The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1895-09-27
PRACTICAL VALUE OF
IMMORTALITY.
New York Herald,

", 2s.
The effect produced on a mans cur
rent life by firm belief in the future
IS something to be wondered at and
admired.
If man had the Kohinoor in his
pocket, and was not afraid of being
robbed, il would not add IA cubit to
his stature" and fill his heart brimful
OF good nature.
And, on the other hand, when
man has no faith im future not posi-
lively denying it, but looking to the
sky with very faint hope, he may be
successful in business and envied of
his neighbors; he may be right hon
est creature, living in the sunshine
wherever he can find it; but in his
heart there dwellS a tenant, grim and
unwelcome, who holds a life lease of
his residence. lie may make the best
of himself which circumstance al.
lows, but down in the depths of that
mans nature, covered up BY careless
laugh or otherwise concealed, is an in
termittent desperation which over
shadows his whole outlook. However
rich he may be, he is poor indeed"
There is kind Of satisfaction which
he can never enjoy, a domain Of peace
and happiness whose green grass his
feet never press, whose flowers he
never looks upon, whose crops are
never gathered into barns.
The religion which circles about
faith IN the future life as the planets
circle about the sun Is the most prac-
tical thing in the world. 1t is a heat
giving idea as necessary for the fructi.
Tying processes as sunshine Is TO Il
wheat field. AS we'll hope for orange
blossoms in damp cave where ice
water OOzeS through the rock and
eternal night prevails as to make a
soul happy and contcntcd or in its
highest sense productive without the
radiance which comes from belief in
immortality.
Give man one glimpse Of the Ce-
lcstial City. let him hear the voices Of
angels, and know that they are angels,
and you work miracle in that mans
whole being. AS the clouds at sunset
are fllrly drenched in beautiful col
Ors-colors 50 enhancing that the hu-
man race ceases from it's labor to gaze
upon the spectacle--SO the clouds of
sorrow which overland our spiritual
landscape are rainbow hued to him
who can see the face of the Father
and feel the touch of His hand. After
such an experience, literally new
birth. the inevitable tomorrow cea-
ses to be dreaded, and we gladly con-
template the slowly loosening bonds
of mortality, because death is free
dom, the Lords messenger to summon
us to a higher, a broader, nobler
stage of existence.
1t is the greatest Of all pitics that
this kind Of faith so narrowly prevails.
We pretend to be Christians, but the
grandest doctrine Of our Christianity
is either rejected or imperative. We
hope, but we also fear. There are
moments when we feel sure, and at
such times we are inexpressibly hap
py; there are other moments when
we doubt, and we are unSpcakably
miserable
How can a man fail to see that
belief in immortality is a prime spir-
itual necessity? A denial Of it thwarts
every heroic endeavor and corrupts
the motives which urge us toward a
higher life. II we are to die like the
beasts of the field, then why should
we not live like them? II we are so
made that We cannot help longing for
a continued existence, but are not to
enjoy it, we are like some poor travel
er who sees the green fields beyond
the chasm and, approaching them
with hurrying steps and fond antici'
pations, suddenly falls over the preci-
picc and is broken by the jagged
rocks. Unless there is another life
this life Is not boon, but curse,
and man is so curiously and cruelty
constructed that the only thing which
will make him a little lower than the
J angels is the one only thing which he
cannot have.
But it is useless to linger on this
hot and waterless plain lest we die OF
0 thirst. We belieye-sOme OF us even
/ 20 40 far as to say we know OF ouI
. personal knowlcdge-that death Is
$ simply eviction from the body and re-
moyal from poverty to riches. That
! belief ought not to be vague, however
} it should be vivid, thrilling, promi.
nent and permanent, wavering nc
, more than the rocky headlands Of the
coast amid the angry storms. Think
Of the matter when you sit by the
/. side OF your own soul with no one else
near BY. That kind OF thinking will
make your doubts sink away like Q
thief in the night. You have a right
!. to immortality, and God offers II FOL
| your acceptance, but you arc blinds
and your hand gropes In the a'with
/. fails to reach IT, You haye call on
II life, and II is a serious m's"n ,sN,s MiSs,
you do not realize that