The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-08-04

pages COmlOIU dllll uOpO W bOlP 10
bear it. "Sorrow not as those who are
without hope" What blessed words!
In them lies the hope of a future life,
in which 1--WE shall know as we are
known" and be forever with our loved
ones who have gone before. Jesus
says, "Come unto me all ye who are
heavy laden and 1 will give you rest "
How sweet these words are to the
weary, almost heart-broken mourner.
They fall like blessing upon the heart,
and tighten our sorrows and give us
hope for better things.
death is the gate of endless joy,
And yet we dread to enter there
says Watts, and it is so. We long to
be with our loved ones, but what must
we suffer to get to them?
1t is the common belief that dreadful
suffering attends the separation of the
spirit from the body, but it is mostly
a mistaken idea. AS rule death itself
is attended with very little, if any, of
physical suffering. Because in acute
disease, or where the sickness has last
ed for long time, the power of suffer
ing is exhausted before death comes.
Many who have been down to the very
gates of death and returned, have thus
testified. Schiller, when dying, in reply
to an inquiring friend, said, 81 am feel
ing calmer and calmer." The poet
Keats, just before he died, when asked
how he felt, said, 'Better, my friend;
feel the daisies growing over me. ="
The spirit Of the great composer,
Mozart, burst its trammels and took
its flight heavenWard as the last notes
of the hymn he had requested his
daughter to sing died away into silence.
Beethoven died singing one of his own
beautiful hymns. There are also num-
erous testimonials from men and
women who, watching over the dying,
have testified that in but few cases
have they seen fear at the approach of
death. These testimonials are COM
forting and tighten deaths portals.
Read Christ's words Except corn
of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone; but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit" and apply
them to death, for they are similar.
The death of the body is as necessary
to the renewal of the spirit, as is the
decomposition Of the outer shell of a
wheat-grain to the quickening of the
germ to larger life. Believing this,
death is clothed in new meaning,
showering upon us more blessings than
he takes away.
At first we start out with family
circle completes; one by one is gathered
by death to bloom in the gardens above,
leaving the others behind to sorrow
just little longer, when they, too, are
called, and the circle is again reunited,
but for all eternity. No more parting
from our loved ones there. Surely we
can give them up for a little while,
knowing that we shall meet them
again. do not mean that we should
not grieve for them, for that is perfect
ly natural and is not forbidden in the
Bible, that book of all books. Jesus
himself .wept at the tomb of Lazarus,
even though he had the power to, and
did, raise him from the dead.
The Bible teaches the necessity of
keeping our house in order, . SO that
we may be prepared when the sum-
mons comes to leave our earthly taber-
nacle, the body, to take up our abode
with the blessed. This does not mean
to be constantly on the lookout for
some disaster, or to look on the dark
side of things always, but to keep our
business in such shape that it will
cause no trouble to those we leave be-
hind; to keep both our spiritual and
temporal affairs in such a condition
that we may never be surprised no
matter how sudden the call may be.
We are to live 50 that when God sees
fit to summon us home, we may be
prepared to face death ia hope, with
out fear; believing that by that agency
we are carried lover the river'' to our
loved ones, where we shall sing praises
unto him, who hath redeemed us,
given us the victory over death and
the grave, and eternal peace and hap
piness after the troubles of this life.