The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-04-12
AN EASTER VISION.
Eyes That Were Opened by Grief to
the spiritual Life.

The Outlook.
Sight he had, but not vision. The things
about him stood out with the utmost dis
tinctness; every line was sharply defined:
every feature and shape distinctly limned.
So accustomed was he to entire accuracy
of perception, to perfect exactness of
knowledge. that he was impatient of any
blur in another's sight, any uncertainty in
another's report or account of things. Con-
fidence in his own Judgment had become
second nature with him; he acted as one
who could make no mistakes. And this
the impression others received from
him. All men spoke of his clearness of
Judgment of the vigor and decision of his
nature; of the weight and authority of his
character. He was, in word, the master
Of his world.
But it was significant that, while men
went to him for advice in all practical mat
tiers. no man ever sought his counsel in any
moral confusion or uncertainty; no man
struggling to his feet from the mire in
which he had slipped ever turned to him
for help; no man compassed about with
sorrow and in the presence of the supreme
experiences of his life ever so much as
thought of him. Exact trustworthy, keen,
truthful. the man of clear sight touched his
fellows only in the world of things; when
the fortunes of the soul were in the balance
he neither saw nor felt nor understood.
To him all these intangible interests were
as If they were not. He managed his acres
with perfect judgment, but he could not sec
the landscape which enveloped them; he
saw the little section of world in which he
worked, but the universe was invisible TO
him. In his sight men were born, grew into
childhood and youth, passed on into man
hood, did their work, died and vanished
from sight, and that was the end. He saw
the outlines of their character with mar
velous clearness; he knew where they were
efficient and where they were weak; he
judged with exactness of their value for
practical service; but of their inner expert
ence, of their spiritual struggles, of the
forces and conflicts which give character
its quality and life its meaning he knew
nothing. He was a master of the knowl-
edge of things, but no ray of that wisdom
which gives man understanding of life
ever penetrated the central darkness of his
mind. He had sight. but he was without
vision.
Now, all the wealth of this mans nature
was lavished on one whom he loved not
blindly but acknowledgement the passion
OF the heart which gropes afer those things
that 1t needs without knowing that it needs
them. In this womans eyes the man who
loved her saw, without seeing, the reflection
OF that heaven which was beyond his sight,
and in her nature he felt, without under
standing, the play and stir of those spiritual
impulses and forces which slowly fashion
in her life he was aware of a wealth of
tenderness, of devotion, of self-surrender,
which he could neither measure nor COM
pute. And she became as his own soul; for
she was vision to him, and in her the mys-
terry and blessedness of life was present
though never revealed.
This woman died, and the mans heart
broke within him, and the world of sight
lay in ruins about him; for he saw nothing
save the beautiful garment which the spirit
had laid aside; and that, too. was put out
Of fc -tTxAt IT H.
less misery; and many tried to speak to
him, but he could not understand them for
the thickness of the walls which surround
ed him; and many strove to release him.
the great doors from within.
In the darkness the man no longer saw
the old familiar things and became as
one blind; cropping for the accustomed
places of rest and finding them not, for the
sweet ways and usages of love and miss
Ing them. His outstretched hands touched
turned upon themselves and turned to
deepest pain; and in his solitude and DESC
lation nothing abode with him save menu
DRY.
For a time he was. as one dead, but one
dear memory kept companionship with
him; and in the silence and darkness one
image was always In his Thought AS the
days went by. that image seemed to fill
his soul, and grew more real, and touched
the hidden springs of life within him,
and his heart grew tender under the spell
in night in which the earth seemed to
have vanished.
AS his love deepened. glimmer of hope
began to suffuse the night, like a faint
radiance from light beyond the horizon,
and delicate tendrils began to climb out
of his heart toward that light; and there
came a breath of something surprisingly
sweet, like fragrance from invisible gar
denS.
And the spirit of the man softened and
stirred, and he lifted his face, and the dim
al es1a Ifaa Aon1
themselves. AS he looked with wonder
and awe and the yearning of child
stretching out it's hands toward the light;
his world became more distinct, and
spread around him in beauty such as he
had never so much as dreamed of before.
There were familiar objects in that world,
but they were no longer hard ana rlgld;
the outlines were lost in vaster designs
and were tender with new and deeper
meanings; the familiar acres were folded
in vaster landscape. whose far horizons
seemed to recede into luminous distances
suffused with a light that streamed from
the heart of things. and enveloped them in
a splendor and beauty which broke out Of
them like a mighty flood Of life.
The man went abroad once more with
the heart Of a child, and looked up to the
heavens that had grown infinitely tender
and benisnsnt. and across the landscape
for love had unsealed his eyes, and the
power Of sight had passed on into vision.
And as he walked he was not alone, for
peace and whose championship brought
faith and trust and rest. The perishing
world which he had once seen had widened
to become the imperishable world which
love builded I'm the far beginning. and
which love enriches and enarges and
makes more beautiful with the coming of
every soul that enters into 1t through the
gates of birth and of death. for both are
the gates Of life.
And as he looked, behold, the places
where the dead lay were blossoming fields;
for in all the reach and being of the uni
verse there was no death. Through all
things streamed the mighty tides of life,
and in the range of his vision the barren
places broke into bloom, and far as his
eager spirit travelled there were the stir
rings and strivings of tender and delicate
and mysterious things growing in strength
and beauty. And there was no more night (;
for in the darkness. as in the light. infinite
love watched and waited and cherished all
things in its immortal hands; and nothing
was forgotten or lost. And he saw the uni
verse traversed by countless host to
whom sight had become vision; full of the
repose of a great freedom and the deep joy
of perfect strength fitted TO imperishable
ends. And In that multitude he became
aware of those who had laid aside all care
and sorrow and entered into the fullness
of life: and one moved near him-no longer
vanished in the darkness of his great sor-
row; who had gone out of his sight TO live
henceforth stainless. radiant and immortal
in his vision; no longer hidden behind the
veil which she had worn in the days be-
fore the revelation. but shining without
blur dimneSs or shadow upon the beauty
of her unclouded spirit. And after all the