Thy treasures up in heaven laid
Await thy sure ascending soul:
Life after life--be not afraid I"
Yes, Miller believed in home, in Christ, and God and immortality. He
believed that heaven and God were near to man, and in his last days
there was no doubt. Thus his own writings confirm what Mrs. Miller, on
that memorable afternoon, made certain by her warm, tear-wet, personal
testimony. And as she quoted these last lines, and the sun had set
behind the Golden Gate, which we could even then see from the room in
which we sat, we felt as though Miller himself were near, listening as
she read, listening with us. And these are the last verses that she
quoted, which seem fit verses with which to close this chapter study of
Joaquin Miller:
"I will my ashes to my steeps,
I will my steeps, green cross, red rose,
To those who love the beautiful,
Come, learn to be of those."
And is it any wonder that, as we sat in the twilight listening to that
invitation to his home, these words made the red roses and the green
cross of Christ against the hill our very own? And is it any wonder
that, as she quoted these last verses we felt him near to us?
"Enough to know that I and you
Shall breathe together there as here
Some clearer, sweeter atmosphere,
Shall walk, high, wider ways above
Our petty selves, shall learn to lead
Man up and up in thought and deed.
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