Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1904-04-07
EASTER
"A Saturday Sermon On the Nor
rows Glad and Glorious
Spirit of Love and
Triumph.
Triumph.

Spirit of Love and
Triumph.
We had feared the celebration of
Easter this year would lack the in
spiration of the budding trees and
flowers, but SO WOndrOus responsive
is nature to the smile of nature'sGod
that ever since yesterday the spring
sun has limited and the balmy
zephyrs whispered of life and ten
der green soon to issue from the hard
brown branches; SO that we are not
devoid of subtle reminders of the
miracle Of the earth's reawakening to
impress upon us once again, the uni
versal truth cherished of centuries
Easter, in the world of nature the
sentinel to the death Of winter and
the birth Of spring; Easter, in the
world of man, to them that believe,
the defeat of the grave and the tri-
umph Of immortality, the keystone
of the arch of Christian faith.
"And Ruth said, 'Entreat me not
to leave thee, or to return from fol-
lowing after thee; for whittier thou
goest, I will go; and where thou
lodgest, I will lodge; thy people
shall be my people, and thy God my
Cody"
1t was love for MahIon that led
Ruth thus to speak to Naomi; it was
love for a man, the lover Of the one
and the loved ofthe other, that drew
the two faithful women together, and
gave us the outlines Of a story from
the Judean hills of superlative hui
man beauty. Through amounted
ages it has inspired fidelity and char
ity and love Of love, and to this day
youths of a thousand hills whisper
its tender import to maids of a
thousand valleys, and its pathos and
its beauty make sweeter the songs of
love that ring around the earth. Il
shall be voiced on this glad Easter
Day, in the worlds festival of the
flowers which renews life and makes
stronger faith and hope, the Resur-
rection and the Life, the conservation
and the prayer. It trims loves
proud piniOns in the dusky dawn,
gilds at noontide and gIorifes in the
glow of the sunset hour. It has been
murmured in dreams, whispered in
fear and acclaimed in the holy light
that beats at the foot of the altar. |
Thy God my God! Mahlon and |
Ruth; Ruth and Mahlon! They en-
rich the earth with joy and laughter, |
and fulfill the Masters promise.
Resurrection means nothing if we
do not keep in the higher pathways
to which it lifts us. The new birth
is v~alueless unless the new life is to
be lived. Truth is of no avail if it is
to be subjected to foods of coarse !
passions and low desires which we
make no effort to resist. Resurrec-
ton is the noblest exemplifcation OF
love in this life and in the eternal
By its magic the sinful
are lifted from sinfulness and de-
and the new life drives
bid death away. The power Of love
for humanity is divineIy transcend
Bnt: the power of love one for another
divinely recreative. 1t raises up
and leads the fallen to the confession
al; and it brightens and glorifes, and
leads loved and lover to the joy
haunted place Of the tryst. The
maid walks the day a child, and in
the shadows of the night falls asleep
q woman. Angels kiss her, and she
dreams the tender melodies given to
the human heart IN Eden and sung |
by all the generations of man. The
maiden kneels at the bridal altar a
and rises a wife. Children |
her way with flowers, and
music fills her soul with the brighter
light of the brighter life.
The night of the vigiIs is spent, the
day of gladness is come. In the fields
blossom the flowers, and their bloom
in the gloom of the woods dispels the
shadows that came with winters
tawny dusk. They emblazon the
place Of prayer and rejoicing thank
fitness, and their flush challenges
the blush to mantle The maiden's
cheek. These messengers of love,
sent by the beneficent Father to
cheer and gladden. u existence, be-