The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-04-13

shape Of art 1t takes rank in the palace
OF beauty along with Jewels and pearls and
priceless diamonds. 1t is the gold that
ranks there. The residual dust and coarse.
rock never enter that establishment.
1T Is the soul that is high priced with
God. Ii has It's own quartz, rugged and
Accomplishments. Ii struggles through a
materialistic history. The object is to re-
fine the inner life by its association with
lower life. 1t is either triumph or CHASTITY
downfall.
WORTH OF THE SOUL.
"All arguments for immortality are
summed UP in this simple statement that
the soul of a man is worth maintaining
forever on its own account.
Continuity is not so wondrous a mys-
terry as commencement of our souls. Whence
We? How came the first flash of
thought or the birth of tremulous con-
seriousness? AS to our beginning we are all
in the dark. A Chicago professor boosted
too soon that he would soon clear up our
genesis. Life still clouds our chemical ex-
periments. To continue on Is not so mirac-
ulous as to begin to be. provided we are
worth perpetuation. All the logic OF books
focuses there.
"At our creation God breathed the divine
capacity In us ALL To destroy that germ Is
to destroy the essence of God. To doubt
its high quality Is to doubt and disfran-
chise God. Jesus triumphed over the grave
as a testimony to our human immortality.
That empty tomb and those neatly folded
funereal cloths and the sealed but shifted
stone show that power superhuman was
at work, victorious over every obstacle 1t
is the assertion Of mind, the supremacy of
that soul God designed for mastery over
the physical
I'm practical sense the case is common
OF men falling down; perhaps 1t Is the rich
man, once reveling in splendor and now
cramped with poverty; perhaps 1t is the be-
lfaxra f.s~l
into the gloomy abyss of agnosticism; per-
haps 1t Is the man, once proud and princely
In his emblematical character, now smear
ing his soul with gambling or nameless
vice.
CASES NOT ANALOGOUS.
Such cases are not analogous to the case
of Jesus. who had power to lay down life
and power to take ii again. They lack
power, and therefore descend and degrade
themselves. Still the riven Lord and the
promise of that open, conquered sepulchre
surely carried home to burdened, downcast
or fallen men dear and quenchless hope.
They, too, can rise. God gives power to
rise. Every Easter should bring inspira-
ton and emancipation to those who have
lost their ambition or character The sor-
row that is fearful and the deeper sorrow
that is fearless feels the quickening pulses
OF hope once more. Morbid grief and sepul-
chral sadness grow out of unfaith and are
rebuked. Nothing Is more practical than
the certain truth that we shall live and
never die in our real divine part. II any
stability in government. If any love lighting
up our hearths. If any fruitage in earth's
constant struggle, If any cohesion in society,
IL any sanctity in childhood IL any glory
in art IL any sacrament in sorrow-it finds
its source in the one simple destiny that
life can never cease. Take away that creed
in a week. 1t is the dread Of what may be
beyond that holds the wretch to a hard
world he fain would leave. Agnosticism on
these basal realities is ultimately impossi-
BILE. Jesus assumed never-ending life. He
never wrote books or elaborated arguments
TO demonstrate our eternity.
HIS INFINITE POWER.
"He knew that heavy argument bombards
infidelity in vain and only weakens and
stupefes faith. He took another course.
He lived the life eternal. He was eternity.
He was love infinite. We have never
known Of the case Of man who develops
spiritual life being skeptic. Those full of
health never doubt health There are no
skeptics among lifelong philanthropists.
Those lifting up the world as a matter
OF fact are believers In eternal things or
they could not lift. Hence Jesus won men
to believe in their better and enduring
selves. and then that very growth would
quench all the doubts that cloud so many
helping men. To such man faith in a
future becomes easy as breathing to a
child or music 10 Mozart. He sees the
beauty Of a practical spiritual life and asks
no more. What use? Can any of US unveil
the unseen world2 Can mediums or clair
voyants satisfy us? Perhaps some day
there may be an actual demonstration that
spirits surround and touch and help. hut
for our part all such voices and visions
would need to demonstrate themselves. III
Moses came TO me and claimed to speak /
would want to be sure II was Moses and
not ventriloquism or trickery. Besides
can live fairly we'll without meeting Moses
quite yet. The spiritual life here and now
Is an indubitable fact. We all know IL and
love II. Some mystery mantles IL over
but mystery is a necessity of progress. III
married people fathomed each other per-
fectly they would draw apart. IL you
knew God through and through He would
become as tame as an old faded picture I'm
a pawnshop. Not to know is as neces-
sary an inspiration for the world as TO
know. Let the resurrection life be yours
and you will be content to work for en-
during results without claiming omnis-
cience on future programmes. We shall
know as We arc KNOWN"