The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1906-07-07
4 SERMON FOR SATURDAY
Opinions of Man Who Believes That
the Future Life. If Any There is,
Will Surely be = Better One


future life OF an interesting kind
for every human soul. after it shall
have thrown aside the trammels Of the
flesh and escaped into a realm Of ZEN
uine liberty for the exercise of tts
powers; which. alas. it is impossible
to find on this earth This faith is
perhaps more the offspring of a pro-
found instinct than the product Of any
progress Of logical thinking; never
theless. it seems to grow stronger as
approach the time when / shall be
summoned TO join the ranks of the
great majority"
Ny thoughts on the subject run
more to reflections over the evils we
shall certainly be rid of. such as the
bodily pains, the severe and for the
most part, distasteful labor merely to
make a living, the dominance of mean
and petty ambitions for the attainment
of social Of political honors. and the
mad pursuit of wealth and fieeting
sensual pleasures. which are pretty
sure to turn into scorehing ashes in
our hands as soon as we get hold of
them. OF course, it can easily be
seen that all these pains and penalties
Of our present life are entirely asso-
ciated with the possession of our bod
les, and must disappear when body
and soul depart Certainly we shall
rot have 10 worry about being reduced
TO hunger and nakedness. or about
being turned out of house and home.
We shall not have to walk the floor
at night because we cannot pay a note
due in the morning; or be plunged
into deep distress because we cannot
settle our doctors bill or even our
pew rent. If anything is sure it is this,
that religion viii be entirely free in
the next world, for the most learned
doctor of divinity will Know no more
about spiritual life than the most in
nocent little eherub; perhaps. indeed.
not as much.
We shall have no dread of earth
quakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes
or simoons. We shall not be scared
by the violence Of anarchists, or the
screening Of Tom Lawson and the
yellow journals We shall be entirely
rec from the fear OF burglars and
footpads, or even the botheration of
the tax collector. We shall not be
frightened out of our wits by the APP
proach of an epidemic Of smallpox.
cholera, malignant grip or typhoid
achs turned by the thought of microbes
in the milk or things in the corned
beef We shall not need any more
life insurance, and shall be free from
the wiIes and greed of that breed of
able financiers. The pranks OF the
bulls and bears. and of the manipu-
lators OF the cotton market. which
make so many lives feverisll and un-
viii be altogether a thing
of the past. We shall not be afraid
the morning, for fear of learning that
a great man has been assassinated or
an overworked friend has blown out
his brains, or worse still. that our
grandniece, for whom we have a deep
affection, has run away with the
The rawlings OF profess
sional politicians VIII have disappear
ed entirely, for there win be nothing to
rave about: neither the intrigues Of
foreign empires. the villainy of the
the cheatings of the mo-
or the sly wickedness Of
the idle rich suppose there will be
no money in the next world. and. lordi
what lot OF trouble and sin we
would get rid of If there was meme in
this.
II we reflect for a moment can we
not perceive that nearly everything
which we call evil is entirely con-
nected with the needs and passions Of
our bodies? Murder, theft, licentious-
ness and insane greed are solely the
of our physical environment;
and are not the destructive emotions
Of anger. hatred. jealousy and absurd
pride the clear offspring OF diseased
tireIy freed from their clutch and is it
not reasonable to suppose that the
courage of our emancipated spirits
would be very different from what
It is in this feverish existence2 We
can. Of course, have no conception Of !
what disembodied spirit is like; but |
" this we may be sure. that its in
1ividuaIity win have an entirely diff
.erent expression from what Il had /
rhen manacIed IN an imperfect body. /
have often wondered how theologians I
could scare their focks so badly by 4
depicting the fancied material tor
lures their unsanctifed souls would
ave to undergo when they passed in
% an unseen spiritual world What
'eason is there to believe that physical
,ain can at all affect a discarnate
Ipirit2 For anything We know lib
rated soul might ind in a furnace Of
Material fame a most delightful and
.engenia1 abode A fish cannot live a
minute out of water. but we see how