246
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
May 1930
L\&
T T r j . T • £ Unfading Life B y G. B. M. C louser
Cll-VlS-il^Vv
HEN the gallant soldier Ponce de Leon sailed from Spanish shores, he hoped to find gold and glory in this fairyland. He also hoped to find a magical fountain where he might bathe and regain his youth, for he was now a man bowed under the burden of years. But
death could not give his withering touch or add his mel ancholy strain. The tree of life in the midst was itself the means of perpetuating youth and beauty, and this great secret was his who was permitted to live under its shadow, and drink from the purling streams that flowed from it. It was given to Caleb to rise above natural law and demonstrate life on a higher plane. Witness the splen did example of one who retained all his powers at eighty- five ! There was no sign of decay in physical or mental life. His heart was as young at fourscore as at forty, and life to him was still big with possibilities. Hear him testify to his wonderful powers, “A s yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent m e ; as my strength zvas then, even so is my strength now fo r war, both to go out and come in.” Usually, one at his age would accept the easiest place, and leave great undertak ings to men of less years, but not so with Caleb. Instead of asking for an inheritance in the land where the inhab itants would give least resistance, he asked for the most difficult position, where the famous giants dwelt; and these were no match for him whose heart was still young, whose strength remained unimpaired, and whose outlook was as full of hope as the morning. An explanation of this unique example of unabated energy is found in the fact that he was faithful to every trust and obedient to every known command. There was no remorse from lost opportunities, no regret from neg lected duties, and no anxious care for the future. His faith reached beyond the weary years of the wilderness, and through anticipation he enjoyed the land of promise as a present possession. The forty years of wandering were to him as one day, because faith reckons not with time, while unbelief measures the passing moments and fills them with anxious care and impatience. T h e C ause of A ging The habit of measuring time has much to do with aging. This finds illustration in a case reported from England. Visitors from foreign shores are asked to judge of the age of a woman who resides in a quiet home near London. The answer is invariably 20, while in very fact she is 65 years of age! When but a maiden of 20, in that very home, she waited for her betrothed to lead her to the marriage altar. He failed to appear, and the shock proved too much for her mental poise. She is still look ing for her beloved, believing he will come in due time, entirely unconscious of the years that have come and gone. Failing to measure mentally the passing hours and days, she has not aged, though threescore years and more have rolled by. It is the habit of measuring time and lingering over the events of each day that brings the bowed form, the unsteady step, and furrowed brow. Philip Bailey has voiced the truest philosophy in his immortal lines: We live in deeds, not years; In thoughts, not breaths;
although he discovered new shores and called the land Florida, because it was so gay with flowers, he returned to his homeland without finding youth, gold, or glory. The fabled fountain of perpetual youth evaded his search, and he probably died an old man, regarding the legend as mere fiction. What the Spanish soldier failed to find was known to exist long centuries before. The desire in his heart for such a fountain was simply the evidence of a universal desire, and every true desire is a prophecy of some future possession or attainment. In the subjective intelligence there is the instinct for self-preservation, for the preser vation of the species, and the propagation of the species. There is also the instinct for retaining life in all its youthful vigor, beauty and charm. In early years there is always the reaching forward to a perfect unfolding when an informed mind would insure abiding pleasure; when the desire for splendid service would be realized, and the heart, enriched through love and sorrow, would fill full the cup of joy. This eager longing for the com pleteness that years must bring is evidence that normal life has not yet been reached, when happiness will not exist in anticipation but in possession. A full-orbed soul is necessary to complete life; but man is still in his youth when the education of the mind has been completed, when the physical form has been fully developed, and full consciousness of manhood dawns upon him. Having realized these, there is no desire to journey further. He would fain retain the dew of youth, and forego the experience of decay and death. The explanation of this is found in man’s nature—in the original purpose of his being. The spirit that differ entiates him from the beast is that which points to a larger life as a goal, and not death. Created for immortality, he has no natural instinct for death, but just the opposite —the desire for unfading life. True to his nature, he loves life; and because he was created for endless being, he is ever reaching out after a larger, richer life, after life more abundant. Having been fashioned for endless being, the human spirit has a repulsive feeling toward decay and death—a feeling that only the Gospel of resur rection hope can overcome. Man hates weakness and decay for the reason that they are enemies of life—they hinder the full consciousness of perfect existence. . S ecret of P erpetual Y outh The aged general from Spain who sought in the new world a renewed life, was reaching out after a long-lost truth—a truth known to Adam in the bright dawn of Eden’s day. It was through this secret that Adam lived almost a thousand years, yielding slowly to the decay that followed in the wake of sin. Apart from the experience of sin, Eden held the secret of eternal youth, where time could not write his record on a furrowed brow, where
In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives, Who thinks most—feels the noblest—acts the best.
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