THE WAIPA POST. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. SATURDAY, 7th MARCH, 1931. SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY.

Waipa Post, Volume 42, Issue 3269, 7 March 1931, Page 4

THE WAIPA POST. Printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. SATURDAY, 7th MARCH, 1931. SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY.

THE poet has it that kindness and courage are two things that " stand like stone." One may go further and say that in respect of human experience there are other two immovable facts. The one is that trouble is inevitable and the other is that in some measure we can and should provide against it. Man is born unto trouble. There is nothing certain but uncertainty. " Well, what's your trouble? " says a man to his neighbour who wants to see him on important business. No sensible man makes the mistake of being quite confident that he will after a long and cloudless life die quietly in his nest. He knows better. The testimony of ex perience is all the other way. Something goes wrong. In view of the proverbial vicissitudes of human life, an elaborate system of safeguards has been evolved. By means of selfdenials in the present we secure ourselves against privations in the future. Life insurance, property insurance, annuities and other wise schemes provide a measure of defence against the rainy day. In some parts of the world there is even insurance against unemployment as there is against accident or ill-health.

Humanity becomes increasingly anticipative. Being forewarned we are more careful to be forearmed. We are now insuring our children and teaching them the valuable lessons of thrift, prudence and foresight. This kind of education is still capable of much expansion in such directions as a modest dowry for the* girl at twentyone, or the boy-when he enters upon a university career, or marries at twenty-five. We are slowly learning that time-payments are safer when they are made beforehand and not after housekeeping begins. If any man lives as if no rainy day will ever come he is a fool and cousin to the fellow who hitches his waggon to a shooting star. To provide for one's own is a solemn religious duty. With due respect to the po-et we should add that a third undeniable fact is that there is a limit to what our foresight and prudence can achieve. We cannot promise ourselves immunity from volcanic outbreaks or earthquakes. , In truth we cannot sec an hour ahead or anticipate what we call the decrees of fate or the acts of God. We can do much, but the much may after all be little. The impossibles are many. No man can add a cubit unto his stature. He may, of course, or she may, order phenomenally high-heeled shoes and hats of towering dimensions, but to add eighteen inches to his natural height is clearly beyond his powers. This limitation is not due to the want of space, for here's plenty of room between his head and the sky. It is something else that's lacking. What would one think of the man who spent his days worrying because he could not add a cubit to his stature? We might advise him to follow Lloyd George and remind himself and others that men ought to be measured from the shoulders up. When we have done our best to secure an honourable livelihood and insure ourselves against possible misfortunes we ought at once to drop all worries and say, " Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.",. Let us simply make up our mind to face the evil when it comes and not a day sooner. There is # legitimate anxiety; there is an illegitimate and irreligious solicitude about the future. Our desire to provide against hard times must not run the length of "atra cura," the dark shadow of care to which Horace refers. This is ovkr-

anxiety. It is our obvious duty to think of the future and make provision for contingencies, but it is equally our duty* having done this, to dismiss anxiety and say, " Sufficient unto the day." There will come a time when, having done everything in our power, we " let the ship drive." People who live in perpetual and tormenting anxiety are frequent, y worrying about what may never occur. A wise man once said that his greatest troubles never happened. Why condense into one day the cares of all? Life's burdens come in sections. Why say, " A burden is certain to-morrow; therefore I'll bear it to-day"? We are supreme'y foolish if we go on fretting and fidgeting, meeting troubles half way, crossing the bridge before coming to it, shedding tears before they are due, and " dying a thousand deaths in fearing one." There is a ridiculous story of a worthy couple who married in middle life. One day a friend found them both weeping, and on asking why was informed that they were heartbroken at the thought of what might happen to their grandchildren. There are others who are equally miserable about what may never happen. They have not learned Emerson's advice: "Take the pot-luck of the day." It is not wise, says Beecher, when fishing to let out too much line. It may get tangled, yon may lose your fish, and tumble into the stream. Keep a short line. So is it in life. Take short views. We are bidden to ask daily bread. Some of us are like the child who said he always asked for daily bread and jam, and some of us long past childhood would fain ask bread some years in advance by being assured of it now. We are assured of it, but only day by day. What, after all, have we to do with , to-morrow? Why let it be a hobgoblin spoiling to-day's happiness? It is said that a South African millionaire jumped overboard because he was haunted by the fear of dyng in

poverty. If we cannot see an hour ahead, why worry about years ahead? Up to a point we can and should provide for to-morrow, but for all the un known it is impossible to make provision. The unimaginable and inescapable contingencies of life are many, and when we think of them we find ourselves against a brick wall. Care is a corrosive. Care will kill a cat. Montaigne said there was only one thing of which he was afraid, and that was fear. The example is worth cultivating. We are not to be afraid of next year or any year, but we ought to be afraid of fear. Having done our utmost with diligence and wisdom, let us "greet the unseen with a cheer," put our trust in Providence, and learn that "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."