Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-09-12


by the graves of our fallen heroes.
Once I participated in a battle bur-
ial in France, conducted pointly by
Catholic and Protestant ciergymen,
both French and American. with Y.
II. G. A. men in reserve. When we
stand by the grave we are one In our
deepest conviction that the hope of
immortality is best expressed by the
cross of Christ.
Is Grave The End OF the RoadF
War and influenza have sown the
earth with graves as perhaps never
before within so short a period of
time. Alas, many bereaved hearts
SEQ only a question mark at the
head of the graves, and miss the
cross. That is why current itera-
ture abounds In discussions of the
old. old question of Immortality
Newspapers echo the cry of the
stricken mourners fer
The touch of a vanished hand.
And the sound of a voice that is
STILL"
Spirituaiisn has newly emerged as a
cult which at least gets wide pub
licity, even IL 1t does not secure a
great following. Lonely souls covet
some reinsurance from their dear
dead.
In his new book of poems. "The
Years Between" which contains
more than one heart-broken cry
from the poet-father bereaved of his
only son, Mr.. Kipling deals with
spiritUalism in poem called EN-
Dor" the coOclusion of which is
"Oh the road to En-dor is the Oldest
road.
And the crazfasf road of aIlf
Straight it runs to the Vitch's
AS it did IL the days of Saul.
And nothing has changed OF the
sorrow in store
For such as so down on the road
to En-dor!'
In his new book Mr.. Klpllng's faith
sounds a clearer. simpler note than
may be found in his earlier work;
the great hour of humanity has driv-
On hin. into the arms of the Heaven
ly Father who gave his only Son for
the Sacred Cause. He Is one of the
mighty host who have emerged from
the supreme ordeal with tear-washed
eyes which see the grave the eternal
life in the presence OF God.
Wrr's Greatest Victory.
II Christendom has not in its spirit
won a victory over the fear of death.
then vlctory by arms means little.
l never met or heard of a battlefield
soldier who did not believe in i'm
mortality. That great experience of
surrenderil g the body to danger or
death seemed H. clarity and simplify
mems judgments. The mighty and
eternal things loomed large; the
petty ans Ser-sophIsticated trivali-
ties of our time simply seemed non
existent.
Life has for us a fuller destiny
than preoccupation in mere things.
In the face of the msterial engross-
ments which now threaten US like
food we need to hold fast to the
everlasting truth that
TT Is not all of life to live.
Nor all OF death to die
Grief needs more than diversion: 1t
calls for comfort. Ambition cannot
really te satisfied with automobiles
and lpxuries. Labor will not be con-
tent to accept merely higher wages
as the reward of it's vital expendi-
ture. Cheaper food and other neces-
titles will rot meet the ultimate
needs of the people. Political and
economic reconstruction do not full
fill the longings of the universal
heart.
IN a word. people Today want high
er satisfact!ons than commonly held
out to them. In our sacrifices and
war we reached a lofty level of life;
discovered new capacities in our
selves; got glimpses of the glory
possible to our own souls. Now we
covet more of the same. We would
! breathe always the air of that ele-
waited plane of living which seemed
to prove US TO the sons and daugh-
| ters of Immortality.
The Great Hope
1t was easy to believe in brother
hood while sharing the comradeship
OF the army in France. Altruism
seemed normal as we toiled at home
in the holy cause of patriotism.
! Standing on that level, why may we
not look still higher and realize that
Gods plan for human souls Is just
this exalted and purified spirit of
life, which Is ever discovering and
practicing new and noble inner re-
sources? Gods revealed thought for
man is that he shall live always. in
ever-increasing degree. by these
heavenly standards.
Humanity's capacity for soul
greatness. as proved by the war. is
only one of the things which "eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard" which
God has prepared for those who love
Him.
Right at this poi1t I was inter
rupted in the writing of this arti-
Gle; and in the three hours that have
interviewed 1 have heard from two
friends upon the very theme. of the
lesson. One. a minister told of his
presence at an operation upon the
clrs4d OF arrested growth. The op-
ing out of the anesthetic the child
saw her father and as she reached
forth her arms she heard the sweet
words. Now you are to grow up to
be big" That, said the preacher. is
like death; a brief period of un-
consciousness: some wond r ful
transformation by the Good Physi-
clan. and then the arms of the Faith
er, and new and glorious growth into
fullest possibilities. Immortality Is
the highest hope of the human heart
Two Fathers And One Experience
My other friend. a physician. was
trying TO explain the tragic trans
formation in the character of a man
we both knew; and we agreed that
q personal bereavement has left him
ombittered and hopeless. There
were the two men," he mused. the
AS and the Bs; each lost a beloved
and noble child at about the same
time. A was rebellious and uncom-
forted; he never speaks of his child
ap-araptIy auar in our, 70