TO THOSE WHO HAVE LOST LOVED ONES

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25084, 23 December 1944, Page 2

TO THOSE WHO HAVE LOST LOVED ONES

By the REV. D. C. HERRON, M.C.

NO servants of .State are more carefully chosen than ambassadors. Any ambassador who does not accurately represent the views of his nation could easily precipitate an international crisis. The true ambassador embodies in himself the spirit of his nation. Many of the inhabitants of the land where he holds office get their conception of his nation from contact with him. When Jesus came to earth on the first Christmas Day He came as the Ambassador of God. Henceforth when people wanted to know what God was like they had only to look at and listen to Jesus. . Two things He told us are of intense interest to those who have lost loved ones. m , Have Lost Nothing (1) God is our Father. He loves and will always love us. That means that His interest in us and in those whom we love will never ceast. Fathers never cease to be interested in their children. The fact that they have died in battle does not alter our love for those whose lives have been closely knitted to ours. When Charles Kingsloy's wife died he had carved on her tombstone the three Latin words which mean "We loved, we love, we will love." Love that has in it the quality of God's love is indestructible. Now Jesus built on this fact the argument that there must be a Future Life. When some people came to Him who were sceptical about there being another life He said, "Of course there is another life. God is the God of Abram and of Isaac and of Jacob. He doesn't cease to love those whom He once loved because they are now dead." Pondor that. (2) Jesus indicated that the reward of having done a good job here would be that in that other life we would be given a bigger one. In the parable, the man who snowed grit in the use of what God gave him was given not a halo and a harp—these would not be attractive to many whom we call to mind today—but the responsibility for the management of ten towns. Now, if Jesus knew the mind of God—and our deepest instincts tell us that He did—then those who, after "one crowded hour of glorious life," in the full strength of young manhood have passed on to the next Department, have lost nothing by their early departure. They have been promoted to their new work er an wou ld have wished— Tor,L'„P rora There is no occasion for , as , are concerned. TvnarPL *° n all work. Katherine •lynan has a lovely poem about them.

Lest Heaven be thronged with greyheads hoary, God, who made boys for Ills delight, Stoops in the day of grief and glory, And calls them In, in for the night. When they come trooping from the war, Our skies have many a new gold star. [leaven's thronged with gay and careless faces, New-waked from dreams of dreadful things. They walk in green and pleasant places, And by the crystal water springs; Who dreamt of dying and the slain, And the fierce thirst and the strong pain. Dear boys! They shall be young forever. The Son of God rvas once a boy. They run and leap by a clear river; And of their youth they have great joy. God. who made boys so clean and good, Smiles with the eyes of fatherhood. Now Heaven is by the young invaded. Their laughter's in the House of God. Stainless and simple as He made it, God keeps the heart of the boy unflawcd. The old wise saints look on and smile; They are so young and without guile. Oh! If the sonless mothers weeping, And widowed girls could see inside. The glory that hath them in keeping, Who went to the Great War and died. They would rise and put their mourning off, And say, "Thank God, He has enough."

We are glad that, because Jesus came to eartli at Christmas and revealed the nature and purpose of God, we know as much as we do about those who have gone into The House of Many Mansions. But do they know anything about us? It does not come directly from Jesus, but one of the writers in the New Testament suggests that they do. It May Be So In one of Boreham's books ho tells the story of a public school boy in England who was a wonderful cricketer. His father, who was blind, was so keenly interested in his prowess that often he used to go and sit in the grandstand for the sake of catching the comments of the other spectators on his son's play. But the week before a great school match the father suddenly took ill and died. The school was cast into gloom. They felt they could not ask the boy to play immediately after his father's funeral and without him their chances of success were small. However, he returned to school the night before the match and stated that he was prepared to play.. He played as one inspired and largely as tho result of his outstanding innings his school won. The whole crowd was carried away by the brilliancy of his strokes. After the match his housemaster on congratulating him said that in the sad circumstances it was wonderful that ho was able to play so well. Although the boy's lip trembled, he looked into the master's face in a surprised way and said: "Don't you understand, sir? It is the first time that my father has ever seen me play." Pondor that. It may be so.