpful deeds done, or seed sown that
shall ripen into a harvest of benefi-
cent achievement
Each day, as it comes to US, is laden
with splendid opportunities and pos
sibilities of infinite results, as it pas
ses on with its load of gifts and van
ishes into the night. If we fail to
grasp our opportunities they are gone
forever. If we let the golden grains
slip through our fingers they drop into
the ocean of the irrecoverable past.
How are we using our time? 1t is a
trust to be kept sacredly and used
wisely. I'VE should count time by
heartthrobsl He most lives who thinks
most, feels the nobelest, acts the best"
What of life as a whole? What
| possibilities of veal or woe are bound
up in the brief years between the era
die and the grave?
There have been lives that shaped
| the destiny of nations; changed the
current of history and made the exis-
tence of millions purer, nobler and
| better. Look at the ordinary life. The
mother may so live, so keep her trust
| that her children shall rise up and call
her blessed and they shall scatter in
an ever widening circle the light and
love they received from her. The wife
may so realize her trust that from
her sympathy and counsel the hus-
band shall catch an inspiration that
shall make his life one of true and
noble service to his fellowmen and his
God. The teacher may have such a
conception Of his trust that the princi-
pies of truth and right which fill his
heart shall be fruitful for good in the
lives Of those who are under his influ-
ence.
Every life is in itself a great trust
to be used for our King. Opportuni-
ties are divinely given for different
purposes. We must cultivate the soil
and so reap harvest in proportion to
our faithfulness and Gods blessing
| We must cultivate the mind as well
II you will use the spare moments for
this purpose you will not long be igno-
rant. Instead the hours are spent in
Incidence and in difference, or in wild
pleasure and vicious acts. What a
character this course will make.
1t IS proper to use our opportuni-
ties to acquire material good. Energy
promptness and diligence at the cru
cial time may make a man rich-they
will surely add to his material good
Watch the tide that leads to for
tune and ride in on its crest.
To discover these, we need to con-
slider outward circumstances. The in.
f1uences and helpfulness of a Chris
tan home,. the inherited tendencies
the examples of holy lives, the recog.
milton of God in the home, the ser.
vices frequented from childhood
these leave you unblessed, they leave
| you under heavier condemnation.
Home may soon be broken up and
announcements to good vanish. II
VIII be well to consider your inward
condition. At some seasons it is
easier to avail ourselves of religious
advantages. Youth is such a time for
its impulses are generous, it's suscep-
Utilities are tender, its affections are