The Newtown bee., 1896-04-03
CIRCULATION ::
The Home { ircIC. I'VE SHALL SEEK ME"
4 GOOD FRIDAY MEDITATION.-BY THE
 LATE BISHOP PHILLIPS BROOKS.

4 GOOD FRIDAY MEDIIATION.-BI THE
 LArEBISHOr PHILLIPS BROOKS.
 These words, so familiar to our ears,
 were said by Jesus on the last evening of his stay on earth, that even;fu) evening, full of deep, vivid, personal experience, when, feeling that he is to leave his lov- ed ones wi hout the comfort and support of Ii. earthly presence, he reaches for ward into that future which will seem ao lonely for them, to draw from ic all that he can of comfort for them in what will seem to them utter desola1ion,
 Let us think, too, that hc i3 seeking personal comfort in the loneliness of his approaching separation fIQm these his dear ones. Jesus felt as We should el did we know some night that by the light of the next morning we must leave cur loved ones to 70 to some far distant coun- try, where no longer we could hear the
 loved voices or touch N iIh warm pressure the hands that loved to grasp ours as we passed. "IlOw will they be thinking of me tomorrow, 1 would say, were such experience to be mine, "thcee dear friends
 of mine, when shall be far beyond their
 sight, upon the great ocean. They will
 not have forgotten me Surely no. our
 lives have been too closely knit together
 for that, they will be seeking me ill,
 they will strain their eyes to look for the
 distant ship, they will long to come to
 me with all their hearts, and yet, WhtTc
 am, thither they cannot come"
 If to me tonight should come the sum
 mons to go into that far country, and as
 l realized that never after tonight would
 | have human speech with these friends
 so dear to me, what would my thought
 be, before l made that last i)urney, fur.
 thcr than any earthly journey surely it would be the same thought, what to
 morrow will they do without me. those
 dear friends who hang around my bed, |, into whose eyes am looking for the last
 time: They will be seeking me know, looking, longirgIy looking into the fu-
 ture life, to find out where am, striv-
 ing to pierce the secrets of eternity from love of me; and yet with all their love, with all the earnestness of that
 seeking, surely do know that where 1
 shall be tomorrow thither they cannot
 this last night of his on earth, when
 with all the pressure of throrging,
 mighty experiences upon him, his first thought and care are for the dear ones
 who have loved him to the end; he knows that to morrow these human friends of his will seek him with long ing, loving fervOr, but that where he is there they cannot come. Not only for those disciples so close to him was this saying true always are we seeking him. aud yet where he is never do we con- pleteIy come.
 Two things come to every heart that rises to give itself to Jesus Christ, the divine passion of seeking him and the poor attainment of that search. How. ever we may seek him, never do we come completely where he is. And is there not in this that we have been try irg to indicate, just the kind of char acter that most surely inspires Us How is it with our nearest friend, if We can compass that friends character, if we have come to know him thu lough and through? We have gained all we can from him, he ceases to influence us. The friend have exhausted, I may love and leave behind; 1 have come where he | is, and he no longer draws me on. O1I the other hand, l have a friend who is great and noble, but hIs grandeur and 1 nobility are far above me, and he does l not influence me. l admire and reyer- l ence him, it is t. ue, but with no thought | of seeking such grandeur and nobility as my owr. 1 sit down in despair, for ali | my admiration and reverence, not even seeking to be like him. It is as if the sun said to a poor earthly candle Come up here in the heavens and shine like me- and th9 candle answered back, "Oh, great cruel sun, 1 cannot shine like thee, cannot put my feeble flame by the side of thy great shining; will put out my light and despair of ever shining at all,''
 But there is another kind of character than this; there would be nothing qmte SO hopeless in all the universe as our position if this were not so; there is 6 kind of character infinitely above us which get gives itself to us in such way that we rise and use every effort to attain it. This friend draws us on SO hat forever we must seek to be where he s, altho never shall we completely reach Jim. It is the inspiration of our lives to triye and seek, again aud again, and llways to come where he is. In the anne way the power of Heaven, as motive to mems action, is the most i'm. ( 'ortant that the world has ever felt. 1 f we could bring down Heaven to earth Q. day it would cease to draw Us on: /, ut it far of into a distance to which we [ an never attain and we despair and l ink inactive. It is not just in this way t nat Jesus brings us to follow him, offar- t 1g us the inspiration of perfect char c eter; so giving Itself to us that we rise s nd struggle to attain something of it's Ii for our own. and struggling f gain t, altho never coming fully to .