Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-12-07

Destiny TO tHe unseen ana the un.
knowable-the faith that rises exult-
ant above the storm and stress of life
and sings that Gods in His heaven;
all's we'll with the world!'
He Who Died mt Azan.
'In that mystical story of the orient
told by Sir Edwin Arnold, After Death
in Arabia the dead man, Abdallah-
he who died at Azan-sends a mes
sage to his friends weeping around his
bier. He comforts them with the as
surfing thought that he is in Paradise.
He tells them that he has found i'm
mortality; and that, though they mourn
for him as dead, yet in reality he lives
and loves them, and has a conscious
knowledge of what they are doing in
his earthly home. The conception of
this narrative poem is startling in its
boldness, but, after all, who would say
that it might not be true? Abdallah's
message to his kinsmen and friends,
when read in the light of his philoso-
ply, is a beautiful alfegory on the hope
tof all the ages:
Sweet friends, what the women lave,
for it's last bed of the grave,
Is a hut which l am quitting,
Is garment no more fitting,
Is IA cage from which, at last,
Like a hawk my soul hath passed!
Love the inmate, not the room;
The wearer, not the garb, the plume
OF the falcon,-not the bars
Which kept him from those splendid
stars.
"a spirit of trustfulness runs through
the message of him who died at Azan,
and We seem to see the soul stand
forth in all the beauty of it's new
birth. Because it brings comfort to
Borrowing hearts today refresh your
memory. with its sacred imagery, and
to note how the philosophy of the
Arab paraphrases that triumphant cry
|of the dying Christian, %, death,
where is thy sting! o, grave, where is
THY victory! e.s-..-
Loving Service of the Heart.
"The service we hold today, as a
yearly observance by the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, en-
braces in its meaning the memory of
our brothers who have Joined the great
and silent majority. With music, pray
er, and eulogy, and loving service OF
the heart, we seek to strengthen the
tie that binds us in our human broth
erhood. | believe that its spirit is
potent for good; that it's lesson is
greater than that of STORED urn OIL
animated bust and that the living re
ceive a blessing in remembering the
dead Each of us, in Gods good time
will go our devious and separate ways
into the pale realms of shade ant
each will then have need of FRIEND
to keep alive the memory of his little
day on earth. 30
Since earliest ages, as we learr
from rude memorials, man has strivel
| to be remembered after death. But il
every age mans life has gone out, like
the spark upon the hearth, unnoticet
save by the narrow circle of his owl
lfreside. The great statesman, TIL
great soldier, the great poet, may fin'
place in his country's Valhalla. Ye
oblivion is the common fate and NJ
ihand stays the onward sweep of time
But we believe there is PHILOSOPHY
which teaches that death is the tru
beginning of life,-and such is tn
teaching of much that we do here tc
Iday.
Are Part of Life.
"That new tomorrow with its gla
surprise, my brothers, is not alone tn
heritage of the dead. 1t merges int
and becomes part of the life that yo
and | are living,-apd every act c
Kindness, every impulse that makes u
better and more manly men, Wi
: broaden eternity before our gaze, an
keep green the memory of our absen
/ ones ~.
There is an hour of mystic charm,
i, When memory'S chimes are rung,
A time of deep, religious calm,
i Whose praise the bards have sung;
!, The heart of Elkdom throbs and beat
| And other days recall