gether into one. That which we call dis- tance is annihilated, and the curtain drawn by sin is withdrawn from between the uppei and the lower glory, and the fields of a paradise that was never lost are brought into happy neighbourhood with the fields of paradise regained ; God's purpose develop- ing itself in the oneness of a two-fold glory, — the rulers and the ruled, — the risen and the unrisen, the celestial and the terrestrial, — the glory that is in the heaven above, the glory that is in the earth beneath ; for " there are celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another."
Such scenes we need to dwell upon, that as our tribulations abound, so also our con- solations may abound. Our wounds here are long in healing. Bereavements keep the heart long bleeding. Melancthon, with a tender simplicity so like himself, refers to his feelings when his child was taken
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from him by death. He wept as he re- called the past. It pierced his soul to re- member the time, when once, as he sat weeping, his little one with its little nap- kin wiped the tears from his cheeks*
Recollections like these haunt us through life, ever and anon newly brought up by passing scenes. Some summer morning's sun recalls, with stinging freshness, the hour when that same sun streamed in through our window upon a dying infant's cradle, as if to bring out all the beauty of the parting smile, and engrave it upon our hearts for ever. Or it is a funeral scene that comes up to memory, — a funeral scene that had but a few days before been a bridal one, — and never on earth can we forget the outburst of our grief, when we saw the bridal flowers laid upon the new-made tomb. Or some wintry noon recalls the time and the scene when we laid a parent's
* Memini cum infant ula mihi lachrymas a genis detergeret suo indusiolo, quo erat induta mane ; hio gestus penetravit in animum meum.
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dust within its resting-place, and left it to sleep in winter's grave of snows. These memories haunt us, pierce us, and make us feel what a desolate place this is, and what an infinitely desirable thing it would be to meet these lost ones again, where the meeting shall be eternal.
Hence the tidings of this reunion in the many mansions are like home-greetings. They relieve the smitten heart. They bid us be of good cheer, for the separation is but brief, and the meeting to which we look forward will be the happiest ever en- joyed. The time of sorrowful recollections will soon pass, and no remembrance remain but that which will make our joy to over- flow.
Every thing connected with this re- union is fitted to enhance its blessedness. To meet again any where, or any how, or at any time, would be blessed ; how much more at such a time, in such circumstances, and in such a home ! The dark past lies m 3
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behind us like a prison from which we have come forth, or like a wreck from which we have escaped in safety and landed in a quiet haven. We meet where separation is an impossibility, where distance no more tries fidelity, or pains the spirit, or mars the joy of loving. We meet in a kingdom. We meet at a marriage-table. We meet in the " prepared city," the New Jerusalem. We meet under the shadow of the tree of life, and on the banks of the river of life. We meet to keep festival and sing the songs of triumph. It was blessed to meet here for a day ; how much more to meet in the kingdom for ever ! It was blessed to meet, even with parting full in view; how much more so when no such cloud overhangs our future ! It was blessed to meet in the wilderness and the land of graves; how much more in paradise, and in the land where death enters not ! It was blessed to meet " in the night," — though chill and dark ; how much more in the
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morning, when light has risen and the troubled sky is cleared, and joy is spreading itself around us like a new atmosphere, from which every element of sorrow has disappeared !
CHAPTER IX.
THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.
To love in absence, though with the knowledge of being beloved, and with the certainty of meeting ere long, is but a min- gled joy. It contents us in the room of something better and more blessed, but it lacks that which true love longs for, the presence of the beloved one. That pre- sence fills up the joy and turns every sha- dow into brightness.
Especially when this time of absence is a time of weakness and suffering, and en- durance of wrong; when dangers come thickly around, and enemies spare not, and advantage is taken by the strong to vex or injure the defenceless. Then love in ab-
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sence, txiough felt to be a sure consolation, is found to be insufficient, and the heart cheers itself with the thought that the in- terval of loneliness is brief, and that the days of separation are fast running out.