, 1889-09-19
MARY's MISTAKE.

80
MARY's MISTAKE.
And when she had thus said, she turned
herself back, ana saw Jesus standing, and
knew not that II was Jesus. Jesus saith
unto her: woman, why weepest thou
Whose seekcst thou? She, supposing Him
to 10 the gardener saith unto Him, Sir, II
thou have borne Him hence, tell me whore
thou hast laid Him, and viii take Him
away. Jesus saith unto her. Mary She
turned herself and saith unto Him, Rab
boni, which Is ~ say, Master.-John XXI
1915.
1t may seem to be "hard SAYING
but IL Is nevertheless true that our most
hue of sellishnssS The tears that fall
are very often tears for the living, rather
than passionate sorrow for the dead. In
one of those sacred conversations, that
made Christs farewell interviews with
his followers as full of illumination as
they were of pathos, lie said, marking
their sadness ut the thought of his de-
parture: "If yc had loved me, yc would
have rejoiced because | said, go unto
my Father" But did they not love
Himp Was IL not their love for Hii9
that made their hearts sore and troubled?
Perhaps. But only In part. They were
sad TO think how drear the fatlI of life
their side A world without Christ was
world with few charms for them. In
all this there was tho undcrtonc Of self
ishncss. Perfect unsclishsrss would
have said: Whatever the agony of
our unutierablc loss, 20 thou To thy re-
ward. Thou hast borne the burden long
enough Leave the scorn of men for the
welcome OF angels, Leave the world
that hates thee for the heaven that waits
thy coming We will rejoice thatgthy
SORROWS ARE ended, what time We hastcn
to the day when we shall be with thee
where thou ait." But perfect unsclhsh-
ness is II happy dream that will be real
lied only beyond the bounds of time.
There was, II little Of this selfish
,,ss ness mix mixed win a little yanIt,a In
journcycd to Enma,!s on that memora-
bic Easter day. Their friend and master
was gone. but that was not all. Their
hopes and dreams lind faded, their cher
ished ideals were shattered, and they
disputed, almost with anger, of these
things by the way. And even Mary,
ono of the fairest types OF unsoliish de-
votion, was not wholly free from the
dominance OF selisliness. Her grief
quite overmnstercd her for the time.
Sorrow should cleanse, not cloud the
eyes. But Mary was blind with weep
ing. So absorbed was she in her agony
that though the Lord she sought was by
her side, she knew it not. Nay, so COM
PsN'N'y o"~ VIZ oteh VI t'ut
gloomy hour. that her natural senses
were confused and she mistook Christ
Tor the gardener whom Joseph of Armia-
thea employed to keep his garden.
What lessons flow down through the
years from this very natural mistake Of
Mnry's. Once VIC allow sorrow to sway us
utterly, then see what host Of unreal
troubles arise! And see how our actual
xvas fI,fnk inc how r,dc bauds lad hornn
away the body of her Lord. No doubt
she conjmcd up In her mind all sorts of
indignitics done to that dear body.
TEL me where they have laid Him"
This WAS her agonizing cry. This was
the question she put to the living, low
ing Lord, whom. through her blinding
grief, she mistook for the gardener. Sor-
row and sadness and tears, though they
spring from the holest of emotions, are
not always helps to character. There are
idle tears, and there are selfish tears,
and sometimes one can not help feeling
.s"s es'~'N $50