St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1914-08-07
Is There a He'll?

A book with the above title
has been issued in New York
which contains the opinions of
sixteen of the makers of re-
ligious thought" on the ques-
tion of mans hereafter.
They all support the doctrine
of the souls immortality, and
while ignoring the old fashioned
material hell. insist that the
souls of the good will fare much
better in the hereafter than the
souls of the bad. The men sub
scribing to this are all eminent
clergymen.
There is nothing more strange
about a future life for men than
is the present life. Called from
nothing; appearing here more
helpless and dependent than any
other creature; still in from
twenty to sixty years ringing
the world with his words or
deeds and then growing still and
turning back to dust; men con-
templating this. and remember
ing the affections formed i'm
that brief time; the tearing of
heart strings at the separation.
revolt against the thought that
this is all.
They look at the stars in their
professions and realize that only
an infinite wisdom could have
framed their order and their
splendor. They note the sea-
sons in their rounds and mark
that after the exhaustion Of pro-
ducing the harvest. the sun
wanders further and further
away and the tired earth grows
wan and cold and wrapping the
winding sheet of the snow
around il sinks into a sleep that
looks like that phenomenon
which we call death. But when
the sleep is over the sun re-
turns; the winters shroud melts
away; even under the snow
flowers are found; then comes
the soft air; the buds appear:
the trees put on anew their
robes; the birds return and re-
build their houses; the spring
advances into the summer and
that is followed by another har-
vest. Is man lost in this eter-
nal progression?
That he should be would be a
violation of every lesson that is
taught by the operations of
nature. But the bread we eat is
made from grain that at first
was but wild grass that made
pasture for animals. II had TO
be cultivated TO give il value.
BY his discipline Luther Bur-
bank has converted what was
but a repellant plant into an ar
ticle of food more wonderful
than was ever seen before. He
has pruned and engrafted fruit
trees until he has doubled both
the quantity and quality of their
fruit. In the same way he has
converted a worthless weed into
a glorious flower.
But he has been able 10 do
this by finding an original ele-
ment in the fruit or flower that
had been dormant from the first.
We talk of good and bad men.
BY that we mean only that the
germ of good is more developed
in the one than i'm the other.
Many good men produce only
half the good that they should.
They are waiting only that the
original element of good within
them may be more fully awaken
ed.
Many bad men are waiting
merely for the magic touch that
will cause them to shed their
thorns and bring forth their
fruit. With many this will not
be done in this life, but all the
lessons that we gather make the
foundation for the hope of
higher life. And it seems to us
that we have no authority for
saying that in that higher life
the degrees of happiness will be
measured by our lives here.
Rather il seems more reason
able to say that in the ceaseless
procession a certain
station will have to be reached
before men on earth or souls be-
yond will finally receive the light
10 understand that real happi-
ness comes only through love
and justice and devotion TO duty.
-Eoodui,,to Waol,l,,