Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-02-27
GODS PROMISE OF LIFE.
I'm the Light of Immortality AlO4s
Can We Discern the Divine Pur-
pose i'm Creation.

The bright, beaming morning star is |
Gods promise of the coming day, when |
the great king of light shall ascend the |
sapphire stairs of Heaven and from his |
throne illumine the world with a flood Of
splendor, writes G.. ID. Eldridge. l.. the
Chicago Standard. The seed is Gods
promise of the future harvest. Planted
beneath the sod, the living germ shall
burst its prison walls. and. nursed at the
bosom of mother earth. shall spring
forth to new life. new power and new
glory; first the blade. then the ear,
after that the full corn in the ear" The
chrysalis is Gods promise of the perfect
ed butterfly. From the dormant, insen-
sible insect shall come forth the beau
tiful winged creature to fit from flower
TO Hover in the enjoyment of the sun
shine of heaven.
The life within the narrow confines is
Gods promise of the bird of beautiful
plumage. The living germ shall devel-
op and beating Soya ia S-ssSz h.--
shall come forth 70 tke vSEid cf lise.
and glory, and enjoy its liberty in the
open fields beyond. The human embryo
Is Gods promise of the child. Within
the inner recesses of the chamber Of
life the embryo develops from stage to
stage. passing through the various forms
analogous to the plant and animal life,
to human proportions and Characters
tics. Thus the man-child is born, the
browning product of nature and the
highest handiwork of God. The child is
Gods promise of the man We have cast
the truth into our proverbial mold:
The child is the father of the man."
Natural gifts are so dovetailed with &C
| Quired abilities that we may not decide
whether the tastes, tendencies and ca
pabilities are Unborn or acquired, or
| rather the joint product of heredity and
environment Yet it is frequently appar-
rent that these proclivities and charac-
teristlcs are anticipated early in life.
The lad stealing away to the attic to pour
out his souls melody upon the harpsi-
chord was the prophecy of the great mu-
stefan Handel. who thrilled the world
| with his inspired harmonies The boy
| Nelson, sailing his boats in tubs and
ponds, was the pledge of the invincible
naval hero and the valorous achieve
ments of the Nile and of Trafalgar. The
youth neglecting the routine of his
studies to copy drawings was the PROM
Use of the worlds greatest painter and
I sculptor, Michael Angelo. Acknowledged
4 incompatible for strength and dignity
! OF delineation. The truth contained in
our proverb of promise has been aptly
! expressed by Dryden: What the child
admired, the youth endeavored, and the
: man acquired"
Our life on earth is Gods pledge Of
immortality. II cannot be that this life
initiated in darkness, developed In I'M
consciousness. should come forth to the
outer world, begin it's strenuous moral
conflict, wade through pestilential
marshes Of fear and perplexity. endure
miasmatic wastes of sin and suffering,
struggle up rugged ridges of hardship,
toll and difficulty. stand at last before
the vast expanse Of the unknown, breathe
/ for a few moments the atmosphere of
liberty, realize something of the wonder
full endowments, amazing potentialities
and marvellous possibilities of free. con-
scious personality, and then be barred
from the opening vistas cut down by
the hand of death and expunged forever.
Our reason staggers at the mere thought
OF such prodigal waste and colossal fail
ure. We heartily concur in the expressed
conviction of the philosopher, lie Conte,
/ who says: Without Immortality this
/ beautiful cosmos. which has been de-
veloping into increasing beauty for so
! many millions of years, when its evo-
, luton has run its course and all is over.
would be precisely as If it had never
been-an idle tale, an idle dream, signi-
/ flying nothing"
Without immortality we fail to see
wisdom in the progress and ascent of ma
ture. Progress appears as a movement
! in a circle, evolution becomes revolution.
advance ends in retreat, and life, like
/ the stubborn creature in the treadmill.
goes the round of nature from proto-
| plasm to man and from man to proto-
| plasm and creation, Samson like. shorn
of dignity and strength, chagrined at
| constant folly and failure, commits sui-
eide and finds burial beneath the colos-
| sal ruins.
In the light of immortality alone can
we discern Gods plan and purpose in
the progress and ascent of creation.
Through the opening vistas of Christian
experience may we be led into the unex-
plored regions of that life more album
! dant." With enlightened mind. submits
sive will, purified heart and unsandaled
feet we enter the holy spheres, each one
OF which appears more glorious than the
preceding, and with Joy unspeakable we
realize that Gods promise takes on a
wider scope and broader meaning as
life is swallowed up in Immortality.
The Alloy OF Self
Achievement fused with self is too
brittle TO stand the test of time The Sc
cret or the success of one who has ac-