The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1898-06-01

Of this world as Paradise Is ahead Of Dry
| Tortugas, and yet here we stand trembling
and fearing to go out, and we want to stay
on the dry sand, and amid the stormy
petrels, when we are invited to arbors Of
jessainine, and birds OF paradise.
One season I had two sprlngtimes.
went to New Orleans in April, and marked
| the differences between going toward New
Orleans and then coming back. As I went
on down toward New Orleans, the verdure,
the foliage, became thicker and more
| beautiful. When I came back, the further
| came toward home the less the foliage,
and less II became until there was hardly
any. Now, It all depends upon the direc-
tion In which you travel. II spirit from
heaven should come toward our world. he
! Is travelling from June toward December,
from radiance toward darkness, from hang
| ing gardens toward icebergs. And one
| would not be very much surprised II u
spirit OF God sent forth from heaven to-
| ward our world should be slow to come.
| But how strange It Is that we dread going
out toward that world when going is from
December toward June-from the snow OF
| earthly storm TO the snow OF Edenic blos-
som-from the arctics of trouble toward the
tropics OF eternal Joy.
Oh. what an ado about dyIng We get so
attached to the malarial marsh In which
we live that we are afraid to go up and
live on the hilltop. We nre alarmed be-
| cause vacation Is coming. Best programme
Of celestial minstrels and hallelujah. no in-
ducement. Let US stay here and keep ig-
norant and sinful and weak. Do not In
| troduce us to Elijah, and John Milton aud
Bourdalone. Keep our feet on the sharp
| cobblestones of earth instead OF planting
them on the bank OF amaranth In heaven.
| Give us this small Island of n leprous world
| instead OF the immeDsities OF splendor and
| delight. Keep our hands full OF nettles,
and our shoulder under the burden, aud
our neck in the yoke, and hopples on our
ankles, and handouts on our wrists.
Dear Lord" we seen to say, keep us
| down here where we have to suffer, instead
of letting us up where we might live and
reign and rejoice"
We are like persons standing on the cold
| steps OF the national picture gallery In
London, under umbrella In the rain, afraid
| to go In amid the Turner's and the Titlans,
and the Raphaels.-..I come to them and
say. why don't you go inside the gaS-
lery?" "Oh," they say, I'VE don't know
whether we can get In" I say: "Don't
| you see the door Is open2" yes" they
say; but We have been so long on these
| cold steps. we are SO attached to them we
don't like to leave" "But," say, at IL
much brighter and more beautiful In the
gallery, you had better go In" "No,"
they say, I've know exactly how It Is out
here, but we don't know exactly how 1t is
inside"
SO we stick to this world as though we
preferred cold drizzle to warm habitation,
discord to cantata, sackcloth to roynl pur-
pleas though we preferred piano with
four or five OF the keys out OF tune to an in
strument fully attuned-as though earth
and heaven had exchanged apparel, and
earth had taken on bridal array and
heaven had gone into'deep mourning, all
| Its waters stngnant, all ITS barps broken,
all chalices cracked ut the dry wells, all
| the lawns sloping to tho river plowed with
graves with dead angels under tho furrow.
am amazed at myself and at yourself
for this infatuation under which we all
rest. Men you would suppose would get
frightened Mt having to stay In this world
instead of getting frightened mt having to
| go toward heaven. This world Is as bright
to mo as to any living man, but I congrat-
ulate anybody who has right to die. BY
| that mean through sickness you cannot
| avert, or through accident you cannot
avold-your work consummated. "Where
did they bury Lilyp" said one little child
to another. "Oh," She replied, "they
buried her In the ground" "whati In the
| cold groundp" "Oh, no, no; not In tho cold
ground, but In the warm ground. where
| ugly seeds become beautiful flowers"
But" says some one, at pains me so
| much to think that l muct lose the body
| with which my soul has so long compan-
ioned." You do not lose 1t. You no more
lose your body by death than you lose your
watch when you send 1t to have 1t repaired,
reset, or the faded picture when you send
1t to have 1t touched up, or the photograph
OF q friend when you have 1t put in q new
locket. You do not lose your body. Paul
will go to Rome to get his, Payson will go
to Portland to get his, President Edwards
will go to Princeton to get his, George
Cookman will go to tho bottom OF the At
lantic to get his. and we will go to the viii
lage churchyards and tho city cemeteries
to get ours; and when we have our perfect
spirit rejoined to our perfect body then we
will be the kind OF men and women that
the resurrection morning will make pos
sible.
SO you see you have not made out any
doleful story yet What have you proved
about death? What Is the case you have
made out2 You have made out Just this
that death allows us to have perfect
body, free OF all aches, united forever with
a perfect soul free from al sin. Correct
your theology. What does 1t all mean?
Why, 1t means that moving day is coming,
and that you arc going to quilt cramped
apartments and be munsioned forever.
The horse that stands at the gate will not
be the one lathered aud bespattered, car
rying bad news, but 1t will be the horse
that st. ~ ohm saw In Apocalyptc vision
the white horse on which the King comes
to the banquet. The ground around the
palace will quake with the tires and hoofs
OF celestial squipage. and those Christians
who In this wrold lost their friends, and
lost their property, and lost their health,
and lost their life, will flnd out that God
was always kind, and that all things
worked together for their good, and that
those were the wisest people on earth who
made the best of everything. see you not
now the bright light In tho clouds?