The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-06

necessary incidents to a slowly cooling
earth and il is better to have globe with
them than not to have any globe at all.
And though the destruction seems terrible.
let remember two things: Death would
have come very soon at best, and the
earthquake was not sent by an angry God
as 81 punishment. Pain is never welcome.
But what is pain? 1t IS the cry of warning
from the voiceless tissues. and to have
sentient life at all we have must have this
apparatus of protection. Nay. more, to
h;ve thc thousand feelings of delight there
must be nerves, and nerves out of repair
make the pain But the mystery Is not so
dark when we locate no wrath behind the
chiid's pain. Thus we come to regard dis
ease as the inevitable incident of organ-
IL ton. AID il is better to have bodies with
this liability than to have no bodies at all.
There is no virtue in torture self-in-
ficted. and cultivated sadness is poison
Gus; and yet there are real disciDlines in
sorrow, which enrich US. where we are
poor, and by ways past finding out There
ere those who never learn to see, until they
become blind; who lose wealth to find the
DC ul; who discover life and heaven through
death.
ship of Sorrow" partly because Jesus is
often spoken of as THE Man of Sorrow
and partly because a fearful spirit has at
times been represented as the essence of
saintliness. Preachers have often implied
that God loves US most when we are most
miserable.
But the predominant tones of the church
have ever been jubilant, rather than
mournful. 1t has brought light to dis
sipate darkness, rather than melancholy to
Quench hope. It's faith has created joy,
rather than sadness. 1t has wiped away,
rather than she'd tears. 1t has moved hui
man lips to sing gladness, rather than to
utter groans. 1t has led men out of prison
into the liberty of love and hope. instead of
imposing bonds and burdens. 1t has opened
the eyes of man to feast on new fields Of
beauty, instead of yelling them in doubt
and despair. 1t has spread abroad infinite
joys in human hearts by training human
hands in works of helpfulness. Although
the ascetic spirit and the mournful tone
have, now and then, gained prominence,
yet the true representatives of Christianity
have been the men of infinite tenderness
like st. Francis, of exurberant joy like
Luther, of cheerful spirituality like Yves.
ley, of hopeful humanity like Charming.
the message of the church has been Glad
Tidings," and its welcomes to the weary
sons of man have been, Come unto me,
all we that are heavy laden, for my yoke
is easy and my burden is light" In the
darkest hour and amidst the greatest perils
1t has lifted 10 a voice of exultation and
proclaimed with Paul. Rejoice evermore"
The early Christians, despised as less
than human and hunted as worse than
wild beasts, laid away their dead in the
catacombs amidst emblems of hope and
inscriptions of serenest peace, allowing no
funereal gloom and no trace of hate to
defile the last resting place of their friends.
The aim of Jesus was pra ,tfcal, not spec
ulative. He did not attempt to explain
the existence of sorrow and suffering. He
did not teach that it was necessary to be
sad in order to please God; nor did He teach
that pain and grief necessarily purify the
soul. He accepted the realities of life and
went about to comfort and to heal. And
though strict realist in this respect, He
never allowed these facts to disturb His
trust in the infinite goodness Of the heav-
emily father. He accepted them as incidents
In a providence of love, too vast to be un-
derstood, but too merciful to be questioned.
1t is good for us at times to go out and
spend an hour under these night heavens
of life. which have lessons and in
SEPARATIONS of their own, in order that
hearts may be softened. our thoughts
strengthened and our feelings purified by
graphing with these inevitable problems.
A view of life along these lines will save
us from doubling the large providence at
work within our li-'as. 1t will reconcile us
to the darkness when it dips down upon
us, and it will discipline US by showing the
upward way to victory. even through our
sorrow.
Copyright, 1896, by the Newspaper Sermon
Association.)