Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1924-10-22
Obituary-Wilma Elwen

Wilma Lillian ElW0ll, uduSuIer VI
John and Blanch Elwell, was born in
the township of Waterloo, May 26th,
1910. She finished the country school
in April, 1924, and entered the high
school at Lancaster Sept. 8, 1924.
About two weeks afterwards she was
taken sick at her aunt Belle Will
liams' on Sept 81, and died Sept. %
at 5:15 o'clock in the morning. She
leaves her mother and father and sis
ter Vera Balnch, and brother, Nor
man John.
Wilma was greatly beloved and a
girl of much promise. The early and
sudden going to her eternal home
aroused tremendous sympathy thru
out the whole community.
The funeral was conducted by Rev.
John Birrell on Tuesday, Sept. 80, at
2 o'clock in the afternoon.
The minister sought to bring COM
fort from words found in Zacharlah
8:5, "And the streets of the city shall
be full of boys and girls playing in
the streets thereof" Rev. Birrell said.
Imagine a city without boys and
girls in it. One of our bishops, relat-
ing his experience travelling in Europe
soon after the great war, said that the
most distressing thing to him was the
fact that in Poland there was not a
child under six years of age.
Imagine city where there were no
boys and girls playing in the streets
thereof. When Florence Nightingale
returned from a trip to Egypt, she
said the most pathetic thing she saw
was the faces of the children-"for
they do not laugh" A sorry sight. A
truly pagan sight, loveless children
who do not play. There are no pic
lures of children in ancient art. No
poems of children in ancient liter
allure. But in Christian lands the chill
dren play with true joy, freedom and
victorious liberty. Christ emancipates
the children. The fragrance they bring
is due to the Christian religion. Thelr
fragrance carries to the holy city,
where the "oldest angel is the
youngest" and the youth of the soul
is eternal and eternity is youth.
This playing in the eternal city IS
the labor and service of Gods chill
dren. The difference between work
and play is in the spirit. Work is
activity for an end; play is activity as
an end" Play is not like work, in that
It has no force behind it. 1t is labor,
but in. the labor there is liberty. so
Christianity lifts us into the complete
ness of joy.
80 Death was nameless dread TILL
Easter came,
And life was broken thought till
Easter came,
And love was a broken dream till
Easter came,
Till He arose, the imaged Love OF
Love,
And said. the truer, deeper is be-
yond, above:
And love link of heaven and
earth became:
And death a name"
The Gospel of Christ emphasize the
Joyous spirit of the heavenly city.
Someone has said, at is no mere
figure of speech to say, the waters
play upon the shore, the wind plays
in the trees, or the sunlight plays on
the grass" The words are real. The
creative work of the infinite is play,
not task-work. This outcome OF love,
liberty, of superintendent, everlasting
life. So YOU have this writer with IT.
resistable conviction, witnessing III
human speech of the playing in the
streets of the Eternal City, as the ham
diwork of God.
We speak of heaven as place OF
rest. 40 to be at rest" For all OF us
there comes Friday night Our work is
done We lay aside our tools of labor.
We are tired and say: 80 God, give
us rest" And we fall asleep. Then
dawns Saturday. The Eternal Sabbath
and our Lord Jesus is there. Then II
is that weary faculty, every, part q
our being is full of life. The desire TO
serve in holy joy, not rest. Want to
serve and that service of eternity is
play.
Everything answers to its counter
part. Wherever there is fire there
is water to match it; wherever there
is an eye, there is light to match 1t;
wherever there is an ear, there IS
sound to match it. So is it with all
the senses. So is it with religion. Thls
earth is not our abiding place. And
religion links US with an eternal
home.
l.