Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1905-11-04
THE FUTURE LIFE.
Theories of One Age DO Not Satisfy
Succeeding Ages.

Succeeding Ages.
We know nothing whatever about
the next world. Even those who ac-
cent the Christian revelation most
heartily and most completely must adj
nit with st. John that ut doth not yet
appear what we shall be-" CHRIST
taught. and his disciples believed, that
the soul of man is eternal and does not
die with the body. st. Paul summed
ND Christ's teachings on the subject or
Immortality when he said that he had
abolished death" Against this ig-
norance man has forever chafed. Upon
the dark background Of the future the
religious imagination, helped by the
inner light of conscience, throws beau
tiful and terrible pictures. But with
each succeeding age the pictures dis
solve and change. knowledge cannot
pierce the visible darkness which d.
vides this world from the next. As
the years grow on we gain wisdom,
but not certainty:
Wisdom-that becoming wise meant max
ing slow and sure advance
From a knowledge proved in error to ac-
knowledged ignorance.
All popular ideas Of heaven and hell
are Just now fading away. The con-
ventional heavens fail to satisfy the as
pirations of man, and all conceptions
of the everlasting tortures of the damn
ed fade before Il new consistency or
thought which cannot reconcile eternal
punishment with 1.-The knowledge and
love Of God"
Our forefathers looked forward in
some moods to everlasting rest and
never ending worship, In others to q
happy and prosperous life In a perfect
" governed and perfectly healthy city.
At times. inspired by the love of ma
ture they Christianized the classic pic
ture of the Elysian fields. Today the
normal man does not desire rest when
he asks himself what life he would
choose. Rest suggests death, and we
desire more abundant life. To most
healthy bodies and healthy minds effort
is in itself delightful. If men do not
need to make an effort for their living
they will do it for their pleasure. Sue
cessful effort brings more happiness
than ANYTHING else, taking life as O
whole. The thought of everlasting wOr
ship satisfies fewer and fewer people
today. 1t belongs to an age when mer
thought Of God as kind Of king who
took perpetual pleasure in homage. We
still sing of sweet fields beyond the
swelling flood" and find refreShmen'
in the thought, but no one desires t
live forever wandering amid the beau
ties of nature. The thought Of an idea
civic life is still attractive, but The
heavenly Jerusalem brings thoughts Of
Utopia now rather than of the everlast
ing
We still pray against Everlasting
! damnation" and desire to get rid Of thu
worm of remOrSe that dieth not, bu
our prayers, however earnest, no Longer
bring visions Of the burning pit. Suci
visions would be called up nowadays
rather by the divine comedy than b!
the church service. Other hopes charm
US today, and other fears restrain
These again will change their form il
the next generation. The conditions O
this life after and consequently tn
conceptions Of that life to which WI
instinctively look for consolation an(
explanation, reward and retributiol
change also. Nevertheless these piou
opinions of the past, the outcome a
they are Of a spiritual preoccupatiol
more concentrated than anything o
which the present age is capable, ar
not without their value, Imaginar,
they may have been, but
God is also in sleep, and dreams advise
Which he hath sent propitious. som
great good presaging.
We smile reverently as we look back
Crowns and cities, feasts and swee
fields, all melt away together Still
the words Of Christ, which cannot pas
away while human nature remains
sound in our hearts, 1T is the spiri
that quickeneth; the flesh PROTECT
nothing"
That men will cease to dream o
what they cannot know we do not 70
a moment suppose. Every age vii
embOdy its hopes in new description
Of heaven. Every description will b
worth study in order
That in these masks and shadows W
may see thy sacred way
And by those hid ascents climb to tina
day
Which breaks from thee,
! Who art in all things, though invisibly.