Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-11-12

ilIteu the curtain highest, TINS text Is
studied, of course. with curious. even anx
ious, interest. There is. il seeTls, heay-
en- for each of as, whatever his mood or
his attainment; and it seems that, as Je-
sus thought of it, these might be quite DIFF
ferent each from each. One thing more,
which our stately word mansion" does
not teach, but which appears distinctly
in the original text. and in all that Jesns
ever says of heayen-these places which
he prepares are SO many homes Your
home is ready for. you, mine for me. The
text -'Nuld be better rendered. indeed, If
we r, In my Fathers house are many
homes.
To Jesus Christ. leading a life wholly
spiritual, the whole sense of these reali-
ties. what may call the sight of them,
the hearing and conception of them, was
perfectly clear. To Us it is clear or Lot
clear, strong or faint. according rs our
lives are lives of the spirit or of the sh;
according as we live for things that lie,
or for the three realities which endure
And here is the answer 70 the frequt
question, why Christ himself. with IA.
clear vision of the infinite life, gave MS no
more description of it, nor other pictures
of it, than are in these words. But what
is the use of pictures to a person who
cannot see, or of descriptions to one who
cannot understand? No revealef can re-
veal anything to us which we have not
the spiritual power TO at least apprellend.
/ and in q measure 10 comprehend. Jesus
| reserves what he might have said, be-
cause unless those who heard him are of
spiritual life. habit and experience, which
is to say, unless they are exercised III
| faith. hope and love, they cannot under
stand, see or hear of the spiritual heaven,
of heaven of faith. hope and love. He
did not make therefore the fatal error
which teachers of children make, who,
with poor earthly fancy, describe to the
| poor little things that before which the
| Hottest heavenly imagination is silent--a
mistake which, if it has any fruit, results
| in binding them for years to a heaven
which is only garden, or only a shop of
| jewels, or a kings palace. according as
the childish allegory may have taught
them The description of a spiritual
| heaven, though it were perfectly wrought
out by archangel, would be as unintellisi-
Bile to the carnal mind as the heaven it
self
So is it that the only statement of de-
| tail which the Savior gives is this in The
text, which, translated into our habit of
| speech says thiS-that whatever be the
! heaven which we are prepared for when
we pass from this world thai spiritual
| life we shall have. Our he mes are there
such as we ourselves hay. made them.
| If your highest JOY be- the counting out of
| rubies. or the dressing your person with
| diamonds. omnipotence itself will not
| force you into life more spiritual. There
| are many mansions there. That is, the
/ cf bo ! r.. I4af t,S - In,
| as that of life here in its variety and in
! its adaptation to each separate soul.
SO in all life. there and here, each shall
| find himself in his own home, bearing his
| own character, and living his own life.
| Because love is one of the three elements
of heaven. these homes are homes % mn
| tual life As there is society here, so
| there is there; sympathy here and SYM
| patty there: kindred hearts fuse togeth-
! or here and they fuse together there But
! the mansions are different mansions
| there as here. 1t is no CHASTITY caravan
| sary, poorhouse or palace. where room 80
| is like room l. and room 1000 like room
| 90. 1t is myriad multi de of homes.
| There are many spheres of duty. many
! voices in chorus There are different
trees to water-if you call it a garden
| and different flowers to train. as in the
| old paradise, where Adam Taught the
! tangled ivy how to climb"
If you describe heaven for another and
| insist on your description, you drive your
| pupil right away from it, unless he be a
| precise counterpart of yourself. An eager
| student will tell child that in heaven he
| shall always learn; and the child, hating
| book learning. really breads such heav-
| en-. An eager spirit, always on the alert
| breaches that in heaven there shall he
no pause in its activity Heaven, like
| earth, is TO be eager planning, forward
| marching, and every success a stepping
stone for new plans and other marches.
! What wound is this to the aged heart
! which has tossed long enough in the
| gales of life to be longing for harbor
| / am afraid that many of us can reme1n-
| Der the gloom which has fallen upon our
exuberant youth when taught that heaven
was a place of eternal Sunday, or that
! the saints are to have no occupation there
| but the perpetual singing of psalms.
/ Such is the result. and deserved re-
| suit, of the best pictures your poor fancy
| can paint. if you are bigot enough after
! the fashion of creedmakers to try TO fix
| them, and to say this is all just so. For
its stimulus. for its faith, for it's hone
Ind for perfect love, the soul wishes to
enter not your heaven, but IS own. rhe
| Savior knows this when he says. In my
| Fathers house are many homes"
To the prisoner heaven is freedom. To
the wanderer it is his fathers house To
the ignorant it is learning. To this poor,
lame hoy. to that weak, deformed girl
it is the rowing free through limitless ex-
| istence To the slave it is a world with
out labor To the weary it is rest To
the sanguine it is action. To the doubt
full it is truth. To the struggling it IS
peace To the sick it is health. To him
who is careworn, distressed. pulled hither
| and thither, with not a moment he can
call his own. it is eternity; that is, it is
life without time; where there are no min
utes, no hours. 10 days, and no years; no
late, no early, no tedious, no slow, no
| thought nor care for time.
Nor is it true that these conceptions Of
heaven weaken each other because they
thus contradict each other. Those who
( are eager to find action in heaven need
not fear but there viii be motive enough.
effort enough. in a life which reaches
from one side Of eternity to the other.
Duty there must be where there are
Gods children with their father. Bur
this is the promise. that whether the
faithful spirit. sent on some errand, pass
from one end Of heaven to the other. or
whether he sit at tbs. footstool. as those
do who serve while they wait. there is no
more wear and tear. no more fatigue for
him. He shall rest from his iabors -
And this is the promise all along; the
spirit remains, bit the limitation is gone.