THE LIFE UNFINISHED.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21148, 4 October 1930, Page 27

THE LIFE UNFINISHED.

Written for the Otago Daily Times. By the Rev. D. Gardner Miller. The Bible is rich in dramatic scenes. You cannot read the moving story of David lamenting over the untimely death of his son Absalom without seeing the scene, backed in the fierce light of the Oriental sun, taking place before your very eyes. The Massacre of the Innocents wrings the heart and brings a dry sob to your throat. The scene of the Transfiguration fills you with awe, while that of Judas kissing the Master makes you hot with anger and indignation. But few of the Bible scenes can compare with that of the death of Moses for sheer wistfulness. It is a scene that raises more than one question in the mind. It seems to leave the “why” of life unanswered. Here was a man—a great man—who was. not allowed to see the consuffiraatio nof his life’s work. His task was well nigh finished, but he was not permitted to say “It is done.” Naturally there gathered round the name of Moses all kinds of legends and traditions, seeking to explain why and how he was taken away from earthly life in such a mysterious manner. Even in the New Testament there is a curious, lingering tradition about the end of this remarkable man. You will find it In an obscure passage in Jilde, where mention is made about a tussle between the Archangel Michael and Satan regarding the body of Moses. The Jewish rabbis preserved a very delightful tradition; they said that God drew forth his (Moses’s) spirit with a kiss. George Eliot has embedded this tradition in sonorous words; And the Lord came. Invisible as a thought, Three angels gleaming on his secret track. Prince Michael, Zagaei, Gabriel, charged to guard The soul-forsaken body as It felt And bear It to the hidden sepulchre Denied for ever to the search of man. And the Voice eald to Moses: " Close thine eyes.", Ha closed them. “ Lay thine hand upon thine heart. And draw thy feet together." He obeyed. And the Lord said, “ 0 spirit t child of mtna I A hundred years and twenty thou has dwelt Within this tabernacle wrought of clay. This is the end: Come forth and flee to heaven." „ Vet hesitating, fluttering, like the* bird With young wing weak and dubious] the soul stayed, But behold 1 upon the death-dewed Ups A kiss descended, pure, unspeakable— The bodiless Love without embracing Love That lingered In the body, drew it forth With heavenly strength and carried It to heaven. But, after all is sajd and done, the old question still remains, why was he taken away before his task was finished. The obvious answer that he had disobeyed—or, rather, that he over-obeyed-—a command of God isn’t good enough, God does not deal petulantly with men whose whole concern is to make the world a better place for others to live in.

The question goes deeper. How many of us have asked why?—when a young life, full of purpose, has been suddenly cut off! We have all seen splendid Uvea suddenly ended^—like the frost nipping spring flowers—and the man who has an easy answer to such happenings is a man who has not pondered deeply. There is no easy answer—all we can do' is to conjecture—guess, if you like—but the conjecture may be v near the truth. At any rate, when I consider how Jesus Himseff - was cut off in young manhood and then trace his influence upon the world, after His death, I see,a glimmering of,light on the probledi, and it is this, that

INCOMPLETENESS IS A PROPHECY OP CONTINUANCE.

Life is ever haunted by a sense of failure and incompleteness. Would it not be true to say that incompleteness is the law of the,good life? The short span of human life—even If we live to a ripe old age—is all too short fOr the etching of character and the fulfilling of -hopes and the realisation of dreams. There must be time and opportunity elsewhere for the ripening of the seeds of life implanted in the soil of the immortal soul. To me, it is utterly wrong to imagine that when brother Death comes to carry us away he carries us to the oblivion of the unfinished. I believe passionately that he is but’ a messenger to carry us to the realm of attainment. It was So with Jesus. Only a portion of His work was finished when, at the age of 33, the darkness of death closed over Him.

He is doing a much greater and wider work now, for the glorious thing about the living Christ is the fact of His everliving presence in the world to-ddy. Death was not an end tv- Him, it was a liberation. The incompleteness of His life is seen t 6 be a prophecy of continuance. - It is along such lines that we can find help to our troubled minds when we see what seems to. us to be the terrible wastage of human life and possibilities. Going a little deeper, we realise that much of our troubled concern about the unfinished life arises from OUR FAULTY JUDGMENT.

We still stupidly try to judge life by results; whereas God judges by intention. A short life may, in the eyes of God, be of more value than a life lived to the last minute of the allotted span. It is what a man in his heart meant to be and to do .that God takes account of. Joshua brought the people into Canaan, but in the records of heaven Moses will get the credit. Solomon biiilt the temple, but the first stone was really laid when David in his heart longed to build a House of God. • Millionaires did not open up Africa, it was David Livingstone. His death throws the doors of Africa wide open. What is your motive, what your driving urge? God knows how difficult it is for most of us to do what we long to do, but in His mercy He gives us credit for the intention. In reality there is no such thing as an unfinished life. Influence cannot die, and individuality—even though removed from earth—cannot be dissolved. Moses died, but the Divine Purpose goes marching on. God buried Moses, and no one knows his grave—a beautiful reminder that the best memorial is to live in the hearts of those who come after us..