Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1905-05-25
REV. DIR. GRIER'S
ADDRESS

you the manuscript, the publication of
which in the columns of the American
will llgreatly oblige. Yours truly,
f. Q. DERR
Anaxaqoras, the Grecian philosopher,
was informed of the death of his only
son. He bowed his head and calmly
replied, = knew that L had begotten
| mortal - That was the best product
of ancient paganism; a stole resigna.
tion to death as thing common to Us
all and since it Is Inevitable what
matters it whether it come today or
tomorrow.
Cicero, after the death of his below
ed daughter Tullis, lamented IF
had known whittier to go for consola-
tion but to philosophy, | should not
have gone to philosophy.
Alas, for us, if we could be sure of
nothing beyond what is revealed 20 US
by our bodily senses or by cold. relent
less logic; by rationalistic processes
of inference or deduction. We glory
in what has been accomplished by the
human intellect. Indeed is it marvel
lous But the oonquests of the heart
are still more glorious As between
the mind and the heart the better part
of Us is the heart. Thus are we bound
by family ties and social relation
ships. In a sense we are all agnostic
We know relatively little, so little that
we may as we'll call it nothing at all
Ii is not to the mind. the seat of intel
ligence, that Jesus Christ appeals; but
to the heart, the very core and essence
of our being, the source OF character
and action, of sensibility, emotion. en-
thusiasm. The things which concern
US most intimately we know by the
heart. Thus are we hidden TO appre
bend the doctrines of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We are called upon to live by
faith, which is intellectual blindness.
and not by sight. Oh, my friends, this
Fundamental truth of Christianity
how profoand and inexhaustible it is,
and how varied and vast are the ap-
plications of it Jesus Christ has
brought immortality to light But
for that we should still grope in the
dark and should be most gloomy and
wretched. But for that | shou Id stan d
here today speechless. What said Jesus
to us,-and for the moment l am not
thinking of Jesus as divine. For the
moment | care not whether he was
divine or merely human whether he
was the Son of God or the son of an
obscure Galilean peasant. 1t is conced-
ed the world over, not by the village
pedant perhaps, nor the blatant lnhdei'
but by all men of moral earnestness {;
by experts in scholarship of every
shade of opinion, by the most learned
aud most thoughtful of unbelievers in
evangelical Christianity that Jesus OF
Nazareth was by far the most gifted
and noblest of all historical characters
the purest, the wisest, the profoundest,
the most nearly omniscient of all
mankind. Would you not stake your
life upon the solemn assurance of such
man as that? Let not your heart
be troubled. In my Fathers House
are many mansions. IL it were not so
l would have told you - That seems
a simple thing to say, ''If it were not
so would have told you" Simple
things are often profound. To my
thinking it is perhaps the most dra-
matte aud vivid passage in the whole
gospel.
For example a father is seriously ad
dressing his son who seems incredu-
lous. He turns upon the child: " What
do YOU not believe me - and then as a
very last recourse of argument which
cannot be gainsaid, IF it were not
true | would not have told you sou
That means to say that even if Jesus
believed in nothing else he did at least
believe firmly in Immortality. That is
enough. If many of the most intel
lectual men in the world believed in
final aunihilation, that would weigh
nothing in my mind against the pro-
found conviction of Immortality and
emphatic assurance Of it given to US
: by the lordly, mighty Nazarene. A
mans creed and church relationship
are of little moment. The great thing
is to be sure of Immortality and con-
form ones life accordingly.
Clarence DeIr's vision of the life
boyond, according to those who were
closest to him, was more vivid the
nearer he came to it, In cur human,
finite judgment-6nite indeed, for at
point like this it snaps like toe
, distended thread-in our fallible judg
, ment. not understanding the divine
purpose, Clarence was needed here at
home, and needed in this community
as are sadly needed everywhere just
) such clean, manly, well equipped, prom
sing young men. He was needed
) here. Yes, but he was needed there
above! And when God calls it be-
; hooves us to yield, at whatever earth
~ sacrifice.
A vast wave Of desolation has swept
over the hearts of these dear, bereaVed
} parents, and over all of Us who had
come to love this splendid fellow and
we should lie PROSTATE and inconsol,
able but for the assurance that this
binding affiictiou is in accordance
! with out Heavenly Fathers will. II
we only knew it; oh, if we only knew
it. there are things far better for Us
than any of our own planning. Lord,
thy will be done
In the still air the music lies unheard ;
In the rough marble beauty hides un'
seen;
To make the music and the beauty
needs
The masters touch, the sculptor :
chisel keen.
IL, ., l. n