St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-05-22
why' A short question, but . whole

Why? A short question, but . whole
crucifxion of agony in il Why?
Shadow on the graves of good men and
women who seemed to die before thei-
work was done. Shadow on all the
graves of children because we ask our
selves why SO beautiful craft launched
at all if it was to be wrecked one mile
outside of the harbor? But what did
Mary Magdalcne have to do in order to
get more light on that grave. She had
only to wait. After awhile the Easter
sun rolled up, and the whole place was
flooded with light What have you
and to do in order to get more light
on our own graves and light upon the
graves Of our dear loved ones? Only to
wait.
Charles v. of Spain with his servants
and torches went down into the vault
of the metropolis where his ancestors
were buried, and went deeper. further
on. until he came to a cross around
which were arranged the caskets OF his
ancestors. He also found casket con-
tanning the body of one of his own
family. He had that casket opened,
and there by embalmers art he found
that the body was as perfect as lsyears
before when it wasentombed. But un-
der the exploration his body and mind
pcrishcd. Oh, my friends. do not let
us morbidly struggle with the shad-
ows of the sepulcher. What are we
to do? Wait. 1t is not the evening
twilight that gets darker and dark
er. 1t is the morning twilight that
gets brighter and brighter into the per-
feet day. preach it to-day. Sunrise
over Pere lie Chaisc, sunrise over Grey
friars churchyard, sunrise over Green
wood, over Woodlawn, over Laurel
Hill, over Mount Auburn, over Con-
gressional burying ground, sunrise over
every country graveyard. sunrise over
the catacombs. sunrise over the
sarcophagi where the ships be buried.
Half-past five o'clock among the tombs
now, but soon to be the monday of cx-
PLANTATION and beatitude. 1t was in
the morning twilight that Mary Magda-
lene mistook Christ for : gardener.
Another thing the world and the
church have not observed; that is.
Christ's pathcntic credentials. How
do you know it was not gardener?
His garments said lie was gardener.
The flakes Of the upturned earth scat
tered upon His garments said He was
a gardener. How do you know He was
not a gardener? All. Before Easter
had gone by lie gave to some OF His
disciples His three credentials. He
| showed them His hands and His side.
Three paragraphs written in rigid or
depressed letters. A scar in the right
palm, a scar in the left palm, scar
| amid the ribs-scars, scars. That is
the way they knew Him. That is the
| way you and l will know Him.
There is one more thing that the
world and the church have not noticed
| in this resurrection of Christ, and that
is that Christ from Friday to Sabbath
was lifeless in a hot climate, where
sanitary prudence demanded that
burial take place the same day as death.
and where there was no ice to retard
dissolution. Yet, after three days
He comes up SO healthful, SO robus.. =.
and SO rubicund Mary Magdalene takes
Him for a gardener. Not supposing
Him to he an invalid from hospital,
not supposing Him to be corpse from
the tomb, but suppos;ng Him to be the
gardener. Healthful by the breath OF
the upturned sod. and by . perpetual
life in the sunshine.
| After Christ's interment every cellu.
| lar tissue broke down, and nerve, and
artery, and brain, were a physiological
wreck, and yet He comes up swarthy,
rubicund, and well. When l see after
such mortuary silence such radiant ap-
pearance, that settles it that what
ever should become of the bodies OF
our Christian dead, they are go
ing to come up, the nerves restrung
the optic nerve illuminated, the ear
drum a-vibrate, the whole body lifted
up without its weakness and worldly
uses for which there is no resurrection
| Come. is it not almost time for us to &c
out to meet our terminated dead? Car
you not hear the lifting Of the ru,tet
latch?
oh, the glorious thought, the glo
rious consolation of this subject wher
l find Christ coming up without any
of the decorations, for you must re
member He was lacerated and wound
ed fearfully in the crucifixion-comint
up without one. What does that mak'
me think? That the grave will ge
nothing Of us except our wounds
and impcrfections- Christ wen
into the grave exhausted ant
bloodless. All the currents of Hi
life had poured out from Hi
wounds. He had lived life of trouble
sorrow and privation. and then He die'
lingering death. His entire bod.
hung on four spikes No invalid OF
years suffering ever went into tn
grave SO white and CHASTITY and broker
down as Christ. and yet here He come
up SO rubicund and robust she suppose
Him to be the gardener.
All. all the side-aches, and the head
aches, and the backaches. and the leg
aches, and the hesrt-aches we vii
leave where Christ left His. The ca
will come up without its heaviness. tn
eve will come up without its dimness
the lungs will come up without oppres'
ed respiration. Oh, what races we wi
run when we become immortal ath
letes. Oh. what circuits we will TAX
when all earthly imperfections sui
tracted and all celestial velocities ado
ed we shall set up our residence i
!. that city which. though vaster than a
the cities of this world, shall nevc