Sick Bed Reflections

It is a mistake to suppose that a man's mind is in a better state to attend to religion when he is sick than when he is well. It may not have its ordinary clearness and vigour. But a fit of sickness affords this advantage, that it makes a break, a chasm in a man's life, and gives him a chance to start anew. It cuts him off from bad companions, and gives him time for reflection. It opens his eyes to the vanity of the world, and forces him to look at the stern realities of death and of an eternal state. The rich and the gay, as well as the poor and wretched, have to die, and go to their Judge. The tomb stands open for them all. Eternity wraps in a dark doad the foremost of this mighty procession. No wit or frivolity can deceive him long with the dream of life or happiness. No wealth can buy a ransom from the grave. In view of these things, man is forced to reflect soberly on his course of life. If it has been bad, he must suffer the bitter reproaches of conscience and the fears of a hereafter. While thus saddened and depressed, there is hope of an abiding religious impression.

But if these reflections pass away with the sickness that occasioned them, —if the solemn vows of the sick-bed are forgotten at the first moment of restoration to health,—the effect is to kill religious sensibility. No man can be, after such seasons, as he was before. The renewal of a wicked course, after breaking off for a time, doubles the probability of eternal ruin, by its aggravation of guilt and its hardening influence.--Anon