Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-04-13

H'iu WHeFs 'He iuHS NEut btt"ssn
life and death has been wnged. The
flowers speak OF more than the pass
Ing OF time: they speak of the pass.
Ing OF the tyrant who robbed us OF
them last year.
Easter is more than church fcs-
tlvai: II !s the festival OF ail nature.
As at the creation the morning stars
sang together. no at this new crca-
tion of another years beauty the birds.
tho trees. the flowers. the weeds OF
the waysidc. Join In their great orntc-
rio OF happiness. II Is tho birthday of
hope. He who had never seen the
changes of the season might well have
wcpt bitterly when au,umn's winds
swept bare the trees and the flowers
dropped In the gardens. thinking that
he was bidding them farewell forever.
How now would he rejoice Mt their re-
turn to learn. In spring. that death
had been with them no more than n
seeming. Its victory prctcnsc. Grad.
unliy. rs the spring came year after
year. he would learn the great secret
OF nature. that all It's cndlngs are bu,
beginnings. that life can never cease
to be.
Easter is tho birthday of hope in
greater realm. Our lives are but aS
single seasons: then comes the au.
tumn. the falling leaf. We say this is
the end: there will be no more the
flower. the leaf. tho life: tho dread
winds OF winter sing their dirIcs of
despair. But II the weed OF the way.
side is worth bringing back to Its
brief beauty. II the buds break forth
again on the trees. is II possible that
our lives have no returning spring
tide after their winter. Is there only
one set of seasons for humanity?
Arc We separated from the law that
no life can cease to bc7 Sown In sor-
row. like seeds in the fall. shall VIC not
como to faircr life? And every living
thing in all our fair world answers
clear that life is ever lord of death"
This is the message Of the Easter.
tide. n new life out OF the old death.
Death has lost Its tcrrors. Instead of
prison II has become an avenue.
Just as We now rejoice when n new
life comes into our world. SO shall VIC
also rejoice when life goes out.
knowing that II goes into larger liv.
ing. n fairer gpringtidc awaits IL. We
see that God makes winter as well as
summer, our exits MS well rs our en-.
frances: that the winter is essential
to the spring. the exit on one lc, ,cl to
the entrance on another.
Why. then, did men, with this lesson
of nature writ broad before them, sit
so long in darkness? Why failed they
to read the promise of natures acted
parable? Great souls did see its mean.
ing: large hearts hoped for larger
things. Many dimly felt that their
longing would be satisfied and they
waited for n more sure word. Then
came One who so lived rs to become
the authority on life. He so lived as
to make all listen when he spoke on
life. He so lived as to teach men how
to die and so died us to teach them
the secret of life forever. He faced
death without fear. with the sublime
confidence that in some measure has
come to so many men in that hour
when delusions fall away. He went
down into the shadows with the light
of the coming dawn on his face; he
went down declaring he would return.
Then somehow it is little matter
how or even just why men learned
that he who had taught them how to
live had not left the lesson half com.
pleted; he had faced and solved the
greatest mystery Of life. He had
shown that beyond the winter there
was springtide for their lives. too.
They did not stop to discuss foolish
questions; thew knew that his life
had not been overcome by death. that
the great law of nature held true here,
that no life could cease to be. II was
word for which the world had wait
ed. They saluted one another. saying.
"He is risen!" Henceforth men had
their part in the springtide anthem of
all nature.
LILA