Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1896-01-05
A DREAM OF HEAVEN.
EDWARD FOSTER TEMPLES IDEA or
A HAPPY HEREAFTER.
Ths Bright and Beautiful Condition of tho
ssui In the Abode beyond the Grave.
Hessoninx That Brings Comfort to tho
Txsreaved.

Ikereaved.
Thorc is nothing in lifo 80 interesting an
death. Whether wo hive an immortal soul
and what becomes OF II when tho spirit Ia
out Of the earthly body is problem ever
IN tho human mind. and one that ever
cries TO us trumpet tongucd rs wo stand
by the sldo Of our beloved dead In Today
Edward Foster Temple declares his convic-
tion Of bright and happy spiritual life In
IN article entitled "A Dream Of Heaven"
lie begins by saying:
"In my conception Of heaven there are
bloom and bird song very much akin TO
tho bloom SEQ by the waysidc and the
bird song hear under my window. When
my eyes open to tho experience Of the hero
nfter, expect to be greeted, not by some
thing marvellous, but by familiar sights
and sounds. Why may not even nature
hnvo its spiritual counterpart Before the
violet existed MS n substance II existed ne
IN idcn In tho thought OF God. Why, thon,
may not that mental conception continue
20 exist nfter the substance itself has por-
ished, so that when tho violet " no longer
visible 70 our natural vision wo may still
know IL MS violet through our sense VI
spiritual rccognitloni cannot believe that
anything loses its identity by dying. Be-
cause tho flower withcrs when tho FIRST
frost touches It mud before long becomes y
heap of unslghtly decay II Is not evidence
that tho flower ceases to exist any moro
than the pulseless form OF man arrnycd
In his burial clothes Is evidence TIM; his
lilo is forever extinct. Some ono Will say
perhaps, There Is decomposition to I'm.
mortality In the case Of man because OF
his spiritual attributes. How do we know
I..N al I'll
Who indeed among the wiscst who ever
lived hns actually demonstrated whom tho
vegetable creation ends and tho animal
creation bcRlnsf"
MIR Temples belief that hcavou Is moth
ing more or loss than Rlorilled earth Ia
thus beautifully expressed;
~ bolioyc that everything In nature has
q spiritual form which is tho oxaot like.
ness OF It's material form Tho pattern OF
what has been always must be, and tho
heaven which l cherish In my holiost
dream md which expect TO realize after
my feet have crossed the threshold OF this
hereafter, ~ only this beautiful enrth trans
figured. There Will DO laughter and sun
shine. tinted sky and sprluglng grass
blade, running brook and molodipus bird
song Just tho same ne we experience here,
only wo shnll know them then, not rs
tangible things, but MS conditions OF soul.
According to the ancient conception OF
heaven, which some believe even today II
is a plnce where tho elect spend eternity
in tho worship OF deity, but do not sec
why Il Ia not Just as reasonable TO suppose
that tho lover OF flowers will have flowers,
that tho lover Of birds viii hnvo birds,
that tho lover of sunshine will hive sun
shine and that the homage We render deity
will DO our willing mud faithful care for
something we love rather than any more
vocal and conventional praise.
"Docchcr always thought that going TO
hoavon was gcing TO claim ones own. Ho
wanted no band OF Grape tied to his door
when he died, but In place Of 1t n wreath
OF beautiful flowers lie wished II to DO
understood that the transition from the
here to tho hereafter was not something TO
10 regretted OF dreaded, but something TO
DO rcjoicod In az triumphant going
home"
Tint wo shall meet in another world the
friends whose departure hAs wrung our
hearts In this, Mr.. Tcmple firmly believes,
as this paragraph proves:
"Tho reunion OF friends is another fca-
turc TINT cannot be omitted from any rn-
tionnl conception OF heaven. We Hro often
told that the future IL a scaled book. We
see our friends die and cannot follow thoin
into tho other world aud come back aud
demonstrate tho absolute certainty OF q
continued existence after death. Tint u
true. But standing beside thom whom
their breath grows fainter and fninter,
when thny have takcn their final lcnvO of
us, and hro only waiting until the glad
spirit can 10 wholly freed from WORKOUT
frame, whnt docs 1t mean when they SEQ
faccs which we do not sec md hear voices
which we do not heart II sometimes hap
pons that before tho natural vision hns
closed tho spiritual Is opened, and tho
land OF tho dying is not onlypu into ours
for pressure OF affcctionatc parting but
Is ut tho Same timo put Into that OF an
nngcl for pressure Of aifeotlonnte greet
lug"
That there Is progress oven In heaven Is
a theory vigorously maintained by Mr..
Temple thus:
1.-The law OF progress Is universal law.
II operates ms distinctly In tho realm OF
spirit as In tho realm Of mnttor, and Is
concerned both with tho evolution OF
planet md the growth OF human soul, 1
believe that tho future state Is a stnte Of
progression. Growth Is essential TO Imp
piness. While we are subject to bodily
ihhy wv 'iihN pu' ti'hAh "
obstructed. There arc sometimes physical
inflrmitlcs which prevent us from reach
Ing the heights we aspire 10, but whom
these distractions nro removed by death
We have no laudablo excuse for staying bo'
hind.
ITO me, said Goethe tho external TX
istcnce Of my soul Is proved from my idoa
OF activity. II work necessarily until
my death, nature Is bound to give mo an
other form Of existence when tho present
can no longer sustain my spirit. opnn
tho door OF heaven but little wAy and w0
must surely sec movement toward higher
ends. This lifo is but tho beginning OF
tho llfe God Inns mapped out for tho human
soul. Infinite development Is before us.
Our longings and our affections have
meaning which tho present cannot fully
unfold, There nro conditions OF glory which
tho human spirit can attain to only In tho
hereafter, Joys and hopes md attainmonts
which reach out to other conditions Of be-
Ing, and the mora We observe, the moro wo
think, the closer wo 1.-Two To tho iDcxorable
laws which govern the evolution Of u true
manhood. tho more we nre inclined TO DO
ilcvo tho poot that
"AIan's heart tho Almighty TO the future hath
set
BY secret but inviolsblo springs"
Whether Mr.. Temples reasoning Is
sound philosophy or only good theology, 1t