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Page 31
Jesus has furnished no clew to the origin of moral evil, but He has
given to the hope that it is to be overcome in the individual, the race,
and the universe, the testimony of His teaching and the emphasis of His
death.
Which is the greater mystery, life or death? A satisfying answer is
impossible, since we cannot think of one without thinking of its
opposite. What is life? Whence is it? Why is it? Such are some of the
questions which arise and elicit no response when one meditates upon the
mystery of living. What is death? What purpose does it serve? Is it an
end or a beginning? Such are some of the inquiries which cannot be
escaped when one, for even a few moments, looks, as all some time must
look, on the still and peaceful face of one who has ceased to breathe.
Who shall answer our questions? Of all who have attempted to fathom
these depths One alone has brought a message which is satisfying both to
the minds and hearts of those who think. Does any light from Jesus
penetrate the mystery of death? What others have groped after he has
declared. He taught that the universe is like a house of many rooms, and
that dying is but passing from one room to another. In His own
experience He illustrated His teachings. He ministered to His
disciples; He communed with those whom He loved until their hearts
burned within them. Then He disappeared and has been seen no more. But
why did He appear at all after death? Was it not to confirm the message
of the Transfiguration that those who seem to die only change the mode
of their existence, and continue their companionships and ministries
even after they have laid aside their bodies?
In the passage in the Gospel of Matthew, which may be called the parable
of the judgment, Jesus taught that the moral order is not changed by the
transition from bodily to disembodied existence. The thoughts which men
think, and the actions which they perform, affect the substance of the
soul. Evil works misery and virtue leads to happiness beyond the grave
as well as here. Seed sown on the earth may grow to its harvest in the
ages that lie beyond.
This is all the light on this subject that we need now. Death removes
no one beyond the watch and care of the infinite love. In the home of
the Heavenly Father His children pass from place to place, as He calls.
Jesus appeared to those who loved Him, and was recognized by them, and
that indicates that, whatever the changes of the future, the spiritual
body will be recognized by all who love.
The moral order is universal, and no change will touch the everlasting
distinctions between right and wrong, or diminish the obligation to
choose the right and refuse the wrong.
These are some of the lessons which are impressed upon us as we meditate
upon the life and teachings of Jesus and their relation to the ascent of
the soul.
He is the light of all souls. Into the darkness His glory has been
extending and expanding from His own time until now. If we may judge
the future from the past, it is easy to believe that this radiance will
not fail from among men until all realize that life and death, time and
eternity, humanity and history, are beset behind and before by the
Divine Fatherhood; that the goal of the race is the fullness of Christ;
that the severest experiences sometimes achieve the best results; that
sin will not forever darken the history of humanity; that death is a
passage not an abyss; an opening not a closing; a beginning not an
ending; and that beyond stretch opportunities of limitless life and
immortal growth.
THE INSEPARABLE COMPANION
The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed,
If Thou the Spirit give by which I pray:
My unassisted heart is barren clay,
Which of its native self can nothing feed:
Of good and pious works Thou art the seed,
Which quickens only where Thou say'st it may
Unless Thou show to us Thine own true way,
No man can find it: Father! Thou must lead.
Do Thou, then, breathe those thoughts into my mind
By which such virtue may in me be bred
That in Thy holy footsteps I may tread;
The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind,
That I may have the power to sing of Thee,
And sound Thy praises everlastingly.
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