The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-05-17

ringing in the anthem. That old man
that went bowed down with the in
firmities Of age, see him walk now
with the step of an immortal athlete
forever young again. That night
when the needlewoman tainted away
In the garnet, wave of the heavenly
air resuscitated her forever. For
everlasting years to have neither ache,
nor pain. nor weakness, nor fatigue.
Eye hath not seen it, ear hath not
heard it,"
NO Separation There.
In this world we only meet to part
1t is good-by, good-by. Tarewells
fioating in the air. We hear it at the
rail- car windows and at the steamboat
wharf good-by. Children lisp it. and
old age answers it. Sometimes we say
it in a light way-"good- hy"-and
sometimes with anguish in which the
soul breaks down-good-by! All, that
is the word that ends the Thanksgiving
banquet, that is the word that comes
In to close the Christmas chant. Good
by, good-by. But not SO in heaven.
welcomes in the air, welcomes at the
gates, welcomes at the house of many
mansions, but no good-by. That group
is constantly being augmented. They
are going up from our circles of earth
to join in-little voices to join the
anthem, little hands to take hold in
the great home circle, little feet to
dance in the eternal glee, little crowns
TO be cast down before the feet of Je-
sus. Our friends are in two groups-a
group this side of the river and a
group on the other side of the river.
Now there goes one from this to that
ana another from this to that and soon
we Will all be gone over. How many of
your loved ones have already entered
upon that blessed place? If l should
take paper and pencil, do you think l
could put them all down? All, my
friends, the waves of Jordan roar so
hoarsely we cannot hear the Joy on
the other side when that group is aug
mented.
Reunion Beyond the Grave.
Unbelief says, "They are dead, and
they are annihilated," but blessed be
God we have Bible that tells us diff
ferent! We open it. and we find they
are neither dead nor annihilated-that
they never We're so much alive as now
that they are only waiting for our
coming and that we shall join them
on the other side Of the river. Oh,
glorious reunion, we cannot grasp it
now! Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love
him"
What a place of explanation it will
be! see every day profound mystic
ries of providence. There is no ques-
ton we ask oftener than Why? There
are hundreds Of graves in Greenwood
and Laurel Hill that need to be ex-
planned. Hospitals for the blind and
lame, asylums for the idiotic and in
sane, almshouses for the destitute and
world of pain and misfortune tina.
demand more than human solution
God will clear it all up. In the light
that pours from the throne no dark
mystery can live. Things now utterly
inscrutable will be illumined as plain
ly as though the answer was written
on the jasper wall or sounded in the
temple anthem Rartimens will thank
God that he was blind. land Joseph that
he was cast into the pit, and Daniel
that he denned with the lions, and
Paul that he was humpbacked, and Da-
vid that he was driven from Jerusa-
lem, and that invalid, that for twenty
years he could not lift his head from
the pillow, and that widow, that she
had such hard work to earn bread for
her children. The song will be all the
grander for earths weeping eyes and
aching heads and exhausted hands
and scourged backs and martyred
agonies But we can get no idea of
that anthem here. We appreciate the
power of secular music, but do we APP
preciate the power Of sacred song?
There is nothing more inspiring to
me than a whole congregation lifted
on the wave of holy melody When
we sing some of those dear old
Psalms and tunes, they rouse all the
memories of the past. Why, some of
them were cradle songs in our fathers
house! They are all sparkling with
the morning dew of thousand Chris
tian sabbaths. They were sung by
brothers and sisters gone now, by
voices that were aged and broken in
the music. voices none the less sweet
because they did tremble and break.
The Music of Heaven.
When | hear these old songs sung,
it seems as if all the old country meet
ing houses joined in the chorus and
city church and sailors bethel and
western cabins until the whole CONT
nent lifts the doxology and the scep-
tiers of eternity beat time in the music
Away, then, with your starveling
tunes that chill the devotions of the
sanctuary and make the people sit 81
lent when Jesus is marching on to
victory When generals come back
from victorious wars, do we not cheer
them and shout, "HuZza, huzza" And
when Jesus passes along in the con-
quest of the earth, shall we not have
for him one loud, ringing cheer?
"All hail the power of Jesus name!
Let angels PROSTATE fall,
Bring forth the royal diadem