A great solemn gladness

To us here, death is the most terrible word we know.
But when we have tasted its reality, it will mean to
us birth, deliverance, a new creation of ourselves.
It will be what health is to the sick man. It will be
what home is to the exile. It will be what the loved
one given back is to the bereaved. As we draw near to
it, a great solemn gladness should fill our hearts.
It is God's great morning lighting up the sky.
- George Spring Merriam (1843-1914),
"A Living Faith" [1876]