The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1920-05-28
BEAUTIFUL MEMORIAL DAY
ADDRESS

0OlC06f j. X. Miller, OF EuStlS, Is
one OF the most popular men OF Lake
County. He is now filing the place
of the late Colonel II. H. Duncan in
the ranks Of the u. c. VS. OF that
Ic0unty having been elected to head
the organization.
On Memorial Day he delivered the
following beautiful address which we
reprint from the Lake Region Of Eus
It's for we know that it will give pleas
ure to many OF our readers within
and without the ranks of that order.
| Colonel Miller said:
Madam President, Comrades. Ladies
and Gentlemen:
will begin my t2ia this evening
! by asking question and close it by
another: After death, what?
We find everywhere, in the minds
| CT all men, whenever or wherever
man appears, however primitive he
may be. a belief in life after death.
Faith in Immortality originated the
/ Egyptian art of embalming, the pyra
mids were erected to the memory Of
| their immortal dead. That man lived
on somehow, immortal. was the gen
/ eral idea of the Greek people. The
their meritoriOus progeny from their
departed. The Arabs finest camel is
! tied to a stake beside the grave OF his
master and left to die on his body that
he may use his faithful servant here
| after. The Seneca Indians, when
! MAIDEN dies, imprisOn young bird,
they pet it, caress and repeat loving
messages TO it, until it begins to sing,
then it is taken to her grave, loosed,
! in the belief that it would neither fold
! it's wings or close an eye until it had
deliveed it's precious burden OF affec
tion to the loved one in the spirit
land.
1t follows then that this great truth
is universally believed among all men,
! if not by all men. 'Falseh0Od never
perpetuates itself
The poet has said, Error wound
ed writhes in pain and dies amidst
! it's worshipers," while truth, like God,
lives forever, ard with the great poet
we can say:
Men may come and men may go,
But l CTruth) go on forever"
All nature serves its purpose. No
stomach, however small, was ever
created and left by its Creator with
out the means accessible to satisfy
it's longings. Examine the stomach
Of the smallest inhabitant Of land or
sea, under the microscope, and you
will find it has its fill, or has been
with life-giving and nourishing food
Is man failure? The autocrat Of
. of earth, air and sea, compelling the
. stars to yield their secrets, master of
, steam and electricity, naming and
weighing the planets, telling when
and where the wandering comet will
appear, sending his thoughts around
: the earth in seconds Of time, endOw-
ed with heart that can love and love
forever, can he, Of all creation, be
failure? No, a thousand times
NO! creature made in the sub
lime image of the Infinite is an eX-
! ception TO all the rules governing
nature, can tbs be? No, never.
Yes! Yes. man is an immortal be
. ing. All children are identical in
nature with their father, but each
one has separate, distinct person
I ality, and it is that which differen-
tiates one person from another. II,
therefore, God is our Father. we pos
sess His nature. Childhood means
individuality, and this must continue
; as long as the relation between par
ent and child continues. If God is
/ the everlasting Father. then man is
; His everlasting child. If man is the
everlasting child OF the everlasting
Father, then throughout all the etern-
al ages" man will possess the quail
ties Of personality, which is the only
thing that distinguishes him as having
been created in the image IF God.
! UnansWerable as IS this reasoning,
{ thank God that we are not left alone
to it to sustain mans immortality.
A fact is an act, deed, anything
actually existent, a something actu-
ally done. Truth is a correct state
! ment of any tact, q lie is an incor-
rect statement OF fact. A lie is ex-
actly the opposite Of truth Neither
or either can therefore be a fact or
synonymous with the word fact.
At the tomb OF Joseph of Ari1na-
THEA, one Of the greatest facts Of all
facts was born. Jesus Christ rose
from the deaa, demonstrating the &C
tuality CT the immortality Of man.
His tomb was the birthplace CT an in
destructive faith in the Immortality
Of man. SO with Paul we may say,
IF in this life only. We have hope in
IChrist we are OF all men most pitt
able" So it is meet that We assem-
bic on these annual occasions and paw
tribute to cur loved mes and fallen
comrades who have gone before.
There is no death The stars go
down
To rise upon some other shore,
And bright in heavens ieweled crown