June 10
The Dead Are Alive
In the Hour of Silence"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God."
I SAW the dead, St. John says, his eyes purged with heaven's euphrasy and rue—I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.
The vision has its sad and awful meaning.
It dissipates so roughly my fond and foolish dreams; for it is the assurance that even death—
"A nest of nights, a gloomy sphere, Where shadows thicken, and the cloud Sits on the sun's brow all the year, And nothing moves without a shroud"—
will not open a door into quiet oblivion and rest. It overturns so completely my favourite tests and standards of conduct; for it carries me not to the bar of self or of society or of friends, but of God and the great white throne. It rebukes all pride and exclusiveness; for it destroys class distinctions, and sets the small side by side with the great—it tells me that rank and culture and correctness of belief will not help me, unless I have hidden myself in the high tower of the Rock of Ages. And it cuts off a thousand vain hopes. For who can conceal himself from the King's gaze? Who can escape the King's verdict?
But the vision has its bright and blessed meaning.
It promises the children of God a full and abundant life. It promises them a large and glorious brotherhood. It promises them a confirmed and unspotted holiness. The pillar of Cloud and Fire, which is so disquieting to Egypt, is a token of good to Israel.
May the grace of God prepare me here for standing before Him yonder.