"Perhaps the disciples, their hearts bowed down with grief and disappointment, held this thought as they saw the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea sealed upon the body of their beloved Master. But three days pass, and lo!—all is changed! The stone is rolled away and Christ has risen! How the message spreads! He is with them once again, and blessed days they are! But it is not for long, for heaven receives Him from their sight. Clearly, then, came to them again His words, 'I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am ye may be also.' What! They, too? Yes, for did he not say, also, 'Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, in which all that are in their graves shall hear His voice and come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life.'
"Today, there comes to us anew the revelation of the truth which came to the disciples on that wonderful resurrection morn. True, it may be that our pathway may lead more quickly than we think to this place which we call the grave. [Draw pathway to the grave.] True, there is a wall between human vision and the mysterious beyond. [Draw the wall.] But true, also, and gloriously true, is it that the grave opens to us the mysteries beyond the wall. [Draw line to change headstone to door]—while the pathway leads to—what? We can only suggest it here, with a few feeble lines. [Draw distant city, in red, using orange for rays of light. Add the word "Life," completing [Fig. 40].]
"Someone has said that the night of life is the dawn of peace. Browning says that 'you never know what life means till you die.' Another has said, 'The dead are glad in heaven; the living 'tis that weep.' And all, though they point to the pathway beyond the wall as that toward which we should push forward, are firm in the knowledge that the earthly pathway of peace and love is more essential than this, for without it we cannot reach the other. 'There is but one way to get ready for immortality,' says Van Dyke, 'and that is to love this life, and live it as bravely and cheerfully and faithfully as we can.' And I know it is our prayer that we may do this in the fullness of the meaning of the words."
THE PUZZLE PICTURE
—God's Love
—Nature
When We Have Solved It, Let Us Learn to Find God in All His Works of Nature.
THE LESSON—That we shall find the loving presence of God everywhere in nature, if we but seek Him.