Show the faith that life Is stronger than death N A spirit of solemn festival easter an Is celebrated commemorating to all christians the miracle and mystery of christs resurrection its season reason in the northern corthern Kor thern hemisphere Is the springtime of natures rebirth a perennial drama of life arising anew from the death and darkness of winter the story of scripture and the visible wonder of the earths transfiguration tell alike of the triumph of life over death of hopes victory over despair of the dawn that ends the night of doubt and waiting easter Is a christian festival but all nations and peoples from ancient times have acknowledged the symbolic significance of the conling coming of spring easter itself Is linked to forgotten ceremonies erem onles by which the alie sun was welcomed and the earth re dedicated to beauty and fruitfulness this was always ivans a mystery it Is still a mystery and a marvel though man has learned a little knowledge and has made the seasons his servants the flower that springs from the seed the glory of green that sweeps the hills in springtime are manifest miracles they fortify and justify the faith of those who believe that on easter morning a stone was rolled away from a sepulcher in palestine and death was found vanquished in the resurrection 0 0 in the simple words that tell of the earliest easter there Is evident the wonder of its witnesses and the joy with which they found their hopes come true for in the dark hours of gethsemane and golgotha all seemed lost save an oft repeated promise of resurrection and hope alone was left to warm the heart of faith and give it courage but the promise was kept and hope was justified and the miracle of easter morning became the cornerstone ner stone of christian faith and doctrine ne in a more ancient story written when irben no legend lacked a meaning tope hope was the last gift of the gods to a world infested with evils and sorrows and hope might have died and left the world desolate were it not for the promises made and kept with every cycle of the seasons these bome nourished in all ages the faith which Is the assurance of things hoped for the proving of things not dot seen they have taught men to work and wait and trust in the future to keep courage through darkness and doubt to seek for new life and happiness even in the presence of suffering and death it has been said that the times have taught us again the value of faith and the need for it if this Is so then this years easter will be widely ob served in serious and thoughtful spirit for these are times of doubt and dis coura gement and hope itself Is weary wear of waiting for light and leading the modern man Is perplexed with many problems but those that touch him closest are old as humanity itself he seeks lifes purpose and its destina desti dest nj he Is aware of his own bewilderment and troubled by the sardonic certainty of ft death life makes him many promises and asks much of his energy and ambition but grants no guarantees of peace or prosperity or happiness and he wonders whether this is all a sorry jest a pointless prank of fate an incident of the restlessness of life upon a little planet spinning aimlessly front from nowhere into nothingness the christian finds a sufficient an awer in the significance of easter morning the foundation of his bis faith Is the promise of resurrection anil and its supreme u fulfillment in the risen christ but the question Is older thin than christianity and its answer as old as the everlasting hills bills and the seasons which visit them life Is stronger than death and Is forever renewed in joy and loveliness darkness promises the dawn winter gives way to spring and summer the past may be forgotten the future Is worth waiting and working for for every flower of spring declares that nature Is no pessimist and has kept her promises since the world began and nan man who Is by birth a child of nature may learn from this living lesson to deny his own doubts and keep his courage for the work before him |