The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1903-05-07

Ing changes anu COMPUTATIONS. All THIS
sounds well, but think of what it means.
Life is always dying out, and death alone
persists and conquers, according to this in
depreciation. Materialists attempt to daz-
zle us with an infinite panorama of whirl-
| ing suns, evolving planets and astronomical
wonders, but without the self-conscious
soul life IS nothing, series of sepulchers,
earth, ashes, dust. There is nothing in
prospect to comfort the sorrowing heart.
into the race. Immortality of fame. The
great man, it is said, will survive in the
memory of his fellows. Beautiful books,
useful inventions and instructive examples
these will insure the plaudits of poster
ity. Napoleon is said to have remarked:
My soul will pass into history and the
deathless memories of mankind, ard thus
in glory I shall be immortal" The objec-
ton to this theory is that it makes immor-
tally the. privilege of the few. The Alex
anders, the Caesars, the Augustines, the
Washingtons, the geniuses, are all happily
provided for but what of the many who
have written no beautiful books, who have
performed no heroic deeds, who have left
blotted out, punished for not having what
was never given them, for not having what
they could not possibly get? Is immor-
tallty thus a reward only for the distin-
guished, the gifted Jew? No, it is false
theory: 1t is pathetic and surprising that
men of parts should have stopped to con-
sole and fiatter themselves in this fashion.
Fame alone, be it as great as that of Peri
cles or Luther, is not by itself a sufficient
and satisfying return for the labor its win
ming entails; it certainly is not pay enough
tor mans extinction. Fame is something
left behind anyway, and those of us who
nave no fame are like the drop Of water
that dries up after it has fallen. This SUBJ
stitute IS puerlle, wanting in dignity.
The desire for immortality is too appar.
ent to be open to dispute. The savage and
the civilized, the illiterate peasant and the
protoundest thinker alike want it to be so.
Even when some have lost hope they desire
1T fondly as ever. Even when a man has
lost all hope Of living again he cannot rid
himself of desire for it. That is ineradica-
Bile. Now here is the sound and legitimate
conclusion: A desire so universal and per-
sistent is the planting of the creative power
responsible for our existence. It is man
ifest prophecy of what shall be- The ex-
lstencc OF an organ implies the existence of
field for its operation-this is an axiom
of science. There would be no fins if there
were no water to swim in, no wings if
were no earth to walk on. Now here is
another sound and legitimate conclusion
what God promises He performs. His char
acter is perfect. To hold any other
idea of Him would be blasphemous or pre-
sumptuous. To implant this desire and
provide no means for its qualification would
be a cruel deception. To make this prom
Use and not carry it out would be breach
of trust as base as the squandering on sell
fish pleasure of the property the widow or
the orphan conides to an attorneys man.
agement. God has not dealt 80 in any
other case. He is the rewarder of those
who put their trust in Him.
If man die, shall he live again? AS
Christian l answer yes. Do you ask why?
Because he has right to do SO. Because
God is just. Righteous art Thou in all
to the view that as regards Gods dealings
with man, the latter can have no right,
that man is in the position of a beggar,
glad to receive anything, but without any
legitimate claim. He must call upon God,
not because of any virtue in His character,
but because Ne is all powerful. He made
us, we are His creatures; therefore, He
pleases. We are duty bound to obey Him.
to be kindly disposed toward Him. but He
is under no sort of obligation to deal gen.
erously or justly toward us. All such the
cries and interpretations are misreprese.l-
tations of the divine character, actual
ISLANDERS upon Gods goodness. God is a
father, and no father is at liberty to neg
ASSt, IL tiOde, oSSioOS Shlio NC
cause he is his own. Indeed, this very
fact is the strongest sort of reason that
he will do just the reverse. We all recog-
nize and respect the obligations of parent
blood. To care for the child's body. to
train it's mind, to instill moral principle
into its nature is incumbent upon every
parent. Some deny themselves the high
privilege for fear of an inheritance of
weakness or disease, and thereby making
the life of loved one miserable. 1t is the
veriest sophistry, it is cruel misrepresenta-
ton, to my mind it is unthinkable, that
imperfect man is of kindlier nature toward
his child than the perfect God toward His,
that the finite is under compulsion, to do
right, but the Infinite is not On the con-
trary, every rise in the scale of being de-
mands corresponding rise in the scale
of obligation. The wiser, the greater, the
better off the parent, the happier his child
is expected to be. The greater his ability
to do, the more lie ought to do. This is
the lesson of the parable of the talents.
one, to every man according to his several
abilities. In proportion to the gift so
ought the return to be. He who has little
of him little is demanded. He who has
much of him much is required. This is
an immutable law of universal application.
We are not mere objects-stones, sticks,
shells-but animate, intelligent beings, into
whom GOD DreatheS and builds something
that Identifies Us with Him and His nature.
The difference between God and man is
more in degree than in kind. The two are
of the same spiritual essence. There are
faculties the two have in common: Reason,
conscience, will, are specifications in point.
Man is endowed with them and the consti
tuition and course of nature reveal their ex
istence in the workings of God. By resem-
blance of attribute and identity Of life we
are proven Gods children. And will God
kill His own children? kill us before we
have fully realized what the life He has
given is? We long for happiness and yet
we get comparatively little of it here. We
cherish an ideal of perfection and yet we
never attain it on earth. We are but be-
ginning to understand what grand and
noble thing life NAV be when we have to
lie down and die. We are just on the point
Of reaching the rewards for which we have
waited and toiled when the end comes. and
if we are ever to enjoy them it must be in
another world. Now is God in all this and
all the while deceiving us? When we de-
sire the bread of everlasting life will He
give us the stone of everlasting death? AT
ter we have prayed to Him, trusted in
Him, lifted up our hearts to Him, tried
His works to do, loved Him and longed to
be with Him during our residence on earth
will He welcome us when at last we come
to Him with humiliation? IF SO He is
not good. If so He is not God. If so there