Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-01-23
Is THERE SORROW IN HEAVEN?


Its Pansy-a Pansy with WINGS
-Vick's Magazine.
Is THERE SORROW IN HEAVEN?
Like as father pitieth his children, SO the
Is. u p'''''" '''N' '''S' ie''- 'i' ''ii' e-'i''
We know very little about heaven,
and the Lord has seen fit to allow our
the subject. The word heaven is rather
vaguely used in the Bible, as though
all definite information concerning it
were purposely obscured. 1t is used to
designate the air, as when Job speaks
of 1.-The fowls of heaven" meaning the
birds which fly over the forests: and
again, in reference to that illimitable
space in which the stars swing along
their orbits, as when the author of
Deuteronomy tells us of 1.-The host of
heaven" and, once more, to call atten
ton to the place in which God and the
angels dwell, "the temple of heaven"
1t may seem unfortunate to many
that we are left to our own resources
SO completely to discover the condi-
tions of life which prevail in the here
after, but without doubt it is better as
it is. If we could see the shining domes
of the Celestial City and catch even a
faint echo of the songs with which the
departed worship the Eternal Father,
we should become restless and unit to
perform the tasks which proper dis
cipline makes necessary. We may well
rest satisfied with the fact that a con
tinued existence after death is the
basis on which the teaching of Christ
securely rests and seek no further
What He has withheld is matter of
unimpOrtant detail, as when an archi
tect, with few strokes of his pencil
draws dim picture of the house we
contemplate building, assuring as that
in good time we shall have the perfect
ed plan.
There are some questions, however,
which so sorely perplex US that a de
gree of speculation is necessary to our
spiritual comfort. For example, we
have been told of heaven in which
we shall be rid of all solicitude and
unrest, and lead curiously unnatural
lives. This view is an heirloom which
we are supposed to keep intact and
leave to our children unrevised by the
larger thoughtfulness and the wider
knowledge of the present age. 1t is
safe. nevertheless, to examine even
heirlooms. and find out to what extent
they are either useful or useless. Espe
cially should we exercise our best judg
ment on subject of this kind, for
false ideas are sometimes very disturb
ing.
Is it true-can it be true-that death
SO changes us that we shall be quit of
all sorrow and all anxiety? Or, on the
other hand, shall we take keener in
terest than ever in the welfare of loved
ones here below, and find a measure of
happiness in doing what we can to
protect them from danger?
If you retain your personality, If
you are yourself the day after your
friends carry your body to the church
yard, will you lose your interest in
those who remain behind, whom you
hope to meet when their years have all
been told? If memory is an essential
element of the sonl, will that soul en-
ter into dumb forgetfulness when il
reaches the further bank of the river?
Would not Immortality be misnomer
if in the other life you lose all remem-
brance of this life?
And if you are yourself after the
blow has been struck which makes you
fly from your body, and If you retain
your self-consciousness. your memory,
and also your affection, is it possible
that you can be Indifferent to what is
happening in this lower world? Ifyou
have no means of knowing what strug-
giles your dear ones are passing
through, that ignorance must itself be
poignant pain, and if you are not ignor-
ant, can you look on with a careless
eye?
Suppose we take an extreme case by
way of illustration The Almighty is
our Father, and His generous and
Il
whole universe. 1t is His wish as we'll
as command that we shall grow with
circumstance and make the highest
use OF events. His love for us is very
tender, and like as a father pitieth
his children" so He pities us. He is
always represented as loving us with
love so great that He sent His Son to
reprove our shortcomings and teach US
the way to light and life. If this I'M
speakable Being both loves and pities,
is it possible that sorrow forms no part
OF His nature? When He sees one of
His children going astray, either
through wilfulness or blindness, does
He look on the soul that is falling from
divine possibilities with entire indiffer-
ence? And if not with Indifference,
then what can be His attitude except
one of grief? There is no escape from
the conclusion that father must be
sorry for his disobedient children. An
inevitable logic drives us, and escape
is not within reach.
Then descend to the hosts of loving
souls who live below the throne, and
what shall we say of them? Does the
ecstacy of bliss eliminate all interest in
the sons and daughters who are in the
school of experience and learning its
hard lessons? Can a mother in heaven
sing so absorbingly that the cry of her
beleaguered child is never heard Will
she look down from the battlements
on scene of misery and suffering and
take no pains to rescue those whom
she would have given her life to save
when she was in the earthly home?
We cannot believe this. 1t is more
consistent with what we know of Gods
ways to assure ourselves that the de-
parted share with us our sorrows and
our joys-that SO long as dear ones re
main on the earth, just SO long will the
angels hover about them to give such
assistance as may be needed, and it is
= quite safe to say that when we our
selves get to heaven we shall be sur
prised to know that those who have
''gone before" have invisibly stood our
friends when we needed friendship
most.
Such faith uplifts and encourages.
1t brings us nearer to God to feel that
He is present with US in our daily
work, and nearer to righteousness to
know that the angels do what they can
to soothe our grief and strengthen us
in our struggle.-N. Y. Herald. -
Rats must have access to water or
they die. A trapped rat may easily be
tanned by allowing no water but that
offered in a spoon, for the creature
soon learns to recognize the hand
which supplies this all-important ne
cessity.
Men are very much like dogs-the