"Yes; will you tell me?" asked Beryl eagerly, sure that he could tell her, if only he would.
The gentleman was silent for a minute, thinking how he could put in simplest words what he knew of the great mystery of the resurrection.
"Beryl," he said gently, "do you know that Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die'?"
"Yes," said Beryl, "I know; I found those words in the Bible."
"Well, my child, that word resurrection means life from the dead, a returning from the grave, as it were."
"But no one ever does return from the grave," said Beryl, her face full of wonder and awe.
"Jesus returned from the grave," said her new friend. "Do you not remember? You know that Jesus died?"
"Yes," said Beryl softly; "He was God's Son, and He died on the cross."
"And after He was dead they laid Him in the grave, a grave made in the rock, and a great stone was rolled to the mouth of the grave to make it secure. But Jesus could not be the prisoner of death. The Lord of Life rose from the dead, and when the women who loved Him came to weep beside the grave, they found the stone rolled away, and the place where He had lain empty. Then Jesus appeared to Mary and the other disciples, the very same Jesus whom they had known and loved and mourned as dead. And the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord, and knew that He had conquered death. And so Jesus is the Resurrection, the Life from the Dead, because having conquered Death Himself, He can promise the same victory to all who trust in Him. He has the keys of Death. Our dead are in His keeping, and He will raise them up at the last day. Can you understand me, my child?"
"Yes, I think so," said Beryl, but still looking puzzled. "But where do people go when they die? Where is my mamma? Where is Coral's papa?"