South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-04-16


dead which we this Easter day
- solemnly commemorate is not
merely an historical date but an
event which holds before man the
glorious promise OF an eternal life.
We live again Is the Joyous song
OF this Easter morn and these three
words were the earth's first gospel
% mankind for the first green grass
az the springtlme contends for this
doctrine OF triumph from the grave
OF transient death. The lilies fore
told il 10 man and the red breasted
robin that broke the first long silence
If winter had 80 for the inspiration
OF his song So too. In the heart OF
man. there are the wings for an
other life. folded tight. but doubt,
strange philosophy and heavy des-
pair cover them deep.
There comes a DAY. however. some
Easter day when each one OF us feels
the divine impulse from within Of
the consci business Of an enduring
truth. II is forever the little things
that beckon US back 20 the fair in
uocency Of our Eden days-maybe
1.-THE plaintive cry or a babe-perhaps
n view OF an expanse of land or sea.
The spell OF earth-darkness is for
the moment broken and by the
graciousness Of God we sense the
completeness that reaches beyond
this life and confirms our faith in
another. After all our belief IS
founded upon a reality that con
ouers death in us and fills every
grave with eternal hope.
When man dies, does he live
again 2"--is an old question kept
perennialIy fresh by the toIling Of
the funeral bells. The question has
"a fascination for many OF US which
10 did not possess year ago because
since last Easter we have stood by
the open graves OF those for which
the whole city mourned. Death
stimulates our interest in the finer
things Of life and forces US into
moods Of reflection which the in
tellect does its best 10 answer No
man will dispute the fact that life
after death is possible. To say that
death ends atll is 10 say something
which no living person can ever
prove Many eyes have kept keen
guard but none have ever seen a
human spirit pass into nothingness.
The skeptic is forced 10 confess that
FOR all he knows life after death Is
possible.
But. IS life after death probable"
at this point the philosophers may
speak. For centuries they have been
accommodating a mass OF observations
and deductions which TO many minds
bring assurance that death is not
an end They say much about the
instincts that survive generation af-
ter generation and Of desires which
cannot be eXtiRguished. In the
structure OF mans being they have
found indications that endow him
as creature to live i'm two worlds.
The vast area of his grasp, the
heights % which his aspirations
roam. the realms OF knowledge
ever-soaring and hhe virtue OF which
he dreams yet cannot possess within
this life. arc mighty evidences that
in death man is reborn.
Faster completes our faith for on
this and every Faster we Christians
reahirm our belief that the Infinite
and Eternal Energy from which all
things proceed and the Power. not
ourselves which makes for righteous
ness has dweIt i'm one incompatible
life. filling il fun OF Himself" so that
Jesus OF Nazareth could truly say
Ct and my Father are one" and His
most intimate companion on earth
could write THAT which we
have seen with our eyes, which We
have looked upon and our hands
have handled. of the Word OF life
declare unto YOU. that We also
MAY have fellowship with ms. and
truly our fellowship is with the
Father and His son Jesus Christ
The secret then Of an unwaverinS
faith in immortality lies in the
christian conception Of God That
conception has not been weakened
or altered by what modern science
has discovered. ON the contrary II
has been frightened by the enuncia-
tion OF great principles which science
labels natural Laws
1T is the Christ i'm us" said a
wise man. who is the hope OF
glory which ] interpret that the
guarantee % future life lies within
lent 20 the high and eNorable laws
of our beings that our natures sire
lifted Co their highest powers and
we become aware that life is end
less It is then the wings we
thought we're dead under the world
illness that oftentimes besets us. UNI
fold and I'M that moment we are free
Co make prayer. 90 feel aEain the
light upon our faces We have as
20 were. risen from the grave Of dcs-
pair and grief as surely as Christ
rose from the dead What matters
the date u IS divine Easter I'm our
hearts
The worst OF us as well as the
best have had our resurrection-
golden moments when We stand side
bv side with the saints-moments Of
sublime repentance when we see God
and have 0cctins vision Of His per-
fcction. The. sinner .u his haunts OF
evil no less the monk in his cell.
hear The ever reCurrent cry from
that which calls above the stern
reality of this world 20 a glimpse Of
that life beyond These are the
Intervals i'm the lives OF men that
keep forever alive a supreme faith
lr the promise that Christ save TO
His world And so long as these inn
pulses come 10 human hearts Moth
ing can defeat in them the convic-
tl0u OF immortality-nci philo-
sonhy nor experience.
The verifcatlon Of our faith i'm
spires the fact that He who lived
then lives also now We can and do
know Him as The Eternal Presence,
who though invisible. grants AS the
Fellowship OF living and lfc-siN-
ing God This is the glory OF Easter