Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-11-01
The Mother of Jesus.


Irunaus, in " Y. Observer.
The Mother of Jesus.
She probably passed her early life in the
,illage of Nazareth. The village lay sur
'ounded by its curving hills, hidden like
;luster of stamens in the cup of flower,
rom the gaze of men, most like in its low
y and concealed position to the character
Of "the handmade of the Lord" The gras-
~ slope on which it stands is still more
haunted by flowers than any other spot in
and it is not without an inner
eat fitness that Roman Church has ever /
connected the Virgin with all the uncon
seious loneliness, with all the freshness, |
delicacy and carelessness of Ostentation |
which mark the life of flowers. 1t was a
still and beautiful quiet among the hills.
Remote, unknown, far from the hustle and
confusion of politics and parties in Pales-
tine, it was, though inhabited by a wild
and rough population, fitting home for
the young girl who was destined to be the
mother of him who was to contend in the
power of lowliness for the salvation of the
world.
Pure in heart she could have no fear of
the lawless men who surrounded her;
rather we may suppose that rude homage
was paid to the gentle maidenhood which
walked among them. Humble in heart,
she drew into herself, by the very receipt
iyeness of her humility, all the loneliness
Of the flowers and hills. All the silent
sympathy of nature, and the vital feelings
of delight" which flow into us from the
beauty of the world, went to form her
character and purify and refine her heart.
Lowly in rank, she never dreamed of the
blessedness which should Overshadow her,
or of the honor she should hold within the
world. She grew serene and pure, in the
liberty of humility, in the dignity OF Sc
Guided gentieness, into her perfect woman
hood.
And here, observe, we have a type of
| that character in which Christ is forever
being born. To the pure, the humble and
the unselfsh, the blessedness Of blessed
ness was given. The Savior of the world
was born in her. 1t is no solitary instance
when we transfer it from the world of real
ity to the world of spirit. That which took
] II i,,t hn ii e
race takes place continually in the inward
history of the human heart. The miracle
of the incarnation is renewed again and
again in another form. Wherever the pure
heart, the humble spirit, the seeking and
receptive soul, are found, there Christ is
born. To all who live in clear air of truth
in the gentleness of charity, in unconscious
ness of self, the Holy Spirit comes. These
are the rare angel souls whom the power
of the Highest overshadows, and in whom
the Savior is reborn for men.
And Mary felt this. God had not chosen
her for her dignity, her wealth, her power
He had regarded the low estate Of his
handmaiden.
One morning, according to the old lie
gend, ''as she was drawing water from tn,
spring, or well, in the green open space a
the northwest extremity Of the town. tn,
angel met her with the salutation. AnC
Mary was troubled at the tidings and tn
praise. 1t was the trouble of a beautiful
Inconsistencies. She had never though
of herself, never asked herself whether sh
were pure or lovely, did not care what pee
pie thought of her, made no effort to ap
pear to the little world Of Nazareth othe
than she was.
4 rare excellence in man or woman
this fair Inconsistencies !-rarer than ev
er, now. Our miscalled education, whic
looks chiefly to this, how young girl ma
make good figure in society, destroys of
r ten from the earliest years the beauty c
unconsciousness of self There are man
who have never had real childhood, ney
=, er been unconscious, who possess alread
the thoughts and airs of womanhood, an
I, who are applauded as objects to admire
d instead of being pitied as victims of an III
natural training. Their manners, the
5 conversation, their attitudes, are the resu
S Of art. Already they tremble, as we dc
] for the verdict of the world. They gro
r up, and enter into society, and there
either violent reaction against CONVEX
}. tionality, or there is paralyzing sens
S tiveness to opinion, or there is a dull II
!. pose of character and manner which is a
but equivalent to stagnation We 81
e many who are afraid of saying open
o what they think or feel, if it be in oppos
n ton to the accredited opinions of the worl
: We see others who rejoice in shockir
= opinion for the sake of making themselv
d remarkable-perhaps the basest form
l. social vanity. for it gives pain, and do
7, not spring from conviction. Both form
: arise from the education which makes Il
child self-conscious. 1t is miserable to s
l. how we actually take pains to root out
,e our children the beauty of the Virgin
o early life, the beauty of more divine Ii
,e in Christ-the beauty of unconsciousne
is of self We take away all the charm
d freshness and christian grace of childhoo
" and we replace it by the insertion into t
10 child's mind of that degrading questi
N which must preface act and speech, "Wh
,r viii people say of me?''
to For, to make your children live only
De the opinions of others, to train them not
at influence but to submit to the world, is
" educate them to think only of themselv
L is TO train them up to inward falseness,
5 ! to destroy all eternal distinctions betwe
OF right and wrong, is to reduce them to IL
is dead level of uneducated unoriginal
ly which is the most melancholy feature
It. the young society Of London. Let thu
to grow naturally, spontaneously, and Ike
d. them unconscious of themselves: and
n the sake of the world, which, in the mi
Iot of all its conventional dullness, longs
n something fresh and true, if not for
or sake of God, do not press upon them
belief that the voice of society is the me
n ure Of what is right or wrong, beautiful
nd unbeautiful, fitting or uniting for tn
on to do. The unconscious life of Mary
lie what charm those who possessed it mil
", exercise upon the world Rev. .Stopf
of A. Brooke.
at W -'------
TT, The Nucleus of Methodism.
be II was in 1889. that some ten pers,