A FUTURE LIFE 269 



might be granted to enlarge the work begun here but 

 left so incomplete at the close of even the longest 

 life. 



" Then we shall know," expresses an infinite long- 

 ing of the mind of man. The mind seeks to exhaust 

 the treasures of the universe. Has it been ordained 

 that this insatiable desire which would search out 

 God and bring to light all mysteries shall be buried in 

 the dust at the end of the few brief years of our 

 earthly pilgrimage? Would this not indicate an in- 

 completeness that does not elsewhere exist in nature? 



" Thou wilt not leave us in the dust, 

 Thou madest man, we know not why; 

 He thinks he was not made to die, 

 And thou hast made him, thou art just. 



"My own dim life should teach me this, 

 That life shall live forevermore, 

 Else earth is darkness at the core, 

 And dust and ashes all that is.'.' 



Faith, hope, love, reason, conscience, imagination, 

 all look to the future for the fulfillment of their 

 desires. The boundless desires of the mind demand 

 further time and opportunity for the accomplishment 

 of their purposes. 



We labor to-day that we and others may have 

 future material blessings in this life. The present 

 is made to serve the future. Man's superiority con- 

 sists largely in the faet that his faculties cause him to 

 store up knowledge and materials for future use. 

 The man who lives for to-day only we count of little 

 worth, and he is very liable to be a reckless and dan- 

 ous man to society. Human life is dignified and en- 

 nobled by making present conduct administer not 

 only to present, but also to future good. 



If the human race held the belief that death would 

 end all, what a change would be wrought in human 

 conduct! The belief in an infinite future for the soul 



