August 1929
372
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The Landing Place of t h e Pilgrims, Ply mouth, Mass.
T h e renowned Ply mouth Rock is pro tected by the pergola.
tamed with the prospect of future compensation, when the gratitude of her child, like healing oil, shall be lav ished upon her. • As a creature of futurity, hope sustains with immortal strength the child of time. Through her imparted secret the child of adversity shows noble fortitude under trial. She has discovered “the fabled fountain of perpetual youth” and brings to the careworn and weary its renew ing draughts. To her belongs the magic art of sustaining life through long periods of darkness and discouragement. Enoch Arden is an apt illustration of this. When he said good-by to his fond family, it was with the expectation of returning in a reasonable time. But ten years were spent on a barren island in great suffering and privation, in which he was sustained alone by the hope of seeing home and loved ones again. The vision of that genial hearthstone, the anticipation of again joining that happy group, remained the strength of his heart and mind. He did return, but on approaching that home he found an other had taken his place, and, sustained no longer by hope, he died. T h e I n f in it e R eaches of H ope Hope is not only given to sweeten the sorrows of earth’s pilgrims and lead them to splendid attainments,— she not only deals with the highest and best in this life, but reaches on to eternal ages, and points out the soul’s future sphere and possessions. When the Prince of Life explored the regions of death and smote the lord of that kingdom, he bound to his girdle of strength the keys of death and hades, and came, forth from that dark domain the Liberator of death’s victims by making them “prisoners of hope.” By his Victory over the tomb the believer is begotten unto a living hope—even life forevermore. The Christian hope is big with immortality. With a firm unfaltering step he treads this vale of tears and pur
sues his pilgrimage toward that city whose light illumines life’s pathway. Beholding this, the soul is filled with vi sions of life indeed—of fadeless life in a sphere where death can never come. The power of an endless life is beyond human estimate; it imparts constant strength to the soul. It means a life over which the shadows of time will never gather, and where decay and death are un known; where the horizon of finite vision is never seen, and the soul, unhindered, unfolds into immortal strength and beauty. The most sustaining feature in the Christian’s hope is the hour of homecoming, when the wilderness shall be for ever past, and the one whose words ever quickened the soul to new affection, becomes an eternal possession. To reach the goal of all earthly toil and longing and stand at last in the presence of the most sublime Object in the uni verse ; to hear His words of approval and praise; and rest in the warm sunshine of His love—that will be realiza tion ! The power of His holy presence will repay for all the trials of life’s weary journey; the experience of His unhindered love will atone for all of earth’s disappoint ments ; and a moment’s gaze upon His matchless form will compensate for all of life’s sorrows and anguish. When immortal spirits shall bathe in that glorified scene, and the deep springs of desire shall be forever satis fied at “living fountains of life,” then hope may be lost in fruition; or if still abiding, she will point to the eternal hills beyond, and speak of future attainments. Eternal hope, when yonder spheres sublime Pealed their first notes to sound the march of time, Thy joyous youth began—but not to fade. When all the sister planets have decayed; When, wrapped in flame, the realms of ether glow, And heaven’s last thunder shakes the world below, Thou, undismayed, shall o’er the ruins smile, And light thy torch at nature’s funeral pile.
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