Page:The Eternal Priesthood (4th ed).djvu/133

Rh seed-time we lose the harvest. Another seed-time and another harvest may be granted to us. Bat it is another. That which is lost is lost for ever.

Now if time be so precious to all, is it not most precious above all to a priest? And happy is he who can give account of his time. Some men seem to have no knowledge of its value. Some never think of it. Some are so inert that it runs away before they stir to use it. Some are so indolent that they consciously waste it. Some are so irregular and unpunctual that time wastes itself. They are always in a hurry, always late, never ready, never prepared.

There are two questions in Holy Writ which a priest will do well to remember wheresoever he goes. The one is the question of God to Elias when on Mount Horeb he was mourning without moving: Quid hic agis, Elia?—"What dost thou here, Elias?" This question would keep us away altogethe from many places, and would hasten our leaving many more. The other question is our Lord's: "Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" This we may well bear in mind when kind and hospitable friends invite us to be with them, or when our own infirmity makes us turn to recreation or to human sympathy, or even to work