The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1916-06-30
X X X X x X X X X X X X X X 4
X The Challenge of Bereavement y
( (By Frederic c. Morehouse) !
< X r + X X X X X X x X X X !

Death comes as a challenge to those |
loved ones who are left behind. The |
depth of ones religion is measured by |
the first few days or weeks of ones |
bereavement
Religion may be a wholly external
thing in ones life. 1t may be thing
OF traditional church going, of tradi-
tional acceptance of traditional beliefs.
OF traditional conformity to an insti-
tuition. 1t may be the acquiescence in
the good form" of a well-regulated,
old-fashioned community. Then be-
reavement shows the utter baroness of
the SOUL 1t shows the hollowness of
the life that has had no balance
wheel in it. 1t shows the hatefulness
OF ones own particular littleness. 1t
shows how the soul has not been CEN
tered in God. 1t shows how ones re-
ligion has failed. For the bereavement
| OF those who have only this reaction
| to the challenge of death there is lit
| tie that can be done. The despair that
comes over them is an eclipse of the
vision of God which would be their
solace, where they are able to let it.
True, this challenge, though fearful,
is salutary one. 1t may be the means
! OF awakening a dormant soul to the
realities of life. 1t may show the hol-
| lowness of pleasures that have hither-
to seemed sufficient to be lived for,
or the folly of life devoted wholly
to business" 1t may bring a new and
better perspective into ones life The
challenge of sorrow may be the making
of him who is challenged. 1t may
easily be the merciful call of the AL
nightly God which, needed, will make
all the difference between a life of
| So 4 g. H. >
own personal life reaches the point of
the great and final challenge. But the
saddest spectacle in Gods world is
the man or woman who has been chal-
lenged by death of husband or wife,
or child or of parent, and whose relig-
ion is not strong enough to react to
the challenge. All the store of the
worlds religion, all the depth of the
experience of the saints, all the sweetly
comforting words of our Lord Him
self. are powerless to bring peace to
those whose religion is purely external
to themselves. 1t would not be bad
idea to survey ones own personal re-
ligion before this challenge comes
for come, it will.
But religion may also be the main
spring of ones life. There are souls
that delight in the life that is hid with
| SttitSt III oOu IOi ID SiiCiIS Sptltlo
to whom the communion of saints is
reality. There are people whose re-
: ligion gives them something to fall
back upon in the time of grief.
1t does not follow that they do not
suffer in bereavement. Thew do. The
pang of separation from a loved one
is real. The sense of dessolation, the
consciousness of a great desire unful-
filled and to remain unful6lled. the
shock of that STUDENT is always sud
den, no matter how slow the prepare
ton for it has been-of that sudden
transition from life to death, all this
does truly fall with intense reality
, upon the most devout Indeed the re-
fined, trained spirits are those that
have the greatest capacity for suffer
ing The very cultivation of the inter
or life renders it abnormally suscepti-
BILE to spiritual blows. The saints-and
they alonc-know what it is to enter
into the mental and spiritual suffering
of our Lord upon the Cross. They only
can cry out in their agony, MY God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?"
But also they alone can know the
peace that follows, that can come to
those whose suffering is tempered by
a lively, healthy spiritual life When
the challenge of bereavement comes
to the devout Christian, to him who
knows what it is to live the life that
is nourished by sacramental grace. the
promise, my Grace is sufficient for
thee" is truly realized. The peace Of
God that passeth all understanding
does fill their heads and minds and
souls and brings comfort to them. The
child rests peacefully in the arms of
the heavenly Father, who also holds
in His loving keeping that other one
who has entered into the rest and
peace.