Wherever the English language is spoken, the word "now," as indicating the actual moment, or present time, is in constant use. In a larger, spiritual significance, however, the word has not been duly considered by mankind in general. Throughout the world's history, men and women have believed in the reality of time, and have feared both the past and the future. The sunshine of happiness today has, oftentimes, been obscured by the shadows of regret for the mistakes or the vanished pleasures of bygone days, and by fears of an uncertain future.
Yet in every age there have been those who have glimpsed the futility of sad brooding over what "might have been," and of fearful anticipation of difficulties which may never eventuate, and some have voiced their clearer vision in words which have brought a measure of solace to troubled hearts. Whittier wrote:
No longer forward or behind
I look in hope or fear;
But, grateful, take the good I find,
The best of now and here.
