Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-04-12

q chisel in one hand we want old Mortality
| to have some flower seed in the palm OF
| the other hand.
"Oh," you say, "the dead don't know;
| It makes no difference to them.' think
| you are mist AIKEN. There are not so many
steamers and trains coming to any living
| city, as ther9 are conveys coming from
| heaven to earth, and il there be instan-
taneous and constant communication be-
tween this world and the better world, do
| you not suppose your departed friends
know what you do with their bodies?
Why had God planted "goldenrod" and
wild flowers in the forest and on the prai-
| rie, where no human eve ever sees them.
| He planted them there for Invisible inteli-
| gences to look at and admire, and when In
| visible intelligences come to look at the
| wild flowers OF the woods and the table
| lands, will they not make excursion and
see the flowers which you have planted In
affectionate remembrance OF them?
When 1 am dead, would like to have
handful of violets-any one could pluck
| them out OF the grass, or some one could
lift from the edge of the pond a water lily
nothing rarely expensive, no insane dis
play, as sometimes at funeral rites, where
tt e display takes the bread from the chill
dren's mouths and the clothes from their
backs, but something from the great de-
mocracy Of flowers. Rather than imperil
catafalque of Russian Gar, ask some one
whom may have helped by gospel sermon
or Christian deed to bring a sprig of ar
butus or a handful of China asters.
1t was left for modern times to spell re-
,pect for the departed and comfort for the
living in letters Of floral gospel. Pillow
OF flowers meaning rest for the pilgrim
who has got to the end of his journey. An
chor OF flowers, suggesting the Christian
hope which we have an anchor OF the
soul, sure and s:eadfast. Cross Of fow-
ers, suggesting the tree on which our sins
were slain. II 1 had my way, would cov-
ar n nj GlapnprG wlathar
In golden handled casket or pine box,
whether a kings mausoleum or potter's
| field, with radiant or aromatic arbores-
| cence. The Bible says, ''In the midst OF
| the garden there was a sepulchre." l
wish that every sepulchre might be In the
midst of the garden.
| II you ask me the question, What are
| flowers good for? 1 answer, "For religious
| SYMBOLISM" Have you ever studied Scrip
tural flora? The Bible is an arbo return, it
is a divine conservatory, it is a herbarium
OF exquisite beauty. II you want to Illus
| trate the brevity Of the brightest human
, life, YOU will quote from Job, Man cometh
forth as flower and is cut down" oryou
| will quote from the psalmist, LAS the flower
Of the field, so he perisheth: the wind pas
seth over it and it is gone" Or you will
quote from Isaiah, 'All flesh is grass, and
| the goodness thereof is as the flower of
the field Or you will quote from James
the apostle, ''As the flower of the grass, so
he passeth away" What graphic Bible
| symbolism
Flowers also afford mighty symbolism of
| Christ who com pared Himself to the ancient
queen, the lily, and the modern queen, the
rose when He said: 81 am the rose of
Sharon and the lily of the valley" Redo
lent like the one, humble like the other
Like both appropriate for the sad who want
| sympathizers and for the rejoicing who
want banqueters. Hovering over the mar
riage ceremony like wedding bell, or
folded like chaplet on the pulseless heart
OF the dead. Oh, Christ let the perfume
Of Thy name be wafted,all around the earth
lilly and rose, lily and rose--until the
wilderness crimson into a garden and the
round earth turn into one great bud OF i'm
mortal beauty laid against the warm heart
Of God! Snatch down from the worlds
banners eagle and lion and put on lily and
rose, lily and rose.
But, my friends flowers have no grander
use that when on Easter morning we cele-
brate the termination of Christ from, the
catacombs. The flowers spell resurrection
There is not Il nook or corner in all the
building but Is touched with the incense.
The women carried spices to the tomb. OF
Christ, and they dropped spices all arouLd
about the tomb, and from these spices
have grown all the flowers of Easter morn.
The two white robed angels that hurled the
stone away from the door OF the tomb
hurled 1t with such violence down the hill
that it crashed in the door of the worlds
sepulcher, and millions of dead shall come
forth
However labyrinthine the mausoleum
however costly the sarcophagus, however
architecturaiiy grand the metropolis, how
ever beautifully parterred the family
grounds, we want them all broken up by
the Lord of the resurrection. The forms
that We laid away with our broken hearts
must rise again. Father and mother
they must come out. Husbands and wives
they must come out. Brothers and sisters
they must come out. Our darling chill
dren-they must come out. The eyes that
with trembling fingers we closed must
open In the lustre of resurrection morn.
The arms that we folded in death must join
ours in embrace of reunion. The beloved
voice that was hushed must be returned.
The beloved form must come up without
its inflrmities without its fatigues-it must
come up. oh, how long it seems for soma
of you'll Waiting waiting for the resur-
rection! How longi How longi l make
for your broken hearts to-day cool, soft
bandage of lilies. 1 comfort you this day
with the thought of resurrection.
When Lord Nelson was buried in St.
Paul's Cathedral in London, the heart of
all England was stirred. The procession
passed on amid the sobbing of a nation.
There were thirty trumpeters stationed at
the door of the cathedral with iDstramen
Of music in hand waiting for the signal,
and when the illustrious dead arrived at
the gates of st. Pauls Cathedral these
thirty trumpeters gave one united blast,
and then all was silent. Yet the trumpsts
did not wake the dead. He slept right on.
But have to tell you what thirty trumpet
ers could not do for one man one trum-
peter will do for all nations. The ages
have rolled on and the clock of the world s
destiny strikes 9, 10. IL. IL. and time shall
be no longer! Behold the archangel hover
ingI He takes the trumpet, points it this
way, puts its lips to his lips, and then
blows one long. loud, terrific. thunderous,
reverberating and resurrectionary blastl
Look, look! They risel The dead, the
lily vault, some from the city cemetery,
some from the country graveyard. Here
a spirit is joined to its body, ana there an
other spirit is Joined to another body, and
millions of departed spirits are asserting
the bodies, and then reclothing themselves
LII forms radiant for ascension.
The earth begins to burn, the bonfire of
a great victory. All ready now for the
procession of reconstructed humanity!
Upward and away Christ leads and all
the Christian dead follow, battalion after
battalion, nation after nation. Up, up!
On, onl Forward, ye ranks of God AL
mighty Lift up your heads, ye everlast-
Resurrectioni Resurrection
And so twist all the festal flowers oI
the chapels and catnedrals of ali Christen-
dom into one great chain, and with that
chain bind the Easter morning of lS9.
with the closing Easter of the worlds mis-
tory-resurrectionl May the God of peace
that brought again from the dead our Lord
; Jesus, that great Shepherd OF the sheer
through the blood of the covenant max,
you perfect in every good work to do His
will!
Now comes an endless chain ide
that possesses the merit of distinc