The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-03-08
LIFE'S LIGHTS IND SHADOWS.
Mans Mysterious Hopes and Longing After
Immortality.

For The Iimesl
! What shadows we are. what shadows we
! pursue" The gay winged butterfly doomed
| 10 but q few hours of fectng existence Is a
| fit prototype of man. Filled with hope and
! ambition he plays his brief part on the stage
! IF action and crumbles into dust and Is for
! gotten. Incapable of coIuprehending the
| beginning or the ending of time or OF space or
/ of eternity; knowing not from whence he
! came nor whittier he Is going. he sets up idols
| and destroys them and himself besides 30 be
supplanted by another set who play over again
the same short drama. In the hey
day of youth the stars seem 10 look
brighter and the sun to shine more
swectly and he drinks in the enjoyment Of
life The future before him looks long and
pleasant As the years roll by the shadow of
gloom falls upon him and his soul IS tortured
low the thought that soon he Is 10 be no more.
Wife children, all. he must leave behind hum.
Those around him whom the roots of love
have grappled with the force and tenaclty OF
the arms Of a cuttletsh must fam be LETT tie
suffers until tired. Nature with grim resolve
bids him suffer no more. These are the
highest type. and their suffering is the keencst.
Blscr natures moulded from meaner clay
love 10 heap mp what they call riches and
power and place, only 10 sn1er with the
thought that they, too. must be left. Is 1t all
but a dream; Alas. it Is but too tine.
Shall we pass away and be as the little bub-
more forever Or shall we wake in another
land to 90 again through the same scenes on a
higher and nobler scaler Who has not in his
inner heart felt at times that he is but repeat
ing scenes of which he has vague and misty
recollections of having gone through before;
Who can answer the problem: Not Kant, not
Sir John Lubbock. not Herbert Spencer
Their vague theories but intensity It, Oh.
Agnostic how desOlate Is your existence A
treelcss desert with not shrub. not blade
Of grass, not flower, not a living thing IN
sight. Is your emblem of life How terrific IS
the contemplation Of such dreadful hopeless
scene
Is there a balm in Gilead? Is hope; the
beautiful sun which cOlOrs all It shines upon,
10 be found in the beautiful precepts Of Him
who clad in an humble ishermans garb
taught 10y the Wayside IN Galllee and Judea!
What means this inner consciousness which
tells -, all that virtue, truth and rectitude
Of conduct lead 10 something that "a higher,
nobler and purer. Why dove all instructive
" shun vice ia our inner hearts and turn 70
virtue, What aye those sudden aspirations
for something higher and better which come
I, Us al MONDAY which come 10 Us IN the
solemn hour Of the night which come IN
times OF PAIN which come IN times OF pleas
ure, What is immortality:
Who can lift the veil which hides the I'M
seem Do poor mOrtals like us inhabit the
beautiful planets which surround u.s. Have
they the same hopes. fears, Joys! DO they
look 10 the same Savior who brings comfort
and sweet consolation 10 so many weary,
troubled souls hereY Who can telll Like the
storm tossed mariner. bufIeted by the rough
pillows. we hope for smoother weather. Where
alone can that hope be realized save III the
sublime and beautiful theory Of Him who
promised the attainment of complete happi-
ness 10 those who follow His blessed example
and His illnstrious precept stated in His sub
lime sermon on the mount.
How blessed must be the lot OF those who,
with minds free from doubt can seize on to
this precious treasure Of hope! Compared
with It. ali the riches of GOlconda look as
but filthy trash. Buoyed up by IL as NE
passes on and age creeps upon tnem TINS
blessed and priceless hope broadens, ana as
the evening star with the darkness of the
night grows brighter and brighter. so this
hope increases until calm and gentle repose;
the first foretastes of the life which Is beyond
is the lot of the true believer. As age creeps
on with increasing trouble, he parts the
whispering leaves Of thought" but the echo
brings back 10 him n strong and mighty love,
which never grows old. The man VINO IS
without il is like the world would be without
the sun. On the one side is darkness, desoia-
tion, sorrow; on the other, brightness, ,happi-
ness and love. .. r., OF buckingham.
December ~, lSSQ