The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-11-11

friend said: What reason have you to be
gloomy? Look at this masterpiece"
YES" said he, "for once I have reached
my own ideal and henceforth / shall do
nothing"
Because hope is so important an element
and so necessary to human development
and progress the word of God lays such
heavy stress on this essential element of all
true manhood. No other grace seems more
vital to a true Christian life than hope.
1t is 1.-THE echo of the soul" At the lakes
or Killarney as the boat reaches a GER
tain cliff a musician steps ashore with a
tugle. ascends and plays some familiar
melody. At first it is echoed apparently
in the air just above you, a little more re-
fined and ethereal; then there is a second
c III higher I'D, more delicate and faint.
far more ethereal; then still another high
gates of heaven had been flung open and
the faintest whisper of some angelic harp
or voice were reaching you. So is hope
like the echo of your best self. 1t is a re-
fined and ethereal echo, and every time
your hopes are echoed they are more re-
fined. more celestial and seem like an In
Again see how hope helps US to bear
trials: Hope .surrounds US with q kind OF
elastic medium" SO that when the ter
rible Affections Of this life beat against
us they rebound from us. There is a pow
er In hope that prevents the severity of
their blows from utterly crushing US. What
from destroying our Utmost courage and
keeps us from losing heart and sinking
back into apathy or despair. The Latin
word 'spero" q hope) Is akin to "spiro"
q breatbe), and thus in the very ethics of
etymology we nave a suggestion that hope
Is the breath Of the soul: if a man ceases to
spiritual vitality ard power. Heaven is the
crown and coasummation of hope; hell Is
the s~epulchre. Hence Dante wrote over
the gates of the Internal ~realr~s, "Aban-
don hope. all We who enter here.
SOLID FOUNDATION.
Contrast the illusiveness and evanes-
cence of worldly hopes with the reality.
permanence and reliability of Christian
hopes. We come to a limit in this world.
You may have all the treasure Of earth
and yet, when death comes, from your
relaxing grasp all these things disappear.
I had a friend who spent over a million
dollars in building a m egnifcent res'-
dence and adjoining tire grounds. and
perhaps half as much again in filling the
halls and rooms with everything that
could minister TO the taste of culture and
refinement. Before that house was COM
pleted he failed in business He was re-
trieving his failure and ps wing his debts
when Death struck him in the prime OF
life; and soon all that L. left of that mag
innocent estate is q grave that is inhab-
tied n a house without a tenant. H.
iuslve worldly hopei The expectation OF
treasure, OF pleasure, Of long life. Of hap
piness, Of being surrounded with every
thing that coulG minister to the aesthetic
nature, the intellectual nature, the do
nestle nature. And TO da.' everything a
wreck
When Phillip the Second of Spain trans
ferred to the stately palace OF the Escurial
the remains of bis grandfather. he opened
the sarcophagus to look upon the face Of
the stately Emperor of m Every
thing was as perfect as when Charles the
Fifth was buried in solemn state. All the
features were clear and the color like life
itself; but as soon as the invisible touch Of
light and air came in contact with those
remains. Instantly there was a collapse
that left nothing but dust on the bottom OF
the casket- Just so Elusive are human
hopes. When the object Of our desires
seems reached, and We are at the point of
realization of all our expectations, nothing
IS left but the dust OF the grave on the
bottom of a ma gniicent sarcophagus whose
very grandeur mocks our hopes.
But In the Christian objects of desire
and expectation there Is nothing Elusive.
What God promises stands firm: a YER
ity, a reality: there Is an Inheritance, in
c~orruptive. undefled and unfading. You
do not see that inheritance yet. You are
like a minor who has not yet entered on
his estate. but who receives the revenue
of II as the payments of interest come In.
SO DO We have q f~oretaste OF our future
fnheritauce: the spirit Of God gives US an
earnest OF our possession. until the day
OF redemption. There II nothing nlusive
In the divine promise.
Beyond this world the inspiration OF All
our hopes - to b y Let " peo e