Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-05-18

| spoken of is said to have left rich
legacy II the twenty-third cnaptei
is the first account of a burial with
the details of arrangement. the TWEEN
ty-fourth chapter is the first account
OF marriage with the details of ar
rangement. and, linking the tive
| transactions together WITH a simple
and. the author proceeds to direct the
attention of the reader to new life
! The old patriarch on the verge of the
grave is said TO have given his serv
ant explicit instructions in regard &c
his son, and, turning over to him nis
estate, bade him administer the same
| for the welfare and perpetuatiou OF
his family.
So life springs up by the side OF
death. Old leaves go and new leaves
come. The days may be dark. but
| the tender green of the fresh leaf
buds is all the more vigorous and all
tne more luxuriant because Of the de
| caying leaves which litter the roots
| of the lonG-lived tree: and the same
bright alienation goes on among
men. There are cradles as well as
graves.
THE individual withers. and the
race is more and more"
So let us look the truth full In the
face. Life snould follow death; re-
construction should follow dissolu-
ton, and II we are true to our fra.
tornal VOWS, we are as much stew
ards as was old Eliezer, Perhaps
the amount given into our hands is
small, but whether little or big, our
brothers have placed II there as a
solemn trust, An obligation rests
upon us TO invest our income In the
most profitable way possible. and
turn over the revenues to the or.
pnans and widows OF our deceased.
and. like the man In the parable In
the gospel, We should characterize
ourselves In the work by that faith
fulness which will make us worthy
TO be made rulers over many things
In the time of the final reckoning.
Nor should we confine our bene-
Violence to fraternity. II we limit
ourselves to a circle of friends, our
orders may become us selfish as IL
the individual shut up in himself
Sometimes we hear people say. "oh.
the lodge is church enough" but
such people are as poor lodgemen AZ
cnurchmen. The thought that struck
me with the most force In reading a
little book this order has placed In
consistent with the pospel. and If
tnat Is true-we have TO proclaim that
The world is the field. and since the
church Is the sole institution which
has for It's object the ingathering OF
all men, every lodge should be su.
bornitated to 1t.
That at once means tnat we should
assume the office of steward for
Christ. His life has been given for
our lives, and, since He has paid the
ransom, our lives are u trust from
Him. Oh, can any OF us be mean
enough to be trying TO sneak into
heaven without rendering Him the
profits here on the eartn. All de-
mands all; blood demands blood; and
those OF us whose souls are confined,
and cribbed and cabbined In the mar
row space OF self should stnnd out
face to face with Him this day and
confess Him as our Lord. Nothing
else can merit in the day Of our death
tho welcome words: well done.
thou good and faithful servant; enter
thou into the joys OF thy Lord"
So let us keep things in their right
relations. Our fraternal orders are
useful institutions, and we should
build on them for this present world.
Short-sighted provision is better than
blind absolution in the present. Those
whose expectations lack the winged
power to cross the dreadful ravine OF
death are elevated by working toward
distant object here on the earth;
but, II we would grasp the future as
well az the present. we must widen
out our ideas OF fraternalism to EN-.
brace the apostles conception of the
general assembly and church Of the
firstborn. The most blessed Of all
hopes is that which looks forward to
an eternal standing In the ranks of
the brotherhood of Jesus Christ at
the nignt hand of God.