Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-01-25
CHAPTER NV.


] would not willingly convey to you. She
had ever been to me Ikea tall red rose,
towering up in Damascap garden, with all
its perfume and its comely perfection. But
now the red rose leaves were dropping, TAD
ing, falling, trembling in an autumn wind,
slipping to the ground one by one, slant
wise and silent.
She could give me but little of her time
or strength as the days wore by now. She
became more than usually silent and medl-
tatjve. Finding that she spent much of her
leisure with the group OF venerable men and
women who talked of Immortality and cul-
tivated the undeveloped senses, too sought
their resi:ul and refined presence now
almost daily. For ! saw that she was surely
dying. And yet she said nothing OF pain or
suffering; made no sign further than this
fading OF the rich red rose day by day.
How brave she wasi How serenely, sill
emily, valorous in this going down into the
valley Of death! Would she falter in the
end? Would she turn back from the teach
ings of Christ TO the old and holy traditions
OF her race? Would the dark and prophetic
ewes OF this daughter OF Israel turn to the
old and beaten paths of her people in these
last days? These questions forced them
selves upon me continually now because
saw her comnarioned much by venerable
man who had once been Rabbi.
The happy people of the city all this time,
however were not permitted to concern
themselves too much about her condition,
either mental or physical. They had been
taught by word and by example that, since
death is in the world and must be met by
each one OF us, it is becoming that it should
be met calmly and that no really good or
srl sba IN
others More than this, they had been
taught BY word and example, that death is
not entirely dreadful except as one make it
so by worthless ceremonies of priests; and
the miserable confusion of mind that foolish
mourners bring to the dying.
But in my concern for her l was anxious
to know that she was firm in her faith and
belief in the Savior of the world. 1 spoke
TO her very directly on this point one day as
we sat by ibe ba6bling waters of the great
fountain near the palm trees.
"The Savior of the world? Certainly,
Christ was the Savior OF the world, she
said, with cissped hands and lifted face, and
she went on, "Our Father who art in heaven
hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is IN
heaven"
l assured her of my extreme happiness to
hear all this from her lips. But hardly
leGUlng me- S0e Salu. anu LOW the WOFlO
did need savingl Think how the Romans
cut down the woods round about Jerusalem
20 make crosses for their victims till the land
was made desert! And these Romans wert
the most civilized power on earth. Think
of these Roman soldiers taking this meek
and gentle Jesus Christ and mailing hi.
hands and feet TO beam of wood and hang
lug him in the air with these nails in his
hands and 1eet TO die! And yet this one
crucifxion OF this gentle man was but one
OF thousands; ave hundreds of thousands of
Jews nailed to logs and lifted up to die SO
bv the people of Rome. Yes Christ died to
save the world; and he saved 1t; saved it by
his holy precepts and example, and made
such fearful scenes no longer possible"
She paused for little time and seemed to
be looking far away, as to another world.
And ] was now even as disturbed as be-
for she had spoken of Christ not as God
but as a man.
He died to save you" said solemnly
and enphatically.
He died to save me, and He saved me
saved me from myself; taught me mercy,
forgiveness; taught me Faith, Hope and
Charity; taught me TO saw, Thy kingdom
c1ue on earth. And it has come"
This last was said most earnestly anc
after long pause l was more disturbed thar
even before and leaned forward and looked
iuquiringly into her deep seer eyes. a
lasi she said: ''The kingdom of heaven i.
at hand. Yes, the kingdom of heaven wa
at hand when Jesus Christ came. 1t was a
hand when he hung on the cross, yet for cen
turies blood and darkness did prevail. TheI
the priests and the preachers came; tn
blind leading the blind, and things wer
but little better. They kept the kingdom ot
heaven elsewhere. They did not under
stand. They could not conceive of tn
kingdom OF heaven on earth any more thai
she Roman soldiers could conceive OF tn,
divinity Of Christ when He hung upon tn
cross"
"Then you do believe in the divinity o
Christ ! cried, springing to my feet befor
her.
81 do believe in the divinity of Christ
and the divinity o! all men in the degree o
their approach to that most exalted being.
she answered with claSped hands and lifteC
eyes.
] was again made miserable. At last
saId: "The great men and women of tn
world in its advancement upward hav
lived and died in the faith that Christ wa
God and the Saviour of the world. And
now implOre you to believe that Christ cam
down and died to save the world"
Her lips were firm and fixed as she said
barely above a whisper: Jesus Christ die
Itsel. He died TO make life beautiful an
death tolerable to man. And that, lookup
you in the eyes, soul to soul, and talkin
back to you over my shoulder as l turn t
90 into another world. that is all, tn at is all
All, mol l would not break nor shake you
faith, my friend, or the faith of any huma
being. There are those who die by this lait
10 Christ, and they shall surely live by thi
faith IN Christ hereafter. But, ah me; th
millions who have outgrown thatl What o
them? Must they 90 down to the valley O
darkness and in dread? Why, do YOU kno1
what death is to the living, to the strong
The hopeful and happy? The bride turn
pale at the altar, the young man grows des
perate in his pleasures at the thought O
death, the old man is frenzied with fear a
aight, and cannot sleep. And wbv? II,
fears not hell, but annihilatiou, What
hen, shall be done for those whose broade
brain and deeper prehension cannot hon
.stly and truly say that Christ died. not T.
save man from God, but from himself
Why convince him that ne is himself God
nat he shall i've, If he will believe. eter
Ially? Teach him that be can, by cultur
and care, SO refine himself that he can see
wen as common animals surely sometime
zee, beyond the portals of death.
She sank back against the lifted head o
he lion skin exhausted, and covered he