A New Year's Thought

"We have only one life to live, only one. Think of this for a moment. Here we are in this world of time making the journey of life. Each day we are farther from the cradle and nearer the grave. Solemn thought. See the mighty concourse of human lives; hear their heavy tread in their onward march. Some are just beginning life's journey; some are midway up the hill, some have reached the top, and some are midway down the western slope. But where are we all going? Listen, and you will hear but one answer—"Eternity." Beyond the fading, dying gleams of the sunset of life lies a boundless, endless ocean called Eternity. Thitherward you and I are daily traveling."

Preface How to Live a Holy Life by James Orr (1844-1913)

I stood beside the open sea;
The ships went sailing by;
The wind blew softly o'er the lea;
The sun had cloudless sky.
Some ships sailed eastward, some sailed west,
Some north, some southward trend.
How can ships sail this way and that?
But one way blows the wind.
An old sea-captain made reply
(His locks with salt-spray wet):
"'Tis not the wind decides the course;
'Tis way the sails are set."

(Some sources attributed this poem to Edna Wheeler Wilcox, but hers is different but similar, and Orr died before hers is dated)