Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1907-02-07
Mrs. L.K. websssr.s Address.

tan few weeks ago.
Again we in the mystery OF life are
brought face TO face with the mystery Of
death. A good womans life has gone
out and we are here to speak WORDS of
love to her memory and pay simple
tribute TO her worth. Ii needs no words
of mine. for you who having known her
during her stay with you. know her
worth, and many little acts Of klndLess.
little duties we'll performed, kind words
spoken and above ali the sweet patient
uncomplaining life will long be recalled
by you.
| Man finds himself upon the sea Of life
without knowing why he was launched
into existance. lives a life he did not
choose. is carried over the flowery fielcs
OF childhood. hurried through the en-
chanted meadows OF youth, clothed with
manhoods power and strength, but the
glory of his prime soon fades into old age,
and to old age comes death.
Life is road over which the traveller
is obliged to go Some travel but short
distance upon this road, others farther on
before they become weary and lie down,
but whether long or short our journey we
must pass through the valley of death in
to the vast beyond.
All streams. no matter how thew
wander. turn or curve amid hills and
rocks. must sometime join the dewdrop
that slips into the shining sea, or the
weary wavelet that returns to the well
coming ocean. How little after all do we
know OF this life. this struggling way
twixt light and gloom. a strip of verdant
land between two unknown wastes, a
throbbing moment filled with love ano
pain, a dream that lies between the
shadowy shores VI sleep and death.
| Knowing so little of life what can we
know of death We cannot tell. we do
not know. which is the greater blessing
life or death. Neither can we tell which
is the most fortunate, the infant dying IN
| its mothers arms ere its little lips have
Il ItdfncO " III dtnO WOI0 IC wiz u oFNio
out little way and drops by the way
side, or one who journeys all the length OF
life's uneven road, taking the last slow
steps with staff and crutch; but we know,
in old age death Genes as desired relief,
as soothing snodyne and in such cases
| none should feel regret that hfe's fltfu
ever is over. De -tn is as universal as
LIE. as natural as birth. and as inevitable
as the flow of time. Sooner or later WE
must all pass through this change. Every
form that lives must die. It's natures
law. fer in all the forces that control ere
written growth and Decay. The plants
that furnish sustenance for our being arc
touched by the whitening hand " blight
The beautiful flowers that please the eye
are cered by winter frost In all that
speaks of life. love and JOY we read Tn,
word. death. What is death? Every
where is change constant change and
when we stand in the presence of this
greatest OF mysteries, death, our hearts
seek again the question that lips of love
have asked a thousand times and We
peer into the deep silence for our answer.
Is this change the herald Of an endless
night or the messenger of an eternal day?
| confess do not know. We do know
though that in the great mechanism of the
universe. nothing is lost. The smallest
atom that moves through space seemingly
lost in the labyrinth OF the whole serves a
purpose and works to a common destiny.
We know that light and darkness exist,
summer and winter. heat and cold, JOY
and sorrow. life and her shadow-death
We know when the clouds pass away the
in the spring, though cut down by the
chilling blasts OF winter, greet US again
with the return of another spring. When
we have crossed the sea we find land
the beautiful butterfly wakes frcm the
dormant crysilis. All these are lessons
from the great storehouse of Nature thai
all may read. To some they strengthen
the hope and speak conscious existance
beyond the grave; to others they are but
an endless chain of cause and effect
showing that matter which is the sub
stance Of all is not an element Of creation,
neither can it be annihlated, subject to
the immutable law OF change, bringing
consciousness only to the life that exists
regardless Of its prior existance or en-
vronment
Our friend just gone, while believing in
the completeness of Nature, that all are
part of a universal whole, believed the
spirit or soul OF man was not dependent
upon its temporary house Of clay but
passes on to a more complete existance,
perhaps to continue as progressive beings
with greater powers in larger life; to
cheer perhaps those who now mourn; to
aid by subtle influence hearts that feel
but the touch OF sorrow here; to uplift by
an unknow power the weak and erring
ones and guide straying footsteps into
pathe ~ paara Raantif,I tho,okte