Now this instinct, which is so universal, is intended, I believe, to
have its final and full development in God. He is the Source and Essence
of all beauty. All the beautiful things that surround us here are but
glimmerings of the Eternal Loveliness. These beautiful things educate
and develop our taste for the final and full fruition of the very beauty
of God. When we see Him--and not till then--will our sense of beauty be
satisfied.
It is curious and very charming to notice the variety of effects of
sunsets. I saw a sunset on the Yellowstone River which, though not
remarkable in itself, suggested to me the boundless variety of effect.
Glinting and shimmering through the green foliage of the trees the
distant river was aglow with crimson and gold, reminding me of the
celestial "sea of glass mingled with fire," And if we have such beauty
and variety here, what unimagined beauty and what endless variety
must be there.
Can you cherish the sweet memory of a sainted father, or mother, or
child? If you can, that sacred memory will be a purifying, ennobling
influence for you all your life long. Our sainted dead are not quite
lost to us; the dear face Is seen again as the face of an angel; the
familiar tones come back to us like music in our dreams. And these
blessed memories do not seem to fade; on the contrary, they seem to grow
more vivid and spiritual with the lapse of years. Sometimes, when such
memories would make us ashamed of ourselves and our sin, we may try to
crush them out of sight and hearing. We cannot sin comfortably with
those faces before our eyes, and those tones ringing in our ears. But
such memories will not be utterly banished; they come back suddenly,
when they are not expected; they pursue us like good spirits from a
world unseen. Eternity alone will tell how often a course of sin was
arrested, and the penitent wooed to a better life by the memory of a
sainted friend. I regard these holy memories as God's guardian angels.
They follow us with tender ministries of love; they often raise us when
we fall; they lift us above the dull level of the world; they nourish in
us higher ideals of purity and blessedness; they foster a more vivid
faith in the world unseen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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