St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-10-19

it the soul feels the breath of the air
of nature enter; the thunder, the
waterfall, the rustic of the leaves,
the songs of birds. 1t brings to our
hearts the voices of our friends, their
tones of love, of joy, of sorrow, the
melody of song. 1t is the vehicle of
expression, too. Through it the soul
Limb and feature and voice are the
souls nts-indispensable in
struments-for conveying and eXecut-
ing its will. Without them it were
but IA royal babe, without army, cour-
! tiers or servants. The flesh is some
times spoken of as Il clog, as fetter.
1t is so only by contrast with the spirit
ual body. The spirit needs connec-
ton with matter for its own perfection.
| 1t then controls n realm foreign to it
self, and in a sense doubles its own
kingdom and power. 1t may be ques-
toned whether the very idea of posi-
tiOn, of space, of extension, of motion,
or of time or such thing as sensa-
ton; or the knowledge of the proper
ties of matter; or even of an individ-
ual existence, would he possible to a
spirit without Il body.
This body is the expression of Gods
character also. His goodness is i'm
piled in every organ and function of it.
His skill is woven into its every fiber
and tissue his taste speaks in every
limb and feature and tint. Sin has
done its worst to oblige its conceal
ment, and to deface it. To restore its
| lost ideal is at once the study and de-
spair of artists. If attained, it would
doubtless stand as the most beautiful
of the Creators works. Heaven is to
witness the realization of that ideal
There the body is to reappear, perfect
ed and glorifed, divinely beautiful
More beautiful also in its usefulness.
All that this body has been to the soul
here, that and far more, another body
is to he to the same in its new sphere,
il nOblcT servant of nObler master,
having regained all that disease or toll
or age had taken from its vigor, with
new powers added such as only in sud
den tOrnadOes of emotion, or insanity,
we have had glimpses of, endowed
with more delicate poise and percep-
ton and self-cOntrol than ever sleep
walker displayed. And then the added
senses, and the added keenness of these
senses when renovated! What is the
telescope but mans own extension of
this bodily eye, and the telephone
( but mans own widening of the ears
range of sound? And what are these
but prophetic suggestions respecting
the faculties of the celestial body
"When, in this respect, that which is
perfect is come, what should hinder
the saints in light" says another,
''from hearing the songs of distant
worlds, and even to converse with
their inhabitants, as children do with
each other in the same family ?" Such
faculties the poet Klopstock, in his
Messiah, attributes to the angel
| Gabriel
And with the ear-with which he,
Thousand times thousand miles remote, the mo.
tion eternal
Heard. and, deep in the heavens below, Orion ro
jocing-
Heard he the heavily surging blood of the praying
Redeemer,
Ardent flowing from vein to vein. Yet more
plainly o'erheard he,
Down in the depths of His heart divine, His fer
vent petition"
,. With this new instrument for its
use, what an expansion of the human
mind must heaven witness! Remem-
ber how the greatest expansion of the
intellectual faculties and the largest in
crease of human knowledge have ever
centercd in the Kingdom of God on
earth. Remember, too, that the wisest
minds and the purest hearts have ever
dwelt together. There is an eternal
affinity between love and light. Life
is contagious. One faculty takes en-
thusiasm from another. The intellect
falls to work to solve the hearts prob
lens and find ways to execute it,
commissions. SO when the heart is all
on fire with love to God, the mind i.
put Oh the stretch to do its best.
What of mental illumination, more
, over, may not be expected when the
indwelling spirit has his own way in tn,
soul What quickening of the intui
tions, through which the soul finds it
) self in possession of truth, not KNOWN!
the source whence it came What
rich field of new knowledge will liz
| spread out before the glOrified saint a
f with these angelic faculties he enter
t his new sphere All the stimulus tha
B. new and wonderful and sublime trutl
r can furnish to intellectual vigor an,
growth he finds as he studies, from hi
; new vantage ground, the works an
2 ways of God and the vast depths G
f his character and being.
t 3. But the most important persona
element of heaven yet remains char
c acter, and it is the best known
y We reach the knowledge of what els
= constitutes eternal blessedness mOstl
It by IA process of reasoning. This ha
e been revealed to us. The good g
: there The pure in heart see Coo
As to other things, it doth not yC
Y appear what we shall be, but we kno'
1t that when Christ shall appear we sha