The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-12-03

SHINING ulster beyond the portals OF
| the tomb. They were overtaken by
that fate, which sooner or later will
overtake us, and which neither pow
er nor station, virtH nor bravery,
wealth nor honor, nor tears Of friends
and kindred. can avert. Yes. my
iprethern, we were born but to die.
Let us, while we pay loving trib-
ute to the memory of our brothers,
pause at this milestone in the journey
of life, and consider the Importance of
our lives.
Immortality Of soul.
las followers Of Holy Writ, which
contains the cardinal principles of our
order, we believe in the immortality
of the soul and that life is the time to
prepare for something better. 1t is
mostly time Of labor, toll and suf-
fering. Why suffer, mourn and carry
burdens? Because spiritual beauty
can never be reached without cost.
The blessing is always hidden away
liz the burden, and can be gotten only
by lifting the burden.
Let the beautiful vase tell Its
story; once it was lump of common
clay lying in the darkness; then 1T
was rudely dug out and crushed and
ground in the mill, and then put upon
the wheel and shaped then polished
and tinted and put in the furnace and
burned At last, after many processes,
it stood upon the table gem of grace
full beauty. In some way analogous
to this, every noble life is formed.
Common clay at first, it passes
through thousand processes and ex-
periences, may Of them hard and pain
full. until at length it is presented De-
fore God faultless in it's beauty. Mich
ael Angelo used to say as the chip
pings flew thick from the marble on
the floor of his studio, while the mar
BILE wastes, the image grows" There
must be wasting of self, a chipping
away continually Of things that are
dear to nature, If the things that are
true. and just and honorable. and pure
and lovely, are to come out of life.
Breaking the vase.
1.-The alabaster vase must be broken
that the ointment may flow out to Till
the house. The grapes must be crush
ed that there may be wine to drink.
The wheat must be bruised before it
can become bread to feed the hungry.
A great oak stands in the forest; it
is beautiful in its majesty; it is orna-
mental, it casts pleasant shade.
Under the branches the children play;
among it's boughs the birds sing. One
day the woodman came with his axe,
and the tree quivers in all its branches
under his sturdy blow. Il am being
destroyed" it cries. So it seems as
the great tree crashes to the ground.
The children are sad because they can
no longer play beneath it's broad
branches; the birds grieve because
they can no more nest and sing amid
the summer foliage. But follow the
trees history. 1t is cut into boards
and built into beautiful cottage,
where human hearts find their happy
nest; or it is made into a great organ
which leads the worship Of a congre
cation. The losing of it's life was the
saving of it; it died that 1T might be-
come truly useful. Take the lily bulb;
1T is not beautiful; there Is nothing
attractive about it. But place it in the
ground, in the mud If you please, and
by and by 1t will crack and become
more unsightly. We can imagine it
complaining and groaning as it Is ap-
rarently destroyed, but ere long as
the destructive process continues, on
q
ture is aglow, there bursts out OF this
common bulb beautiful lily It's
fragrance fills the air; its coIors are
all in harmony and perfectly blend
with each other. And truthfully and
well it has been said, Solomon In all
his glory was not arrayed like one or
these" 1t was apparently destroyed
to become that for which it was in
tended. So it is with our lives; we
must suffer, carry burdens, die, to be
truly blessing.
The Mystery Of Death
Death has always been mystery.
The grave is a silent book, and it is
impossible for men to read its mys-
Iteries. But nature teaches US that
death does not end all, and is not
total destruction; that the soul is i'm
mortal. Religion with the strong eye
Of faith looks beyond the grimness or
the grave and teaches the certainty of
immortal life after death. The Bible,
the book OF books, teaches the i'm
mortality of the soul We look with
sadness upon the lifeless body of
human being; our hearts are filled as
we think of the many deeds of kind
ness, of charity, of self-sacrifice
wrought by him He has advanced
fro,, stage RI stage His mental and