Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1899-04-05

Though morning and night " ou baptize
tho IN in the name OF the Ehower, the |
ba ,tism will not be to them a saving |
ordinance. They have been fatally |
wBunded with the knife That cut them |
They are bleeding their hhe away; they |
are dying now. The fragrance in the
air is their departing and ascending
,spirits Oh, yes, Flowers are almost
human. Botanists tell us that flowers
breathe, they take nourishment, they
eat. they drink. They are sensitive.
They have their likes %nd dislikes. They
sleep, they wake. They live in families
They have their ancestors and their de
scendants. their birth, their burial
their cradle, their grave. The zephyr
rocks the one and the storm digs the
trench for the other. The cowslip must
leave its gold, the lily must leave its
silver, the rose must leave its diamond
necklace of morning dew. Dust 70
dust. So we come up, 50 we prosper. we
spread abroad, we die, as the flower
as the flower.
Change and decay I'm all around / see:
Thou who Changest not. abide with me!
Flowers also afford mighty symbol
ism OF Christ, who compared Himself to
the ancient queen, the lily, and the mod
crn queen, the rose, when lie said: II
am the rose of Sharon. and the lily of
the valley" Redolcnt like the one.
humble like tn. other. Like both. ap-
propratc for the sad who want svrnpa.
thizers and for the rejoicing who want
banqueters. lowering over the mar
riagc ceremony like a wedding bell or
folded like chalet on the pulseless
heart of the dead. o Christ, let the per
fume of Thy name he waited all around
the carth-lily and rose. lily and rose
until the wilderness crimson into a gar
den and the round earth turn into one
great bud of immortal 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 than when on Easter morn
ing we celebrate the termination of
Christ from the catacombs. The flowers
| spell resurrection. There is not a 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 around
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 il with such
| violence down the hill that it crushed
in the door of the worlds sepulchcr, and
millions of dead shall come forth
| However abyrinthine the mausoleum.
however costly the sarcophagus. how
ever architccturally grand the necrop-
oils, however beautifully parterred the
family gourds. we want them al
broken up by the Lord OF The resurrec
ton. The forms that we laid away
with our broken hearts must rise again
Father and mother. they must com,
out. Husband and wife. they must com,
out. Brothers and sisters. they must
come out. Our darling children, they
must come out. The eyes that with
trembling fingers we closed must open
in the luster OF resurrection morn.
The arms that we folded i'm death must
joins ours i'm embrace Of reunion. The
beloved voice that was hushed must be
rciuned. The beloved form must come
up without iis infrmiticS without its
| fntigucs. 1t must come up. Oh. how
| long II seems to some of you! Waiting,
I 4 inc To-.