“When Victor Hugo was more than eighty years old, he expressed his faith in this beautiful way:

‘Within my soul I feel the evidence of my future life. I am like a forest that has been cut down more than once, yet the new growth has more life than ever.  I am always rising toward the sky, with the sun shining down on my head.  The earth provides abundant sap for me but heaven lights my way to worlds unknown. 

“People say the soul is nothing but the effect of our bodily powers at work.  If that were true, then why is my soul becoming brighter as my body begins to fail?  Winter may be filling my head, but an eternal spring rises from my heart.  At this late hour of my life, I smell the fragrance of lilacs, violets, and roses, just as I did when I was twenty.  And the closer I come to the end of my journey, the more clearly I hear the immortal symphonies of eternal worlds inviting me to come.  It is awe-inspiring yet profoundly simple.'”

From Streams in the Desert, by L.B Cowman

“This is why we never give up.  Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.”  2 Corinthians 4:16