The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-23

LIZA u 81 al .IOlll ZOyfISI
49,:
! eternal and divine. and he who has
them cannot die.
If In this life only we have hope IN
/ Christ, we are OF all men most mis- erable.
! We 10 not care to be OF the earth, earthly;
| we long to be OF the heaven, heavenly.
But we have hope in Christ for the fu-
| Sture life. se well ma for this. We have
hope that we may enjoy the fulness OF
that pleasure for which we have been
| lodging On earth; the Joy OF being freed
from sin and seeing others pure ana
happy, dwelling with us in the presence
OF our Rather In heaven.
no be good and true ourselves; to live
forever with the pure and holy. and 4. to
lie with Christ my friends, that's bliss!
If you labor to create an atmosphere OF
purity and love In the people around you,
you will enjoy forever In the next world
the good company which YOU have helped l
to make. II you labor to make yourself
go5d In this life, you shall enjoy the fruit
OF your labor by being pleased forever. u
vexation OF spirit It IL solid work, and
will receive solid pny from God here
after.
Easter day. t1,cn, Is a pledge; we might
say q sacrament, from God to us, that
He will righteously reward all righteous
work. AS Christ toled. suffered and died
to do good, 80 sinll we be blessed II
we labor. suffer (nnd, If need be. dle) IN
trying to follow Him. In this we shall
share Christ's reward. as we have shared
Ills labor, and be raised up again as
Christ was, to eternal life.
And 30 easter day should give us
strength to live tho only truly manly,
truly noble iifea the life OF being good
and of doing good.
And strength to die. Men are afraid
sof dying principally because they fenr
the unknown. They are not afraid OF
Ithe pain Of death. But they do not know
what the other life will DO, for their
idea OF heaven Isl, at best, vague and
unsatlsfying. They may have sung rap
turous hymns about the heavenly Jeru-
salem, and passing over Jordan, safe to.
ECanaan's Shore" but with no clear no.
ton Of what the words neant--and small
blame to thcn1l 81 .57$S sE
So when they think OF actually dying.
they feel as II they were to be turned
out upon a dark night into an unknown.
land. away from home and all they ever
have known or held dear And SO they
shrink from death. They must shrink
from death. unless, they believe with their
whole hearts the good news which Easter
brings. A ,954s Il s3g
And the more thoughtful and clever
they are. the, moro they, vii dread d entf,
and the thought of losing their bodies.
They have always had liodies here on,
earth. They only knew themselves as.
souls embodied. and cannot think OF
themselves with any comfort away from
those bodies. The more loving that they
are, the more does the future appal
them, For those whom they have loved
on earth have had bodies, and through
their bodies. through their voices, their
looks. their actions. they have been
known and loved. And IL, in the world
10 come, these loved ones are TO have no
bodies. they ask wistfully, How shall 4
see them How shall / know thcn,?S
How shall Il converse With them? All
these thoughts are sad and dreary TIL
we accept the good news OF Easter.
Oh! blessed hope for US and those we
love! For without their sweet compan-
onship the future life would be lonely
and cheerless to US. even amid the
Joys Of heaven.
But now we can say: Tell me not that
as the beasts die, SO dies the man that
as Adam died. 80 muct I die and all that
I love I know all that hut u care little
for 1t, because ] know more than that.
The man body 10 not the man, but only
the husk. or shell OF the man.
i know have moro in me, Infinitely,
more, than that What may DO IN store
for the savage, the brutal, the wicked,
is in Gods hand, not mine. But what is
In store for me. I know; that as I have
borne tho image Of the earthly. so shall
rbear tho image of the heavenly.
How He will do 1t I do mot know;
neither do i care to know. When 1Ie
will do 1t 4 know not, but It will be when
It ought to he. and that is enough for
me. That He can do 1t 2 know, for He
is the Maker Of the universe. and to Him
Nil power Is given In earth and heaven.
Az to its being strange and past under
standing. that matters little to me. It
will be but one wonder more II, o world
where ali Is wonderful, one more mys-
terry in an utterly mysterious universe
And So In the light Of this pleased
Easter day. md the hope which itSbrings,
let us let Up our hearts and say: Thanks
be to-. God which giyoth us the victory