Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1885-04-10

THE slow pallid sunsets In autumn ye watch from the
shore,
At their sad level gaze DER the ocean"
All is overland the world shall be hence
forth as if this great heart which is now still.
ed had never beat, aud the patient eyes which
now are closed had never beamed with light
and love. Gan is over" say the two disci-
pies, as, walking by the way, they talk Of all
that had happened; land yet we trusted that
it had been he who should have redeemed Is
rael'
But what is the greeting that passes through
chrstendom this morning? 1t is that all is
not over. Ths Christ is not destroyed, he is
immortal. His work is not ended, it is only
begun. The Ignorance aud malice of men
have done their worst, but they have not tr-
umphed. The Christ has wrought his great.
est victory through his death.
The victory over death-that is what the
Easter greetings mean. / will not propose
the question, this morning, as to how the
sense of victory over death came to those
sorrowing disciples who had left their Master
in the tomb. will not try to discover what
reason they had for believing that he was i'm
mortal, and that they shared his i'm ortality.
We do not need to look back through the
mists of centuries to see death. 1t is every
where present, and we ask as a question Of
the most personal interest, Is there anything
in human life stronger than death? How can
we live, so as to be able to face the last enemy
without fear?
In New York, this Easter morning, our ma
tion's great hero lies upon the bed of death
He has not been called, in the narrow sense
IN which that word is used, religious man.
His greatness has not been the greatness of
word or of feeling but the greatness Of ac-
tion. And desire has come to many, not
out Of idle curiosity, but out Of deep interest,
to know how the great warrior faces his last
foe. To me 1t is enough to know that he
meets it just as he has met every other foe
bravely patiently, silently. But" says one
trembling for the safety of his soul, would
you not be glad to hear how in his last hours
be has prepared to meet his God z" No, |
would not. II it is possible for a man to live
IN this world without ever having met his
God, without being upheld by his power,
without being confronted by his law, then
there is no God. The only reason we have
for believing that God reigns in other worlds
is that we know that he reigns here. We first
come into the divine presence when we begin
to live, not when we die.
1t will be twenty years ago this week since
Gen. Grant stood upon the summit Of human
greatness, as he received the surrender Of the
last great army Of the Confederacy. His
courage and his patience had received their
reward. The same courage, the same pa
tience, the same grim, silent determination,
give him victory now as then. We are most
satisfied to think Of him as meeting death,
not like saint, which he was not but like a
true soldier, which he always was The SOL
der does not ssk to know whittier he is going,
or when, or why; he simply stands at his post,
ready to obey when the trumpet sounds.
Do l need to more plainly state what to me
is meant by victory over death? 1t means no
escape from the common lot of men. II means
thFOugb fpanin ~ rita nraad
from the sense of mystery that surrounds the
grave. But it means so living that we shall
have made our life a reality-so great a reai
ty that death shall appear only an incident.
That is the impression which every noble life
makes upon us. 1t is no vain show; it gives
evidence in itself that it is allied to all that
is most permanent in the universe. Every
school boy can tell on what day OF the month
Washington was born how many can tell
when he died. That such a man Iced is the
important thing. We talk of "the ruling pas.
sion strong in death" When that ruling pas.
sion has gone out toward the noblest ends it
is stronger than death. The force that gains
the victory is not one that is created upon the
deathbed 1t is the natural outcome of the
whole life. Those qualities which give mean.
ing and beauty to human existence are those
which make us believe that death is not final
The little child dies. It has no religious
rAptures, no basis of knowledge; but with a
child's trust the little eyes are closed as in
sleep. And in that it is conqueror All un-
consciously it walks along the border line
where strong men, looking down, grow faint
And when it passes from sight it needs no
sign to tell us that it is safe. The cup of life
of which it only tasted was a sacrament more
holy than any priest could offer to dy ing lips
No baptismal sign was needed to tell that this
was Gods child for Gods own baptism, the
dew of youth, was yet upon its brow.
And believe that could the first innocence
remain with u.s. only ripening with the years
into wisdom and strength, that the man would
meet death as unquestiOningly as the child.
The unconscious trust would only deepen into
conscious faith. We would give ourselves to
the work of living, as those who had felt the
power of an endless life.
The question of Immortality is chiefly q
question of fitness. Is there anything in hu-
man life that is so intrinsically valuable, so
evidently permanent, that we can believe 1t
will survive the dissolution of the body? We
say fire burns but FIRE does not burn the as
bestos-here the furnace flames are power
less. Is there an asbestos thread woven in
the web Of life? II there is, care not how
inextricably it seems to be interviewer with
perishable material The fire shall try it, of
what kind it is, and when all that can be
burned is burned away, this thread shall ap-
pear. l care not how soul and body are unit
ed only care TO know whether there is an
immortal element in them.
To find this indestructible element and to
cultivate it, is the work of him who would
strengthen the belief in the immortal destiny
OF men. The Roman church claims what it
calls the "power of the keys" The phrase
is a suggestive one. It is not by violence,
but by the power of the keys, that heaven is
entered. And the power of key consists
simply in its fitness. The doors cannot be
forced, but with key that fits the lock
child can enter.
Is human life the key that opens the gate
of an eternal world What kind of life
A life frivolous, sensual, selfish No; there
s no sense of fitness in the thought that such
an existence should endure forever. II there
are in human life no elements more perma-
nent than these Immortality is neither credi
BILE nor desirable But life pure, reverent,
loving, aspiring? Yes, it is easy TO believe
that such life shall continue it is hard TO inn
agine that it could perish utterly. There are
lives SO gloriously real that in their presence
the very thought of death becomes phantas-
NAL Thus to live is to haze eternal life.
But my text speaks not merely of victory
over death II ascribes II to our Lord Jesus
Christ. We reed not change our point of
view in order to Join in this ascription The
human soul, we say will have Immortality il
il is fit for it. But is 1t fit for it have Of
ten walked along a crowded city street and
asked myself, Are these the people we call
immortal? Do they show any signs of such
a destiny And so when any one of us asks
himself, Am fit for Immortality ? doubts
come. So felt those Galilean fishermen,
thinking of themselves and of those about
them. But at last they met one of whom they
had no doubts In him was life in him, be-
yond all possibility of mistake, was immor-
tslity. And he was their friend aud had as
sured them that where he went they should
go, and what he was they should become.
And they believed him, and felt that their
destiny was linked with his and they we're
satisfied. He stood for what every man
might be he revealed possibilities in them
selves before undreamed of. They knew not
what they should be it was enough to know
that they would be like him.