Lesson 252: Death

Chaplain Abraham Ryan Abraham Joseph Ryan, Chaplain, CSA Sentinel Public Domain Courtesy of Mark Carroll 2009

For contemplation on All Saints Day, Sunday, November 1, 2009 

 



Death



Out of the shadows of sadness,
Into the sunshine of gladness,
 Into the light of the blest;
Out of a land very dreary,
Out of a world very weary,
 Into the rapture of rest.

Out of to-day's sin and sorrow,
Into a blissful to-morrow,
 Into a day without gloom;
Out of a land filled with sighing,
Land of the dead and the dying,
 Into a land without tomb.

Out of a life of commotion,
Tempest-swept oft as the ocean,
 Dark with the wrecks drifting o'er;
Into a land calm and quiet,
Never a storm cometh nigh it,
 Never a wreck on its shore.

Out of a land in whose bowers
Perish and fade all the flowers:
 Out of the land of decay,
Into the Eden where fairest
Of flowerets, and sweetest and rarest,
 Never shall wither away.

Out of the world of the wailing
Thronged with the anguished and ailing;
 Out of the world of the sad,
Into the world that rejoices --
World of bright visions and voices --
 Into the world of the glad.

Out of a life ever mournful,
Out of a land very lornful,
 Where in bleak exile we roam,
Into a joy-land above us,
Where there's a Father to love us --
 Into our home -- "Sweet Home".
* * * * *

Reflection on the poem "Death" and the Season

Unto the church of God, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. [1 Cor 1:2-3]

This Sunday happens to fall on All Saints Day, and as is the custom with many churches, each year sees an All Saints Sunday when the folk pause to remember those mighty Christians whose deeds are recalled by the church.

Chaplain Ryan's poem seems particularly appropriate as he writes of the destiny of the saints. Christ has defeated death in his victory at the cross, and those saints in his Church have that promise to strengthen and comfort them.

As I write this, it is All Hallows Eve, and the day when Brother Martin Luther tacked his list of 95 Thesis (grievances) on the university door and stated a Reformation that aimed to recapture the early Christian faith.

That faith held, as Paul shows in his opening to the Corinthians, that Christ has called out from amongst men those chosen to be saints. Who are they? God knows. Certianly they include those in the visible church who are true in heart.

We know our scriptures tell us that those who are in Christ shall never be separated from him, and he will not suffer the loss of any that belong to him.

I close with this quotation from Bruder Martin,

I believe that there is upon earth a little holy group and congregation of pure saints, under one head, even Christ, called together by the Holy Ghost in one faith, one mind, and understanding, with manifold gifts, yet agreeing in love, without sects or schisms. I am also a part and member of the same, a sharer and joint owner of all the goods it possesses, brought to it and incorporated into it by the Holy Ghost by having heard and continuing to hear the Word of God, which is the beginning of entering it. For formerly, before we had attained to this, we were altogether of the devil, knowing nothing of God and of Christ. Thus, until the last day, the Holy Ghost abides with the holy congregation or Christendom, by means of which He fetches us to Christ and which He employs to teach and preach to us the Word, whereby He works and promotes sanctification, causing it daily to grow and become strong in the faith and its fruits which He produces. [Luther]

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven


Deo vindice
The Reverend Mark Carroll,
Colonel Ben Caudill Camp
All Hallows Eve, MMIX

Editor's note: This is another of Chaplain Ryan's postbellum poems of the South The Reverend Ryan was born in 1838 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest on All Saints Day, (Nov 1) 1856, and enlisted as a Chaplain, CSA, September 1, 1862. He served throughout the war as a chaplain. After the war he founded and served as editor of the Banner of the South, in Augusta, Georgia. He also served as a parish priest in many southern cities. Book here.Coming from a man who saw the Southron brave fall first hand, and offered continual prayers for them, one cannot easily pass over these words.
Deo Vindice.