We
have only one life to live, only one. Think of this for a
moment. Here we are in this world of time making the
journey of life. Each day we are farther from the cradle
and nearer the grave. Solemn thought. See the mighty
concourse of human lives; hear their heavy tread in their
onward march. Some are just beginning life's journey; some
are midway up the hill, some have reached the top, and
some are midway down the western slope. But where are we
all going ? Listen, and you will hear one
answer—"Eternity." Beyond the fading, dying
gleams of the sunset of life lies a boundless, endless
ocean called Eternity. Thitherward you and I are daily
traveling.
Time is like a great wheel going
its rounds. On and on it goes. Some are stepping on and
some are stepping off. But where are these latter
stepping? Into eternity. See that old man with bent form,
snow-white locks, and tottering steps. His has been a long
round, but he has made it at last. See the middle-aged.
His round has not been so long, but he must step off. See
the youth. He has not been on only a little while, but he
is brought to the stepping-off place. He thought his round
would be much longer. He supposed he was fairly getting
started when that icy hand was laid upon him and the usher
said, "Come, you have made your round, and you must
go." The infant that gave its first faint cry this
morning may utter its last feeble wail tonight. And thus
they go. But where ? Eternity.
"Oh, eternity,
Long eternity!
Hear the solemn footsteps
Of eternity."
If you were to start today and ask
each person you meet the question, "Where are you
going?" and, if possible, you were to travel the
world over and ask each one of earth's inhabitants, there
could be but one answer— "Eternity."
Only one life to live! Only one
life, and then we must face vast, endless eternity. We
must pass along the pathway of life but once. Every step
we take is a step that can never be taken again. With this
fact in mind, who þdoes not feel like calling upon the
All-wise to direct his every step ? If when we make a
misstep we could go back and step it over, then there
would not be such great necessity to step carefully. But
we can never go back. We are leaving footprints. Just as
our steps are, so will the footprints be which will tell
the story of our life. If we had a score of lives to live,
how to live this one would not be of such great moment. We
should then have nineteen lives in which to correct the
errors and sins of this one; but alas! we have but one.
What, then, should we seek more earnestly than to know how
to live?
We doubt not but there is in the
heart of the reader a strong desire to live life as it
should be lived. Thank God, you can. You desire your life
to be like the fertile oasis, where the weary traveler
refreshes himself. You have seen the rays of light
lingering upon the hillside and treetop and gilding the
fleecy cloud after the sun had gone down. You desire the
beautiful rays of light from your life to linger long
after your sun has gone down. You can have it that way.
The deeds you do will live after you are gone. They are
the footprints. Some one has said that we each day are
here building the house we are going to occupy in
eternity. If this be true, nothing should concern us so
much as how to live. Some men are devoting their time and
the power of their intellects to invention; some are
studying statesmanship; some are studying the arts, others
the sciences, but we have come to learn a little more
about how to live. Many are thinking much about how they
wish to die, but let us learn how to live. If we live
well, we shall die well.
Since we have but one life to live
and with it we must face eternity, I am sure there are
many who want to make the most of life. There are many who
want to be their best in life. This is not a play-ground,
or a place to trifle with time. It is a place of work and
effort, a place of purpose and earnestness, a place to do
something. Life is not given us to squander nor fritter
away, but was given us to accomplish a purpose in the mind
of the Creator. If we will set ourselves to live as we
should, God will help us and no man can hinder us. We are
purchasing treasures for eternity by making a proper use
of time. To trifle away time is indeed to be the greatest
of spendthrifts. If you squander a dollar, you may regain
it; but a moment wasted can never be regained.
There is great responsibility in
life. It means much to live. The time was when you and I
were not, now we are. We are, and there can never come a
time when we shall be. You and I shall always exist
somehow, somewhere. One sweet thought to me is that I have
time enough to do all that God intends for me to do, and
do it well. Then comes another thought—a thought that
awes: the good that I do, the sum of my usefulness, will
be less than it should be if I spend a moment of time
uselessly. God will give us all the time we need to
accomplish all he purposes us to accomplish, but he does
not give us one moment to trifle away.
The mission of this little volume
is to strengthen and energize and help you to spend life
as you should. May it please the Great Teacher, who has
promised to "show us the path of life," to bless
this little work and by it help some one to a pure and
noble life and to the accomplishment of all God's design
in giving them life. —C. E. Orr
