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Carpe
Diem (Seize the Day)
by
Commissioner Wesley Harris
The days of
crinolines, old lace and all that have long since gone. The
world of William Booth has long since disappeared..
Much has changed but the “gravelly” voice of the
Founder still reaches us through his writings and his example
illumines the pages of our history.
Much was a-changing in his day but instead
of fleeing from things new he commandeered them and
saw them as opportunities.
Take the motor car, for example. Today it is ubiquitous
but in the 19th century it was new-fangled yet as an old man
William Booth took it over for motorcades around the United
Kingdom; he ”seized the day”.
In my inner ear I seem to hear his rasping
voice urging us to get with it and employ the inventions of
today in order to save souls.
In many ways we are doing that. We are flying from
country to country.
We are conferring through Skype. There is routine
communication through E mail. Computers are the medium of the
moment.
But
these wonders of science are not ends in themselves.
They are means to the ends which engaged our forebears
but we must not
lose sight of the ends among the many new means at our
disposal.
To a degree I am “technophobic” compared
with grandchildren who have grown up in the present age but I
praise God for the extension of ministry made possible through
a medium like Facebook through which, like others of my age
and stage, I can share the gospel with people far and near. In
some ways science compensates for any reduction of physical
health and strength.
It did for our Founder and in some ways it does for us
today. Praise the
Lord!
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