The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-06-20
THREE QUESTIONS.

the ancient Greeks, had inscribed over
the door of one of their temples the
words: "Know Thyself."
To the worshipper, who bowed be-
fore the shrine Of the Delphic Oracle,
these words were awfully and even
terribly oppressive in their silent but
searching import.
The venerable Socrates pondered
long over their demand. Plato and
Aristotle shrunk from them and, with
confession of their weakness to probe
the depths and mysteries of that We
call Life, passed away from earth as
ignorant of the ever-recurring ques-
tions, Whence, Why, Whittier, as lit
tie children.
The mystery is still unsolved. Into
its depths men of genius have thrown
the plummet of research. but it has
been in vain. From Natures open
volume We try to read the story of
whence We came, why we are here,
whittier are We bound, but it is not
written Oh her pages.
Reason mounts on soaring wing and
travels from star to star, asking of
each of these far-off worlds the great
question of questions. But they are
as silent as the tomb, as speechless as
death.
We greet the newborn babe with
the inquiry, "whence came you" We
ask the strong man. "why are you
here?" we tearfully follow our dead to
the silent grave, wondering whittier
they have gone; but none give reply;
none tell us of the deep past, the op-
pressive present, the untried future.
Silence is everywhere. No voice
breaks upon the air telling of the des-
tiny of man, save the voice of that
humble Nszarene, "who spake as one
having authority"
When we would confront these
mysteries of life and death, We confess
with the great Newton. that We are
as little children walking on the shore
of the great ocean of time, picking up
a pebble here and there.
The one great cry of the human
heart is for light and truth Oh and
about these mighty questions. The
ceaseless, restless inquiry is ever going
ont from the soul for some authorita-
tive teae ling concerning our life.
Are we immortal beings destined to
live forever? Or do We lie down like
the brute and pass away at death into
nothing?
We have strange and mysterious
longings and hopes. They come to us
unbidden, and with overwhelming in
Auence. They point upward toward
another and higher life. They whis-
per of a future beyond this life which
is free from the fret and worry, the
sorrows and heartaches, the tears and
burdens, the pain and wasting fevers.
which crush, cruelty, waste and wreck
soul and body here. They tell us
that There no cypress stands in solemn
watch over the graves of silent sleep
ers. The toll of the death bell never
breaks upon the air of that world,
and the sobs of widow and orphan are
forever hushed in the blessed reunions
of the eternal Beyond.
This is the universal belief of man.
The savage believes that the Great
Spirit has prepared for him the Hap
py Hunting Ground, where he can
roam by bright waters and in glorious
forests forever, pursuing the bound
ing deer or trapping the furry games.
The" heather in bis blindness fall
down in humble alteration before the
god of stone or wood, or fire or celes
tial body, simply because he believes
that there is for him an abiding flu
ture.
To-day, in many lands, millions of
the disciples of the Christ will give