On the dial of a clock in the palace of Napoleon at Malmaison, the
maker has put, the words, "_Non nescit reverti_"; "It does not know how
to go backward." It is so of the great clock of Time--it never can be
turned backward. The moments come to us but once; whatever we do with
them we must do as they pass, for they will never come to us again.
Then privilege makes responsibility. We shall have to give account to
God for all that he sends to us by the mystic hands of the passing
hours, and which we refuse or neglect to receive. "They are wasted and
are added to our debt."
The real problem of living, therefore, is how to take what the hours
bring. He who does this, will live nobly and faithfully, and will
fulfil God's plan for his life. The difference in men is not in the
opportunities that come to them, but in their use of their
opportunities. Many people who fail to make much of their life charge
their failure to the lack of opportunities. They look at one who is
continually doing good and beautiful things, or great and noble things,
and think that he is specially favored, that the chances which come to
him for such things are exceptional. Really, however, it is in his
capacity for seeing and accepting what the hours bring of duty or
privilege, that his success lies. Where other men see nothing, he sees
a battle to fight, a duty to perform, a service to render, or an honor
to win.
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