Time is the measure of duration. Time began
when " In the beginning God created heaven and earth” and it will
terminate with the renovation of the world on the Last Day. In regard to man's
existence time may be considered in three ways: (1) in the strict sense, as the
measure of man's earthly pilgrimage; (2) in a wide sense, as the span of human
life; (3) and as man's probation period for eternity. As a measure of duration
time is a momentary quality of life that is unceasing in its progress, passes
quickly, and never returns.
Strictly speaking only the present moment is time.
It connects the eternity of the past with the eternity to come. The activity of
the present ceases as soon as it is recorded in the history of the past. The
mistakes of the past may be remedied in the present, but vain schemes about the
future are a double loss, because they squander the present and build on an
uncertain future. Whether man seizes the present opportunity, or permits it to
glide idly by, the stream of time moves on unceasingly. As the present moment
alone is his, it would be the height of folly to indulge in useless regrets
about the past or entertain visionary plans about the future.
As the span of human life, time is like a rainbow
with one end resting in the cradle of the obscure past, and the other
projecting into the more uncertain grave of the future. Man's span of life is like
a rainbow (1) because the duration of both is brief and uncertain; (2) because
both develop their luster in the present; (3) because both may be obscured and destroyed
by any trivial cause.
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