ts, then they may still choose good and evil, and
they may still grow toward virtue. Choice always implies a possibility
of freedom; and freedom is a necessity when there is moral
responsibility. If prayer helps any one, why not those who have passed
from our sight? Surely we must believe them still to possess the power
of choice and, therefore, that of choosing evil as well as good.

You ask why pray at all. My answer is simple and free from all attempts
at casuistry: simply because we must. Prayer is not so much a Christian
doctrine as a human necessity. It is as natural as breathing. By prayer
I mean not only spoken petitions but, equally, the longing and pleading
of the soul, either blindly or intelligently, for things which are
beyond our reach, and which only a higher Power can provide. Those
longings may have formal expression, and they may not. Prayer so far as
it is petition is the soul pleading with the Unseen for what it deeply
desires. I do not suppose that God needs light from any mortal man, but
all men do need many things from Him, and, as naturally as children
present their desires to earthly parents, even though they know them to
be already favorable, we go with our deeper needs to our Heavenly
Father.

Much time has been wasted in trying to formulate a rational basis for
prayer. When a child in the smaller family no longer asks his father to
accede to his wishes, when he no more pleads with his father for his
brother or his sister, then it will be time enough to inquire if, in the
larger family which we call humanity, we may do without prayer. Until
then let us believe,

"More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of."

Leaving now the apologetic side of the subject, which is alluring, we
observe one evident blessing which always attends praying for the dead.
It keeps ever before our minds the thought that they are actually alive.
It makes the doctrine of the communion of saints a sacred reality. If I
may in this essay be allowed to assume a hortatory tone I will say, if
you have been in the habit of praying for your friend, do not give it up
simply because he has ceased to breathe. As regularly as ever continue
to pray for him, and he will be to you more than a memory. What would
have been but an occasional remembrance will then be a daily communion;
and what would have been only formal praying to God will be an hour, or
a moment, of association with those who will grow neare