Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-12-27
A DREAM OF HEAVEN.
ED WARD FOSTER TEMPLES IDEA
OLA HAPPY HEREAFTER.

Beyond the Grave. Reasoning
That Brings Comfort to the
Bereaved.
There is nothing in life s. inter
esting as death. Whether we have
an immortal soul and what becomes
of it when the spirit is out OF the
earthly body is a problem ever In
the human mind, and one that ever
cries to us trumpet tOngued as we
stand by the side of our beloved
dead. In Today Edward Foster
Temple declares his conviction of a
bright and happy spiritual life IN
an article entitled GA Dream of
Heaven" He begins by saying:
"In my conception of heaven
there are bloom and bird song very
much aking to the bloom l see by
the wayside and the bird song l
hear under my window. when
my eyes open to the experience OF
the hereafter, Iexpect to be greeted,
not by something marvellous, but
by familiar sights and sounds.
Why may not even nature have It's
spiritual counterpart 7 Before the
violet existed as a substance it ex
listed as an idea IN the thought OF
God. Why, then, may not that
mental conception continue to ex-
lst after the substance itself has
perished, so that when the violet Is
no longer visible to our natural
vision We may still know it as a
violet through our sense of spiritual
recognition cannot believe that
anything loses its identity by (dy-
ing. Because the flower withers
when the first frost touches it and
before long becomes a hOap OF IN
slightly decay 1t is not evidence
that the flower ceases to exist any
more than the pulseless form OF a
man arrayed In his burial clothes is
evidence that his life Is forever e1'
tinct. Some one will say perhaps,
There is DresuppOsitiOn to i'm
mortality in the case Of man be-
cause of his spiritual attributes
How 10 we know that vegetation
has no spiritual attributes Who
indeed among the wisest who ever
lived has actually demonstrated
when the vegetable creation ends
and the animal creation beginSP
Mr.. Temples belief that heaven
is nothing more or less than a
glorlfied earth is thus beautifully
expressed:
81 believe that everyth ing in
mature has a spirtud form which
is the exact likeness OF its material
form. Tie pattern Of what has
been always must be, and the
heaven which l cherish in my
holiest dream, and which 1 expect
to realize alter my feet have cross
ed the threshold Of this hereafter,
Is ONLY this beautiful earth trans
figured. There will be laughter
and sunshine, tinted sky and
sprlngIpg grass blade, running
brock and melodious bird song just
the same as We experience here
only we shall know them then, not
as tangible things, but as con
dilOns of soul. According to the
ancient conception of heaven, which
some believe even today 1t is
place where the elect spend etern
itY IN the worship of deity, but
do not see why 1t Is not just as
reasonable to suppose that the
lover of flowers will have flowers
that the lover Of BIRDS will have
birds, that the lover of sunshine will
have sunshine and that the homage
we render deity will Oe our willing
and faithful care for something VI
love rather than any mere voca
and conventional praise.
"Beecher always thought tha
going to heaven was going Il
claim ones own. He wanted NJ
band of Grape tied to his door whel
he died, but in place of it a wreatl
of beautiful flowers. He wished
10 be understood that the TRANSITION
from the here to the hereafter wa
not something to be regretted o
dreaded, but something to be re
j)iced in as a triumphant goini
home"
That we shall meet in anOthe
world the friends whose departuT
has wrung our hearts in this, MI
Temple firmly believes, as tn
paragraph proves:
"The reun ion offrlends is anotl
er feature that cannot be Omitte
from any rational conception
heaven. We are often told thi
the future is a sealed book. "
see our friends die and came