New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-04-17
vITCPE,S SERMON.

NATURES SERMON.
Churches may be open or closed, but Nature
breaches the Easter sermon every year 10 'hoSc
who have eyes to read intimations OF ieSurrec-
ton life During the last week there mas oeen
a refinement of sympathy between her processes
and the sacred associations of the season. No'
ONLY were the DAYS of Holy Week cold. sombre
and bleak. but on Good Friday morning lawns
and fields were covered with snow ana Siect
as with a tattered and suied ceremeht' ana
the ground from which the earliest flowers were
bursting into bloom was stifened with the
last dcathlike touch OF winter. AS the hours
passed the sky cleared and the snow shrank
into ragged and grimy patches, and hnally
disappearcd and sympathetic ear could al
most hear the words " II is tiniShed' spoken
of that wintry dcalh-in-lfe which paral!zeS
Natures energies and functions every year.
Ye,terdav's genial air was life giving breath
which stirred the pulse of every benumbed
plant and torpid tree Lawn and field re-
frcshcd with rain and sleet were lovely in the
most delicate tintng of the early spring. Every
budding shrub in park or garden had received
an invigorating impulse and was instinct with
life. The suburban landscape was transformed
with signs of sudden growth and vcrdure. The
bare boughs of the tallcst trees seemed TO be
communing sympathctically under the arching
heaven and 10 be lcaiing ont even as they
whispered together of coming resurrection
Even those who cannot understand the in
tricacicS of Ea>tcrtidc theology aS unfodcd in
lily cmbowcrcd and iOwcr-Strcwn chanccls are
affected by Natures preaching OF the ntlma-
tons of resurrection and the perennial fresh
ness of immortality. With this miracle of life
from death wrought before the eyes in field.
woodland and garden. Easter cannot lose its
meaning for even the dullcst and most cynical
nina The analogics of the natural world are
eloquent and logical even when preachers
texts seem arthcaliy applied and fancfully
interpreted and when crecdS are conventional
and dogmatic Whether young or old in
years there is no sceptic who can blind his
cyc> 10 the fact that Nature in her own unerring
way teaches the same gospel Of Resurrection
which is heard in the churches. Controversial
though he may be- there are times when his
philosophy of life, morals and progress fails to
satisfy him. NcOn at crccds and religion AZ he
NAV. he is pursued with suspicion that while
he cannot hope 10 reason his way ont Of the
maze. death as the end Of life is not lntell
gihlc. and he can never hope 10 make 1t so.
The conviction is forced upon him, dOubter rs
he is that there must be another life If only
To explain the present life. If death is mys-
terry, life i also an incXplicable anomaly. There
i, 50 much injustice in the world that there
must be- another world with system of com
pcn~ation, where Justice will be done and the
Inconsistencies of human fortune rcctilicd.
Their, arc such possibilities for development in
the destiny of man that there must be another
sphere of intellectual and spiritual growth.
Death cannot be the end Of the race which
thinks 50 pcrSstcnty, feels so intensely. and
grows in power and hopefuncS. 80 steadily.
TO such a dazcd and banled inquirer Nature
breaches with incffablc tenderness the rcSrr-
rcction sermon. Winter seems like death an
end OF life, growth and activity. There has
10 be Il new life of bloom. ycrduIc and frution
10 explain il.
II may be only a pleasing fancy, but the
Easter teaching seems to he most ineligible
when Nature lends advcntitious aid in inter
prcting what is repeated in the churches. In
equatorial countries where the trees are ever
green and where flower and shrub arc always
blooming the doctrine of the Resurrection is
accepted like all the other mysteries of faith
i'm mcthodical. conventional way. There is
no death in life in Nature and no life after
death a. the ineligible explanation of it.
Resurrection becomes hard saying. when it is
caught from the lips OF priest mumblng it
in Il pcrfunctory way, or when it is taught as
an inscrutablc mystery in Il. Paul's page But
when in this temperate zone Natures gentle
hand writes between the lines her own luminous
Interpretation Of death and life and of unend
ing growth and symmetrical Development the
Easter sermon is the plaincSt and most intclli-
giblc thing in the world.