Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1897-01-28

go out 20 the railroad track and put INV
ear down on the track, and could hear
the express train rumbling miles away and
coming on, and today, my friends. il we
only had faith enough we could put ont
ear down to the grave Of our dead and lis
ten and hear In the distance the rumbling
on Of the charlots Of resurrection victory.
o heayenl sweet heayenl You do not
spell heaven as you used 70 spell it
heaven, heaven. But now when you
want to spell that word, you place side by
side the faces of the loved ones who are
gone, and in that irradiation of light and
love and beauty and joy you spell it out as
never before, in songs and halleluiahs. oh,
ye whose hearts are down under the sod OF
the cemetery, cheer up at the thought Of
this reunionl oh, how much you will
have to tell them when once you meet
tbaml
Before the Throne.
How much you have been through since
you saw them last. On the shining shore
you will talk it all over. The heartaches,
the loneliness, the sleepIess nights, the
weeping until you had no more power to
weep, because the heart was withered and
dried up. Story of vacant chair and empty
cradle and little shoe only half worn out,
never to be worn again, just the shape of
the foot that once pressed it. And dreams
when you thought that the departed had
come back again, and the room seemed
bright with their faces, and you started up
to greet them, and in the effort the dream
broke and you found yourself standing
amid room In the midnight-alone Talk
ing it all over, and then, hand in hand,
walking up and down in the light. No sor-
row, no tears, no death. o heavenl beau
tiful heaven-heayen where our friends
are! Heaven where we expect to bel In
the east they take cage of birds and bring
it to the tomb of the dead, and then they
open the door Of the cage, and the birds,
flying out, sing. And would today bring
a cage of Christian consolation to the grave
of your loved ones, and would open the
door and let them fill all the air with the
music of their voices.
Oh, how they bound in, these spirits be-
fore the thronel Some shout with glad
ness. Some break forth into uncomfortable
weeping for joy. Some stand speechless in
their shock Of delight. They sing They
quiver with excessive gladness. They gaze
on the temples, on the palaces, on the wa
ters, on each other. They weave their joy
into garlands, they spring it into trium-
phal arches, they strike on timbrels, and
then all the loved ones gather in great
circle around the throne of God-fathers,
mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daugh-
ters, lovers and friends, hand to hand
around about the throne-the circle, hand
to hand joy to joy, jubilee to jubilee, vic
tory to victory, ''until the day break and
the shadows flee away. Turn, my beloved,
and be like roe or young hart upon the
mountains of Bether."
Oh, how different it is on earth from the
way it is in heaven when Christian dies!
We say, "Close his eyes" In heaven they
say, "Give him palm.' On earth we say,
"Let him down in the ground" In heaven
they say" Hoist him on a throne" On
earth it is, Farewell, farewell" In heav-
en- it is, Welcome, welcome. And SO
see Christian soul coming down to the
river of deat,,, and he steps into the river,
and the water comes up to the ankle. He
says, "Lord Jesus, is this death?" "No,"
says Christ, "this is not DEATH" And he
wades still deeper down into the waters
uAoA oio Aoou ColleS " Oho hhoo, anu ho
says, Lord Jesus, tell me, tell me, is this
death?" And Christ says, No, no; this is
not death" And he wades still farther
down until the wave comes to the girdle,
and the soul says, "Lord Jesus, is this
death?" "No," says Christ, "this is not. :"
And deeper in wades the soul till the bill
low strikes the lip, and the departing one
cries, Lord Jesus, is this DEATH" NO."
says Christ, "this is not" But when
Christ had lifted this soul on throne of
glory, and all the pomp and joy Of heaven
came surging to it's feet, then Christ said,
"This, o transported soul, this. is deathl'