The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1914-08-06
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
religious thought on the question 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 subscribing to this are all
eminent clergymen.
There is nothing more strange about
a future life for men than is the pres
ent life. Called from nothing; appear
ing 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 grow
ing still and turning back to dust; men
contemplating this, and remembering
the affections formed in 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 pro-
cessions and realize that only an in
finite wisdom could have framed their
order and their splendor.
They note the seasons in their
rounds and mark that after the ex-
haustion of producing 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 1t sinks into sleep
that looks like that phenomenon which
we call death. But when the sleep is
over the sun returns 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 re-
turn and rebuilt their houses: the
spring advances into the summer and
that is followed by another harvest. Is
man lost in this eternal progression?
That he should be would be viola
ton 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. 1t had
to be cultivated to give 1t value.
BY his discipline Luther Burbank has
converted what was but a repellant
plant into an article of food more won
derful 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 worthless weed
into glorious flower.
But he has been able to do this by
finding an original element in the fruit
or flower that has 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 in the other. Many good
men produce only half the good that
they should. They are waiting only
that the original element of good with
in them may be more fully awakened.
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 les
sons that we gather make the founda-
ton for the hope of a higher life And
1t seems to us that we have no author
ity for saying that in that higher life
the degrees of happiness will be meas
ured by our lives here. Rather 1t seems
more reasonable to say that in the
ceaseless upward procession "a certain
station will have to be reached before
men on earth or souls beyond will fl
nally receive the light to understand
that real happiness comes only through
love and justice and devotion to duty.
--Goodwin's Weekly