THOUGHTS SUGGESTED BY THE DEATH OF A SISTER.
By E. Goodrich
Yes, she is gone. Alice, our loved sister, once so sprightly and gay, so buoyant with life and hope, is now dead and sleeping in yonder silent tomb. O, how we miss her! how little did we think the place she filled so large! How much we loved her, and how poorly prepared to give her up and see her no more! But she has passed from us. Those sparkling eyes and that smiling face will be seen no more. That merry ringing laugh and gleeful voice will never again be heard by us. All that was lovely is now passed into silence and screened from our view. And Oh, how our hearts ache when we think of the loneliness, the emptiness and silence that everywhere reigns in the place once filled by our dear sister! Why was she taken from us in youth, just as she began to realize life? Just as hope began to bud and blossom, expanding her young mind to behold many a verdant field of pleasure and scenes of happy, joyous life? But why should we mourn, or repine, or charge folly to our Maker? He loveth all his creatures. He doeth all things well; and not even a sparrow can fall to the ground unnoticed by him. And although we feel afflicted and pained, yet this is but a forcible confirmation of the revealed will of God, which declares, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Again, "All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." And again, how solemn and impressive the scripture: "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not." But then it was so sudden, so unexpected, that it gave us but little time for reflection, or to ask ourselves whether we had done all our duty to her or not; whether we had always been as kind, as courteous, as patient, as loving and forgiving as we wish we had been to her. It is no pleasure now to remember those idle or angry words spoken to her or in her presence. How we wish that we had been more thoughtful, more watchful and prayerful before her, and for her. But it is all passed now. All those golden moments and opportunities once enjoyed, yet so lightly esteemed, are all fled from our embrace. They are gone, yea, forever gone, so that they may not be recalled. How solemn the thought! Yet this we may do: We may begin anew to serve God. We may from this moment double our diligence, and henceforth be more devoted and watchful than we have ever been. And although we have not power to call our sister back to earth again, yet this we may do, we may heartily repent of our past follies and neglect, and hereafter be to those living, what we wish we had been to her that is now dead. And thus the affliction may be sanctified to our good and the good of others, and we be made wise to redeem the time. How important the lesson that we may here learn! As the Psalmist said, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy word. . . . It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes." Ps. cxix, 67, 71. We little realize the worth of the blessings that we enjoy. Until they are taken from us they seem to us as a matter of course. But when they are gone, how we value them, and how ready we are to upbraid ourselves for being so careless as to let them pass unimproved and unemployed. We are ready to exclaim, O, could we but live our lives over again, how differently would we live! Surely we would be more thoughtful, more wise. But it is folly to indulge in such idle fancies. They do us no good. They make us no better. They do not improve the present moment; and any reformation that neglects the present moment is deceptive. The good that it promises is never reached. Yea, it matters but little whether we look back or forward with good wishes or desires, unless we have sufficient strength, sufficient moral courage to brave opposition, to take up our cross and obey the truth now, to-day. We surely are no better; we are yet unconverted; our hearts are yet unsubdued by divine grace and wisdom. Now is the accepted time, and behold now is the day of salvation. Yea, all hangs upon the present moment, to improve which is (so far as we can) to atone for the past and fully prepare us for all there is for us hereafter to do, to suffer or enjoy. Indeed, it is not a change of circumstances, or a restoration of misspent time that we need so much as a change of heart, a change of disposition and life. We need the Spirit, the power and wisdom of God to reign within us to the subduing of all sin. And if indeed we are sorry for our past follies or sins, we shall be in earnest trying to right the wrongs that have existed. We shall be more watchful and wise for the future. We shall be careful not to offend in word or in deed. We shall cease to do evil and learn to do well. This is the kind of reformation everywhere recommended and urged in the Bible. A repentance that is genuine enables a man to break off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by turning to God. O, may God grant me that repentance, and that all my afflictions and losses may be sanctified to my good, in enabling me the more wisely and faithfully to improve upon the many remaining blessings that I enjoy.
E. GOODRICH.