The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-04-29
Sermon

And when they heard of the resur-
rection of the dead, some Knocked;
and others said, We will hear thee
again of this matter.-The Acts. xvii,
80.
Since those old days the number Of
those who mock has steadily decreas-
ed. We have heard again of this mat
ter, and have attained to something
like "a certainty concerning the con-
tinuance of life after the incident OF
death. The time for argument has
passed, and. while all regard immor-
tally as a possibility and many look
upon it as Il glorious and alluring
probability. the great majority have q
faith which cannot be shaken.
The world presents 10 the careful
observer a curious and interesting
paradox. First. it is true that we are
wonderfully absorbed in purely nate
rial things. We have discovered so
many forces which our fathers knew
nothing about. and have so eagerly
set ourselves to the task of making
them contribute to our convenience
and comfort, that at first sight it
seems as though we had abandoned
all thought of the future and were
making ourselves content with the
present. to me exclusion of what will
happen when we fall asleep.
But, second. this very enjoyment Of
today is a hint of tomorrow. If we
can do so much now, if we have de
veloped capacities which grow by
what they feed on and which hint ut
no limitation, a silent and subtle logic
tells us that extinction in the midst
or on the very threshold of achieve
ment is an unthinkabIe anomaly. The
orchestra must not lay down their
instruments in the middle of a sym
Dhony: the thinker must not cease TO
think when he has barely learned how
to do it. and the builder must not
leave his work when he has laid the
foundations of the house, but should
certainly 90 on until the structure is
completed.
1t seems to me. therefore. that the
trend of the age is in the direction OF
a larger, Il wider and a firmer belief
in Immortality. The more we know
of this world the more we feel the
need of another. We have not done
with God when we have done with
our earthly life. a quiet conviction
has stolen into the universal con
seriousness that there are other rooms
in the Fathers mansion which we
shall some time occupy. and that they
who have gone are simply "a day 5
march ahead of us in the souls Jour
ney.
This thought is so prevalent That
we can feel its presence everywhere.
1t has changed our mental attitude
81. The
desolate ,churchyard of other days,
with its moss covered stones and It's
atmosphere OF loneliness and hope
lessness, has to place in the spiritual
economy of these days. a brighter
outlook has forced US to change all
that. Our cemeteries are no longer
neglected, but their broad acres are
covered with flowers, as with a sad
kind of good cheer.
This change in the outward is proof
of d change in the inward. The heart
of man is not as the heart of our
fathers, and the faith of man is deep
er. The other world is no longer Il
dream, but a mist covered reality. In
time to come the mists will roll away,
because the sun will grow brighter,
and the future will be as clear to us
as the present Possibility has given
way to probability, and probability Is
slowly surrendering to demonstration.
a light fills the eyes. a JOY fills the
heart, and separation is no longer Of
the equivalent of despair. God has
spoken often, but we are Just now
learnin gto hear what He has been
saying ever since death first brought
its shadows into the household r.
ligion has a larger element OF re-
Joicing in it. We have heretofore
stood at the door of the tomb and
tearfully wondered who had taken
the body of Christ away, but now we
have heard angel voices say, He =
risen as He said" and our graves
have become resting places, a mere
bivouac on the road to heaven.
During the last half century The
whole complexion of human expert
ence has been altered The fear Of an
arbitrary judge has given way to love
Of just, a merciful sympathetic
and loving Father. For the first time
we take positive pleasure. unailOyed
by timidity. in repeating the Lor1's
Prayer. When we gaze through oui'
tears at the sky we feel as though we
were looking into the windows of our
future home. When we LAR the ills
of life Gods goodness drives away the
old thought of His wrath. and pa
thence and resignation bring a smile