For many years, the railroad that unites the cities of New York and Buffalo went around a large, deep valley known as the Tunkhannock Vally. Studying the possibilities of lessening the distance, the directors of the undertaking, counseled by a group of engineers, decided to construct a gigantic viaduct through the valley that would cost twelve million dollars. This work cut the trip from New York to Buffalo by twenty minutes. The directors paid twelve million dollars, a respectable sum, in order to gain twenty minutes.
How high is the value of time! It is not necessary to see time only through a utilitarian prism of gold through which glimmers only the basic factor of accumulated riches. At twenty-seven years of age William Carey was invited to assume the pastorate of a small Baptist church. The remuneration that he received was so modest that he was obliged to supplement it by working during the week as a shoemaker. In his eagerness for better preparation he always had books for study and investigation next to his work table. In seven years, thanks to wise and diligent administration of his time, Carey learned five languages, including Greek and Hebrew. This extraordinary knowledge of languages enabled him to supervise the work of Bible translation in approximately forty languages and dialects spoken by a third of the world population in his days.
Livingstone, when he was yet an adolescent, manifested an evident concern not to lose in trivialities the minutes that could be considered empty in his active daily program. From six in the morning until eight at night he worked in a textile factory. From eight to ten he studied in a night school. Afterwards, until twelve, he prepared the lessons for the following day. In spite of this intense and exhausting pro gram of work and study, he took advantage of the intervals that should have been dedicated to rest, to study Latin. The knowledge of this idiom afforded him a golden opportunity to read the great classics of literature, among them Virgil and Horace. His reputation for being against sterile inertia and unproductiveness was visible to the world.
No Time Need Be "Lost"
There are moments in the life of a minister that one could call "lost," but which could be of great usefulness if he duly took advantage of them. There are periods of waiting in railroad stations or airports, awaiting the hour to leave. There are moments that precede mealtime or minutes that pass while waiting for the dentist. It would be useless to look impatiently at the watch every few minutes thinking of the minutes that pass and return no more. We should know how to make use of these lost minutes and turn them into something useful and valuable.
It is astonishing what some have done in the pauses of a busy day. Strauss wrote one of his immortal compositions on the re verse of a menu while waiting to be served in a restaurant in Vienna. Willis Carrier, talented scientist, while waiting for a train in Pittsburgh was walking from one side to the other along the humid platform, absorbed in deep thought. Without premeditation an idea grew in his mind. Why not create an apparatus for air conditioning based on the natural principle of condensation applied to the human problem of humidity control and temperature. So began the prosperous air conditioning industry. Wesley also redeemed the fragments of his days. If the atmospheric conditions required a delay in his trip, he gathered a congregation and preached the message. On his trips he always carried books, and his diary speaks frequently of his reading habits. When he was sick and it was impossible to travel and preach, he showed an admirable disposition to read, write, and amplified his Commentaries on the New Testament.
Yes, while waiting for meals, the train, or while traveling, men diligent in the use of time have widened their culture by reading good books, writing great works, and conceiving ideas.
Success Depends Upon Right Use of Time
Upon the right improvement of our time depends our success in acquiring knowledge and mental culture. The cultivation of the intellect need not be prevented by poverty, humble origin, or unfavorable surroundings. Only let the moments be treasured. A few moments here and a few there, that might be frittered away in aimless talk; the morning hours so often wasted in bed; the time spent in traveling on trams or railway cars, or waiting at the station; the moments of waiting for meals, waiting for those who are tardy in keeping an appointment --if a book were kept at hand, and these fragments of time were improved in study, reading, or careful thought, what might not be accomplished.--Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 343, 344.
While a famous architect of one of the cathedrals of Europe was supervising the work of the operators that hung and adjusted the stained glass windows of the great sanctuary, he noticed that one of the glasses was smaller than the artist had specified. The solution for the problem was found by a humble artisan. Gathering the fragments of glass that had been rejected and considered useless, he produced, with genius and art, a window that admirably harmonized with the others.
Ministers that do not know how to use the fragments of time in wise and diligent form, reading, studying, and investigating, will suffer an irreversible process of mental atrophy. And an atrophied intelligence resembles an abandoned machine, ruined and corroded by rust.