The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-05-11
THE RESURRECTION.

Because L live, We shall live also.-St.
John xiv:19
From cradle to grave is a very short
journey and hardly worth our while if
it ends in the churchyard. But if at
death we simply ford the river which
separates the present from the future
and continue our travels under new
skies and amid new scenes we can live
with the zest of keen appetite and
laugh at the experiences which would
otherwise fret and worry us.
Pessimism is the natural result Of a
belief that death is death, while a di-
vine optimism grows from the convic-
ton that death is the beginning of life.
One cannot stand on the edge of an
abyss without shrinking. If fate pushes
him on, if time drags him nearer to the
fatal plunge which will annihilate the
body and extinguish the soul, he cannot
delight in his days or years, for they
are slowly robbing him of himself. He
may we'll be excused if burdens seem
more burdensome through anticipation
of the inevitable event, and if even the
sunlight is crossed by shadows. A con-
temptation of nothingness as the ulti-
mate issue of life is like singing ones
funeral hymn long before our friends
are called upon to do it for US.
But If before we reach this abyss
that is to say from the bright days
when simple faith was taught us at our
mothers knee-we are sure that the
dear Lord that made US has thrown
bridge over the chasm, that there is
more to be feared at that part
of the journey than at any other, that
we can cross in safety and be met on
the other side by those who have gone
before, then all pessimism is banished,
then fretfulness and gloom give way to
good cheer. then the optimism which
reverently cries, Thy will be DONE"
takes possession of the heart, and the
from the beyond fill us with the thought
that even death may be a gain.
Separations are the rule in this lower
Sphere The household in which there
is no vacant chair is almost to be pitied,
and the man who does not look at the
stars with moistened eyes because
memory paints the rugged sorrows of
the past has missed one of the ripening,
maturing, beneficent experiences of hui
man life. There is a mellowness of the
soul which comes from the broken ties,
and it can be had in no other way.
One may easily forget himself and his
destiny amid the enthralling successes
OF time. and this present world may be
made so alluring by an unbroken sue
eassion of gainful victories that one
s'-rinks from the transition to even a
l9reer life. Nothing is so dangerous to
ssi'itual development, nothing so i'm
periis the higher welfare of the soul, as
the smooth, unruffled flow of gratified
desires But when the shock Of inter-
ruption occurs, when the soul trembles
in the shadow Of an event which can
neither be postponed nor evaded, when
a man 'aarns that though he is master
in many things he is as helpless as a
child, in the presence Of sickness and
death, then he reaches out both hands
to clasp the invisible. Earth dwindles
into littleness, riches and fame and
prestige are only Illusions, and the only
longed for reality is the belief in an.
other life. in which the heart wounds
shall pc healed by reunion and dear one:
who fen asleep shall wake to bid u.
good nee-ning.
We think of all this as the Easte
sun climbs above the hilltops. The ra
dance of faith bathes the planet il
glory. The overture of angels fills thu
air and poor humanity looks through
| the mists, If perchance it may catcl
a glimpse of that house not made witt
hands, eternal in the heavens. We Sc