Wherever you are, and whoever you may be, there is one thing in which you and I are just a
like at this moment, all in all the moments of our existence. We are not at rest; we are o
n a journey. Our life is a movement, a tendency, a steady, ceaseless progress towards an u
nseen goal. We are gaining something, or losing something, every day.Even when our positio
n and our character seem to remain precisely the same, they are changing, for the mere adv
ance of time is a change. It is not the same thing to have a bare field in January and in
July. The season makes the difference. The limitations that are childlike in the child are
childish in the man.Everything that we do is a step in one direction or another. Even the
failure to do something is in itself a deed. It sets us forward or backward. The action o
f the negative pole of a magnetic needle is just as real as the action of the positive pol
e. To decline is to accept the other alternative.Are you nearer to your port today than yo
u were yesterday? Yes, you must be a little nearer to some port or other; for since your s
hip was launched upon the sea of life, you have never been still for a single moment - the
sea is too deep; you could not find an anchorage if you would; there can be no pause unti
l you come into port.