The Yale expositor., 1900-03-30
a Funeral Address.

by Rev. j. A. Rowe, at the funeral of
Mrs. Dora b. McKeith, March "a, 1900:
Death always comes yelled in mystic
ry and draped in sadness, but in the
dispensation which has gathered us to-
gether here this afternoon, there are
some elements of peculiar sorrow. a
brief, bright earthly life, radiant while it
lasted with sunshine and JOY for all
around; and, to human view full of
promise for the future, has come to
close. The daughter and wife, after
having reached that stage where the
filial has been merged and exalted, has
been removed from husband and par
ents' embrace, and glory and gladness
have gone out of the home. The holy
scripture has emphasized the bitterness
of the sorrow that is caused by the
death of an only Son; but that has its
parallel at least, if not its superior, in
the grief that is occasioned by the re-
moval of an only daughter and devot-
ed wife l may not dwell on all that
this loved one was to all in the house
hold to which she belonged, lest in my
well meant effort to administer con-
ISOLATION, l shall, after all, do little more
than aggravate the grief which l desire
to soothe. But as in this case, the
magnitude of the loss is also, blessed be
God, the measure of the consolation, it
is meet that / shall say word or two
on her character and disposition.
Over and above the natural buoyancy
of youth, there was in her the bright
sparkle and lively disposition of mind,
which was singularly quick in its APP
prehensions, and peculiarly active and
alert in its movements. Hence it is
that to day her loss is mourned with
equal intensity by all to whom she was
allied bv that buoyancy to which /
have referred, and by her old friends
who found in her ripeness of expert
ence that was unusual in one Of her
age. AS was expected, considering the
household in which she was reared,
she came early under the influence of
the gospel of Christ, and connected her
self publicly with the membership of
the church. Her piety, however, was
more pervasive in its influence over all
her conduct, than given to express
itself in any one form. She did not
say much of it in words, but it spoke
through her cheerfulness, her purity,
her truthfulness and above all, through
that affection which embraced all who
loved the Lord Jesus Christ. In her
last illness she spoke but little directly
of her own religious experience. At
first being slightly perplexed with the
question, why she should have been so
greatly afflicted, but she put the diff
Guilty from her, and resigned herself en-
tirely to the will of God. One saying
of hers, in the closing of her illness,
will be treasured by those who are
dearest to her. She asked: "Papa, do
you pray?" Being answered in the af-
firmative, she said "You know we
ought, for weNare helpless" A question
which shows how the cross that she
was called to bear was raising her into
closer fellowship with her Lord.
1t is not unusual to speak and think
of a death like this as premature, and of
the life as unfinished. In our cemeter
les we often see broken shaft over a
young persons grave, as an emblem OF
this view of the case, and L will not de-
ny that there is both poetry and pathos
in the symbol. But after all, is not
every human life, from one point of
view, unfinished? Which of the sons
of men has done all that he designed
to do in life? The historian is called
away, leaving his great work frag-
ment; the novelist is stricken down,
leaving his tale half told; the artist is
removed while yet the work on which
he is engaged is only begun. There
never was a finished life upon this
earth, except one, and that was the life
of One who was more than man, even
Jesus Christ the incarnate God. We
are stopped in our work, and at the
best it is very far from finished work,
but He fully filled in the ideal which
He designed. In this respect therefore,
the death of young person does not
materially differ from that of another,
and broken pillar may fitly symbolic
even the longest life of mere man upon
the earth.
But, in the case of the christian, is
any life unfnishedY We may not forget
here that our present existence is the
root from which our Immortality will
spring, and that which seems unfinish
ed here will be perfected above. / read
of gentleman, not so very long ago,
that was wandering up the side of a
mountain when he came i'm sight of a
monument in the shape of tall pillar,
which crowned the summit, he resolved
to go and examine it, but as he ascend
ed, the miSts came down; and when he
came to the base of the shaft, he could
read the inscriptions on the pediment
but the top was concealed from his eyes
by the clouds. So | think it is in case
like this The pillar is not broken; but
its finished capital is concealed from
our eyes by the misty veil that hides
the future from the present, and when
that is removed we shall see, not only
that the shaft is unbroken, but that the
symmetry and beauty of the top are in