Serious Reflections on Time and Eternity, Tract · Chapter 1
I. Of the changeable State, and ſhort Duration of Earthly Things; eſpecially of Man, how little is is conſidered and believed: how neceſſary it ſhould be.
WHen I conſider that yeſterday was the concluſion of the laſt year, and that I now am entred on another; 'tis ſeaſonable to reflect on the mutable Condition, and ſhort Duration of all Thing in this World, which are meaſured by Time. That as they have their Beginning, ſo they have their End: And that the diſtance, or ſpace of Time between the one and the other is very little. Let me not then, O my Soul! Rejoyce and pleaſe my ſelf too much in New Injoyments, remembring a Change may be at hand, and the End is certain.
Many who were Rich and Flouriſhing the last year, may be reduced to Poverty and deep diſtreſs, before the end of this: who are now in a capacity to relieve others, within a few months, or a ſhorter ſpace, may be objects of other Mens charity. The thing which hath been, is that which may be; and that which hath been ſeen in one year, may happen in another; ſo eaſily, ſo quickly may a Change be made! Riches may unexpectedly change their Owners, and borrow wings of a thouſand Accidents, wherewith to fly to Heaven for a new Diſpoſal.(a)1 Cor. 7.29. They therefore who poſſeſs, ſhould be as if they poſſeſſed not; for the Faſhion of this world paſſeth away. Innumerable caſualties may effect that change, which no human Art or Skill can poſſibly foreſee or hinder. Afflictive unexpected evils attend us every where: we cannot promiſe our ſelves Tranquility for a Day, much leſs one Year to come. They lay in wait for us on every ſide, enter at every crevice, and commonly overtake us, when we are leaſt apprehenſive of their approach.*Job 9.25. Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of Trouble: He cometh up as a flower, and is cut down: fleeth as a ſhadow and continueth not. What then are Riches, Beauty, Strength, and Honor, the accidents of this Subſtance, which is it ſelf but a Shadow! How falſe is the Hope of Man, and how frail is all his glory! One day can make an end of all his Riches and Honours. And yet what ſolicitude, care and labour, to get what we deſire of theſe things (though often we do not need 'em) and then to keep what we have gotten, and then to encreaſe it, and then to defend it, and at laſt to enjoy it, and in a moment it is ſnatcht from us, or we from it. His Life is but a vapour, on which they all depend; then how much leſs are they? To how ſpeedy an alteration are they ſubject! What numberleſs Inſtances of this doth one years experience furniſh! What ſadning Diſappointments and unexpected Calamities have befallen many ſince this Day Twelve-month! and multitudes who are now at eaſe, and think their mountains too ſtrong to be removed, ſhall meet with ſharper Tryals before the end of this year. Alas! how few conſider or believe it, till they find it ſo? All men ſhould count upon trouble and diſappointment, ſuffering and ſorrow in this world; and he that hath the leaſt ſhare, is reckoned the moſt proſperous man; and yet he knows not how ſoon his Portion may be doubled. We reckon our Joys by the abſence of ſome degrees of Sorrow and Calamity that others meet with; and before the end of this year, our condition may be as diſconſolate as theirs. O my Soul! though I know this to be true; though I cannot, I dare not deny it; yet how difficult is it to conquer the Love of this World, and of this Body, to that degree I ought! to undervalue the intereſt of a ſhort, a mutable, uncertain and troubleſom Life, in compariſon of the permanent poſſeſſion of an everlaſting Good! Though I know that what is earthly and temporal muſt needs be thus changeable and fading; and that it is as true of Man himſelf as of any thing under the Sun; yet how do I forget what Man is! not only mutable in his State, his Body, and his Life, but in his Mind too, ſo as to love and hate, to chuſe and neglect, to delight in, and abhor, ſuch things at one time as he did not before. He doth not paſs the ſame Judgment, nor retain the ſame Affections at one time as at another. How do I live, as if all this were as certainly falſe, as it is unqueſtionably true? admire, love, fear, truſt in Man, as if he were the direct Contrary to what he is, and ſeek for Immortality upon Earth, and act as if I were aſſured of it, and were not lyable to any Change; though I acknowledge and know the contrary. Though the laſt years Experience, and the obſervation of every day doth convince me of it; though all Hiſtory, and all the Records of the Grave atteſt it; though all Mankind in every Age have found it ſo; though it be a manifeſt notorious Truth, legible in the various changes and calamities, but eſpecially in the duſt and aſhes of all who have lived before us (our Graves being often made of our Predeceſſors Duſt, and the Earth we bury in having once been living) yet how little is it believed, how ſeldom conſidered! The Confirmation of it which one year gives us, hath little influence on our hearts or lives, with reſpect to the next. We ought therefore to accuſtom our ſelves to theſe thoughts, before ſuch changes happen, to which our Final change ſhall e'er long ſucceed. They will be leſs efficacious, if never admitted till our minds are oppreſt and feebled by the weight of Affliction. We ſhall then want that vigour of Reaſon which ſhould co-operate with the Remedy; and which, if uſed before-hand, would help to ſupport and ſtay our minds under all ſubſequent Revolutions. For thoſe Conſiderations may be able to fix and ſtay our minds under Changes, that may not be ſufficient to recover and raiſe our Spirits after they are dejected and fallen.