"This probably means that time, instead of diminishing the strength and crippling the energies of the people of God, shall be commissioned to convey unto them increase of spiritual strength, and to render them day by day, month by month, year by year, more vigorous and more victorious in the conflict with sin, more energetic in faith, more sublime in patience and fortitude, more meek and lowly of heart, more fervent in admiration of Christ, more self-denying and devoted in his service, more generous, more pitiful, more useful."
— George Bowen (1816–1888) · The White Sadhu of Bombay✦ Time Commissioned
Moses spoke this blessing over the tribe of Asher at the very end of his life — his last words before climbing Nebo to die within sight of the Promised Land. It is a blessing spoken on the threshold. And Bowen receives it as one standing on a threshold himself.
The word that unlocks the whole meditation is commissioned. Time is not merely passing. Time is not neutral. Time has been sent on an errand by God — and that errand is not to wear down the people of God but to build them up. Each day arrives carrying something from the Master. Each month adds what the previous month could not. Each year deposits what only a year's worth of faithfulness can produce.
This is the opposite of what the world teaches. The world says time diminishes. Time ages. Time takes away. Bowen says — not for the people of God. For them, time is a servant of increase.
✦ Bowen's Staircase
Bowen does not pile his words carelessly. Each quality in his list builds on the one before — a staircase of spiritual increase, each step higher than the last:
More Vigorous and Victorious
In the conflict with sin — the daily battle. Strength begins here, where it is most tested and most needed. Not theoretical strength. Strength with an opponent.
More Energetic in Faith
Not less. Not tired faith grown weary from years of believing. Faith that grows more energetic with time — as if the muscle of trust strengthens with every repetition of the morning discipline.
More Sublime in Patience and Fortitude
Sublime — not merely patient, but beautifully patient. Patience refined so long by the Potter's kiln that it has become something luminous. The patience of Isaiah 64:8 — clay that has stopped reaching for the shaping tools.
More Meek and Lowly of Heart
Not weaker. Meekness is strength that has learned where to rest. The rest that Augustine described — firmai nele e estareis firme. Stand firm in Him and you will stand firm.
More Fervent in Admiration of Christ
Not familiarity that breeds indifference, but admiration that deepens with time. Years of morning devotions making the sunrise more luminous, not less. The 500 denari soul whose love increases because the debt remembered never shrinks.
More Self-Denying and Devoted
Luke 9:23 again — the daily cross taken up not with less willingness but with more. The Potter's clay returning to the wheel each morning, not out of obligation but out of love that time has deepened.
More Generous, More Pitiful, More Useful
The overflow. The fonte of Proverbs 10:11 — a mouth that is a fountain of life because the interior has been formed in intimidade with the Lord. Generosity, compassion, and usefulness are not the starting point. They are the fruit of everything that came before on the staircase.
"Time, instead of diminishing the strength and crippling the energies of the people of God, shall be commissioned to convey unto them increase."
— George Bowen · Time is not neutral. Time is a servant of God."In this view they are delightful words to greet us on the threshold of a new year; and we accept them as a sweet and blessed omen.
Bring us strength, you coming days, strength to glorify our Master, to resist evil, to accomplish good, to hasten heavenward; and you shall be most welcome."
— George Bowen (1816–1888)✦ On the Threshold
Bowen ends by speaking directly to the coming days — as if they are servants arriving at the door, each one carrying something from the Master. He does not brace against them. He does not dread what they bring. He stands on the threshold and says — come in. Bring what you carry. I know who sent you.
He asks for four things. Not comfort, not ease, not favorable circumstances. Strength to glorify our Master. Strength to resist evil. Strength to accomplish good. Strength to hasten heavenward. And then the welcome: and you shall be most welcome.
This is the posture of a man who left America, left his salary, left his missionary society, and lived forty years in poverty among the people of Bombay. He had stood on many thresholds. He had watched many doors close behind him and many open ahead. And at the end, he could still say to the coming days — you are welcome. Because the strength was never in the place. It was in the promise.
Time Commissioned
Time is not neutral. It has been sent by God with a purpose — not to diminish, but to increase. Day by day, month by month, year by year. Each day arrives at the door carrying strength from the Master.
The Threshold
Bowen wrote these words for a new year. They speak just as truly on any threshold — a new country, a new home, a chapter closing and a chapter opening. The coming days are welcomed, not feared, because the One who sends them is faithful.
The Staircase of Increase
Bowen's seven qualities are not a checklist. They are a staircase — each step built on the one below. Vigorous in battle, energetic in faith, sublime in patience, meek, fervent, devoted, and finally — generous, compassionate, useful. The overflow of a life being increased by time.
"Bring us strength, you coming days... and you shall be most welcome."
— George Bowen · The coming days are not feared. They are welcomed. They carry what the Master sends.