The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1904-06-06
THE TURNING POINT IN THE
LIFE OF MARY OF
MAGDALA
Her Wounded Soul Gradually Healed
Under the Influence of the
Divine Physician.

/ Sunday when he delivered an eXcep-
tionally impressive address. In part
he said
Jesus saith unto her: Mary She
turned herself and saith unto him:
| Rabboni." John, 20, Is.
Night still lingering over the pima
cles of Jerusalem. The lips which
few days ago exclaimed "Crucify him.
are closed and the hearts which re-
! jOiced in the death of the Christ are
stilled at the touch of slumber The
morning sun hesitates behind rosy
clouds as though he were afraid to
throw any light on all the vice, shame,
cruelty and blindness accumulated in
that beautiful city.
But not awaiting the rise of the sun.
Mary of Magdala hurries through the
lonely streets. Sleep did not touch her
| eye-lid during two long, painful nights.
She had seen her Master, her beloved
on the cross; she had Witnessed His
agony, His suffering; she had heard
His last prayer offered to His heaven
| ly father in behalf of those who tor
mented Him. Never will she forget the
| impression of these scenes incompar-
able. And the kindly eye of the Mas
ter lovingly fixed upon her during the
last moment of His departure still
haunts her, ever renewing the tender
tear rushing forth from a heart of
| boundless affection.
Mary of MagdaIa-we know her we'll.
She is the woman who had made one
great mistake; who had wasted a soul
of infinite love upon a selfish world:
who, in turn, was doomed to lifelong
Indebtedness among criminals, out
casts and dogs; but who, amid despair,
shame, degradation and sorrow. had
preserved a tiny spark of hope, and
even with the money earned in a career
of sin, bought that precious box of ala
baster which she broke over the sacred
! feet of Him whom among all beings,
she loved with an affection, pure and
true This was the turning point of
her life. The world had condemned
her. Like a leper she was barred from
society Even the disciples shrunk
from her presence. Only He, the great
Nazarene, recognized the divine spark
glory of heaven reflected in the eye of
a love maltreated and reproachng the
self satisfied Peter He revealed an as
pect of sin, never dreamed of before.
Simon, dost thou mark this wo-
man? l was thine own guest; thou
pourest no water over my feet; but she
with her tears washed my feet, and
with her hair she wiped them. No kiss
gavest thou me; but she since the time
she came in, has been ceaselessly COW
ering my feet with kisses; my head
with oil thou anointest not, but she
with spikenard anointed my feet.
WherefOr, l say unto you, her many
sins have been forgiven; for she loved
much
You will readily understand that this
powerful meeting with Christ had
changed her whole aspect of life. Just
as a person buried alive is filled with
new hope if through the darkness of
the grave trembles a solitary sunbeam,
just as a pilgrim lost in the desert
hastens to the oasis which greets him
with a silvery fountain, so she chung to
this great master who had midst all
her sorrow, shame and despair, pointed
out for her a road to hope, a harbor of
rest, where the feverish brow would be
cooled and the thirsting soul refreshed.
The sunflower struggles toward the
sun, the clustering ivy toward the light
which steals through the lattice into
the darkness of the cellar, why should
not Mary Magadalene seek repose in
the arms of him who welcomes suffer-
ing hearts come unto me ye weary
and heavy-laden and I will give you
rest?"
Thus her wounded soul was gradual
ly healing under the influence of the
divine physician; she saw a new and
noble future lying before her and a
new and noble love, TRANSPORTED in
the service Of Christ. After all her life
was not wasted-she had something to
live for All, if they only knew it
those unfortunate thousands who annu-
ally perish hopelessly in the chaos of
our large cities, young mothers found
pale and dead in the murky waves of
the Thames, those abject Magdalenes
who have not where to lay their weary
head; if they only knew that for them