Would you, now, that this inhabitant of heaven
should be degraded to earth again? Would you remove him from those rivers
of delight to this dry and thirsty land? Would not this be cruel?
When, therefore, your babe is taken from you, regard it as a kind deed of
your heavenly Father, and say, "even so it seemeth good in thy sight:"
"Pour not the voice of woe!
Shed not a burning tear
When spirits from the cold earth go,
Too bright to linger here!
Unsullied let them pass
Into oblivion's tomb--
Like snow-flakes melting in the sea
When ripe with vestal bloom.
Then strew fresh flowers above the grave,
And let the tall grass o'er it wave."
But the death of little children is a great mercy, not only to themselves,
but also to the living. Those that remain behind are greatly benefited
thereby. It exerts a sanctifying, elevating and alluring influence over
them. As they pass in their bright pathway to heaven, they leave a blessing
behind. God takes them in goodness to us. The interests of the parents are
not different from, or opposed to, those of their offspring. The happiness
of the latter is that of the former. If, therefore, their death is their
blessing, it must be the parent's blessing also. "If love," says Baxter,
"teaches us to mourn with them that mourn, and rejoice with them that
rejoice, then can we mourn for those of our children that are possessed of
the highest everlasting happiness?"
It is true, their sweet faces, unfurrowed by guilt or shame, we shall
never more gaze upon; the sound of their happy lullaby we shall never again
hear.
Pages:
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316