, 1923-03-29

SO said Jesus 10 HIS followers be-
fore He went to His death on Calvary. Later they
saw Him hinching beneath the weight of the cross
as He went forth from Pilates judgment hall along
the Way of Sorrows TO Golgotha. Still later they
saw Him dying on that cross. And finally they
saw Him risen from the dead on Easter Day.
To Jesus disciples the cross symbolized the
power of imperial Rome over those who offended
against her. Rome stood for material achievement,
for oppression. Jesus stood for spiritual things,
for love. for human freedom and brotherhood.
To the Christian of today Easter is a celebra-
ton OF the belief that Rome was wrong and that
Jesus was right. And he knows that he must car
ry the cross, ms well as cling TO the cross.
Man instinctively yearns for life beyond the
grave. It'll death do us part" reads the marriage
service. There are some who would have 1t so
that not even death can part them. Wrote Robert
Browning:
o. thou soul OF my soul l shall clasp thee again.
And with God be the restl
Many feel that If there Is to be no future life
for them then is this earthly life a hldeous iniqulty.
a prodigious failure. Wrote Tennyson:
Thou wilt not leave us in the dust;
Thou madest man, he knowsSnot why.
He thinks he was not made to die;
And Thou hast made him. Thou art just.
II seems Uncomfortable that man should toll up
ward with sweat and travail until a Lincoln could
say, "With malice toward none, with charity for
all" and then should come humiliation. Wrote
Darwin:
It is an intolerable thought that man and all other
sentient beings are doomed to complete humiliation
after such a long-continued and slow process.
So the Christian of today sees in Easter the an
swer to the ages-old question IF a man die, shall
he live agaln?"
This Is an old. old earth and man has lived long
upon it-so long that he celebrated Faster ages
before Jesus died upon the cross and rose from
the dead. The Easter that man celebrated before
Christianity cane was an instructive expression
9 his JOY that winter was over and spring was on
The way. To him the sun. II moi God himself. was
light and warmth and springlng life. So af or
nenr the vernal equinox early man celebrated the
change I'm the seasons that renewed his slender
lease on life and comfort
Man lnstinctively turns TO a god. II not to the
God. In the beginnings Of the race man saw god
in light aud darkness; heard god In the thunder
and the wind felt him In the manifold manifesto.
tions of nature. Perhaps most Of all early man
saw god in the sun that drew nearer In the spring
and gnye Hight and heat and food. So II is no
wonder that modern man rejoces as OF old at the
coming OF spring. He would sing. II he could. with
Bliss Carman:
Well 7 know
The sun wiz shine again and spring come back
Her ancient. glorious. golden-nowered way.
And gladness visit the green earth once more.
For many n city man does Berton Braley sneak
when he sings Of the tunes of the drst street
plano Of the spring:
They build me . vision Of meadows Flvsian.
or ~broorlots that habbie and hreezes that Groom.
And wistful and tender young spring IN her aplendor
Comes dancing to me on the wings OF a tune.
Russell Mott. n poet Of long ago. spoke for all
nature lovers when he wrote:
Godde heipe allie good adventurous
Who love strange roads sac wele,
Whose prysoune ~ a city street.
Whose counting-houHe a celle.
Send them a rafe dcltveraunce.
That each may lyte his Eyre.
with only the Ftnrrca for gaolors
lime the iande Of hys desyro.
60. H. .. .t-. -.- - In 20. HN..s.. ..... ~
q lure for mnny that no church can equnl.
Easter morn Mt sunrise. should you be In Los
Angeles and one OF those lured by the out-of-doors.
hasten to Eagle Rock park. You Will nnd many
others going your wny and you VIII come to n vast