If they did, they would
feel that this solemnity was reflected upon life, and life would became
to them serious as death. Both would be serious, but neither sorrowful;
for then death would lose its terror and would be looked forward to
simply as the beginning of eternal life. The solemnity of life lies in
the fact that it is a preparation for eternity; and the solemnity of
death in the fact that the preparation is over and the eternity begun.
In all this there is no cause of sadness, but infinite cause for
thoughtful seriousness.
When the true solemnity of life is comprehended, and the Character is
moulded in accordance with the ideas that in consequence possess the
soul, a growth of the whole nature is induced that prevents all the
repulsive characteristics of old age. Too often old age is utterly
disagreeable through the indulgence of ill-temper, fretfulness, and
selfish indifference to the wishes and pleasures of the young. Such
traits of Character could never possess us if the true import of
life were comprehended, and the Character formed in harmony with its
teachings. A Character that grows in grace daily must become more and
more beautiful and attractive with advancing years. Each day, as it
finds it better fitted for heaven, must find it less sullied by the
imperfections of earth.
We sometimes see persons discontented and peevish because they are
old,--because they feel that they must soon pass away from the
earth.
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