The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-06-02
Religious.
THE CHRISTIAN HEAVEN.

But what is the Christian ideal of
heavenp Is it any refuge of mere self
ishness =? Surely not For the essence
of Christianity is that spirit of Jesus
Christ, which was manifested in his
marvellous life, and is still manifested
in all Christ-like lives, as spirit of un-
selfish, unwearied, patient love for even
the most degraded of men, seeking and
saving the lost, wherever they may be
found. Wherever that spirit is mani
tested to-day, there is the beginning of
heaven on earth.
A little girl looking up to the eve
ming sky, exclaimed to her MOTHER
eff the floor of heaven is so beautiful,
what must its ceiling bep" For the
brightest thing that is seen, must be as
the dark shadow of that which is I'M
seen. The reality hereafter must be
far more glorious than the divinest and
loveliest here.
And can we, then, believe that the
love of heaven is any less unselfish and
unwearied than the love of earth ?
Jesus babe US be the children of our
Father in heaven, by loving our enc
mics and blessing them that curse us,
and doing good to them that hate US.
Did he say, that the time would come
when this golden law should no longer
rule our hearts, when we should curse
them that curse us, and do harm to
them that hate us ? Will this law
have no authority in heaven Then
would heaven be less heavenly than
earth. Or shall we forever forgive,
and forever seek to save the lost ?
Then, if our Heavenly Father also is
not forever full of mercy to the peni-
tent, he is less Christ-like than we.
And must not the saints be as merciful
in heaven, as Jesus taught them to be
on earth
We look with peculiar reverence
upon those lives that have been conse-
Grated to seeking and saving the most
abandoned of men,-such as st. Francis
of Assist and John Howard, Edward
Dennison and Octavia Hill, and thou
sands of other true philanthrOpists all
over the Christian world. Many of
these have gone into the mystery be-
yond. But must we not believe, that
the Christian heaven into which these
consecrated souls have entered, is a
heaven where they will not cease from
their toll and self sacrifice and love2
''For can we deem,
Their joy is other now. than when
They dwelt among the sons of men?
Are there no souls, behind the veil,
That need the help of guiding hand,
Weak hearts that cannot understand,
Why earths poor thoughts of heaven should
fail?
Are there no prison doors to ope,
No lambs to gather in the fold,
No treasure house of new and DID,
To meet each wish and crown each hope2
We know not. But, if life be there
The outcome and the crown of this,
What else can make their perfect bliss,
But in the Masters work to shaTe2
Is there anything really attractive in
the common notion of heaven of lazy
selfshness =? Some one has humorously
said, that, ''to beings constituted as we
are, the very monotony of it would be
as great an affection as would be the
pains of hell, and might be pleasantly
interrupted by them" Rejoicing in
the unmerited mercy that has saved a
few as brands from the burning, NUT
ual congratulation on being found in
so good company, and not tear of pity
for the frightful fate of friends and
neighbors- this a Christian heaven,
or Mohammedan's dream of Paradise?
Methinks, a Pharisee might feel at
home there but a Christian never.
No, friends, it is impossible. 1t is
horrible even to think of. 1t is more
like the threshold of hell; for what is
hell but the realization of utter selfish
ness, where pity no longer stirs the
heart and all ties of human affection
are withered? If we travel around the
globe to Australia, we shall stand with
our heads in an opposite direction from
the present-everything being reversed.
And so is this common dream of self
ish felicity hereafter the very opposite
of the Christian ideal. 1t is place
where everything is reversed, where
what is hottest and loveliest here is for
ever repudiated there, and the heart of
flesh becomes heart of stone.
But surely, the only real heaven is
where the hottest souls, angels and
archangels and beatified saints, are
forever busy on errands of mercy, even
as they were in this lower world, ever
moving through all the vast spaces and
dismal depths of the universe, seeking
and saving the lost, carrying love and
pity, light and truth, to the wretched
souls in perdition, telling them of the
Heavenly Fathers unwearied tender
ness, assuaging their pains with the
hope of redemption, giving them COM
fort and strength in the agonies of
their retribution, and opening their
souls to the folly of their sin, caring
nothing for rest and selfish felicity, but