Year: 1874

responsible now for what did then,
and have l not the consciousness OF
identity though this total change has
taken place? The principle OF lden-
titv, that which makes me the same
person that l was seven years ago, is
not flesh, blood, or bones. These evolve
into the elements out of which they
came, and go into the composition OF
other organic beings, and come back


to me in another stage of life on earth,
and identity is not to be affirmed OF
ANYTHING that thus changes its rela-


tions, and has no fixed habitation in


the individual to be identified.


at is sown a natural body, it is rails
ed a spiritual body" In that truth is


the germ of the whole philosophy of
the resurrection. A spirit doth not


have flesh and blood. But it has a


body. 1t may, and doubt not it will,


be in the human form, such as Christ
and Moses and Elias had when they
appeared unto men. 1t may be, and l


doubt not it will be, the form that we


now wear, not necessarily the form we


put off when We die, nor the form that


we have at any one period in our life


on earth, but the form that Identifies


the spirit that is ours, that makes the


me as distinct from y0u and all others


in the wide world; that indeiinable


personality that makes each human be-
| ing in the universe, of all time past and
all time to come, one and not another,
and so diverse from all others as to be


held to his own responsibility for eve


rv thought and deed. This iswhat is


meant by identity. And when the spir-


ltual body, like unto the glorious body


of Christ, is raised in the human form


and the same form that was borne on


earth, We shall know as We are known.
All the faculties of the mind are i'm
mortal, and surely we shall not know


less than we do now. All the atfec-
tions of the soul remain, and surely we


shall love those who are dear to us now.


And thus We come naturally and scrip


turallv TO the conclusion that We shall


recognize, and love, and enjoy in heaven
lall the good whom We loved on earth.
| That the enjoyment of heaven will


be marred by the absence of any dear


to us is not possible, because the hap


piness is perfect. The highest of all
iioy is the consummation of the perfect


will of infinite wisdom and love; and
that is the consummation which con.
stitutes the blessedness of the heaven.
" state. But it is consistent with oul
higher Joy in Him who is the light and
i life of heaven, that We should rejoice
in reunion with children and friends
/ who were the delight of our lives while
here, and whose society We confidently
anticipate as part of the pleasures
!, there.


J, Thus have I given you, dear sir, my
"opinion," which is, indeed, of little
worth, but you will be more strength
. ened when | tell You that it is the opin
ion. and the confident faith Of tn,
!, Church in all the ages, that patriarch
and apostles held it, and that it is fal
| easier to tear the soul from the bod,


than to take this faith out of the hear
r of a Christian.


But there is something better ant
5 greater than this expectation of know


ing our friends in heaven. You ma,
be very unwise to spend your time il
4, thinking much about it. 1t is bette
to live for and in the present: to liv
for the living and not with the dead
! to live so that when Christ shall ap
l pear YOU may appear with Him il
E glory. IREN-EUs