The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-08-05

who is my mother -? For
A whosoever shall do the viii og God
the same is nay brother. and my sister,
and mother. Mark III. SO, s5
This is one saving Of our Lord
which sometimes strikes the reader
with a certain suggestion OF harsh
ness and Gisrespect. There is AN APP
parent want of tenderness in the
words. though the speaker were
half impatient iii his speech. But We
may always assume that the apparent
s.-harshness of the Master is due 10 the
duh apprehension Of has readers
In the first place every body knows
/ how the meaning Of ~ord can bs
1 changed by altering the tone in which
1 IL Is spoken. By changing the tone
1 we cen turn reproot into an appeal
/ an imperative into a tender eXhurta-
,inn. gesture Caa add the richest j
/ suggestion to q speech. Looks and
smiles have q language al their own (
i which minges with the speakers
words. And 50 II - possible to mis-
quote uan, even when We quote
/ him correctly The SAYING may he
/ verbally accurate aud yet II may con
/ seS an impression the Nery opposite
* THAI intended 10y tho speaker him
self And II = with The words |
1 have lust quoted and While have fire.
aueu7lt stirred people into painful
/ wonder We must imagine the look
/ toward His mother We must imagine
His tones. snd We must try 70 realize
the GiffAsed and sunny sympathy with
which lie embraced both the members
| af His family and those Of the dis
eipie band
nut what can have been HIS pur-
j pose in speaking these words. Ii Is
suwneedfu that we should realize the
--candtions Of the people among whom
Master lived. They were becom-
ing. or had become, the victims OF a
asNery periious habit Their life was
running to the outsides Of things
3Their proneness to give exclusive at
sention TO the outside or the cup"
was symbolic of IA general tendency
in their life. They were becoming
more and more superficial and were
living ON the mere surface Of things
.WsThey were IN danger of taking IA shall
low view of everything Their ideal
OF purity was limited by the concep-
ton Of washed hands. Their ideal
or holy Sabbath found expression
In petty restrictions and in fnhnman
abstentions from service. And so the
u envelope was becoming more than the
message II contained. The letter of
the evangel Was treasured more than
n'the spirit. This was true of even the
ssaisciples themselves. When our
Master spoke to them. they tnstinc-
lively Ieaped to some outside inter
probation of the words. II He spoke
wgf bread" they thought of 'loaves
,xand fishes They did not readily re-
2sepond to the spiritual significance of
sthe Masters words and works
Now our Lord had to meet this ten
sdency on agery side. and lie sought to
sghreak the habit and Ia lead the
j Thoughts Of His hearers 10 the insiaes
IN Of things. to- the secret place OF the
Eternal He was constantly endeaEor
Ding to deepen the shallow lives Of His
hearers And this Is the key TO
multitude Of things He said and did.
f we remember that His purpose
was to get away from the husk to
the kernel of life, and To get people to
live I'm the insides of things We shall
understand many sayings that are now
obscure. And so il is with the say
ing to which | want to lead our pres
- Rnf meditation. Those who We're stand
q ing about Him had just used the words
.'mother" and brother" and sister, -
sud the Master at once apprehended
n the shallow significance which they
& n attached to the words. So here again
y He carried out His deepening minis
@ff try and led them into more profound
se relations. He would lead them from
n the conception Of fieshiy felo~snips To
spiritual relations. He would show
them that there were deeper kinsnips
than the honored kinships OF flesh and
blood. Not that lie sighted these
sDr in any way disparaged them, for
ale always held them in tender and
shivalrous regard, but He put them in
~stheir right place and gave pre-emi-
nence to communion Of spirits. and to
family likeness in the realm OF the
* soul. So that what We get out Of
Il this habit Of Jesus In Jus, this, His
s-4nurpose to lead Las TT the spiritual
sides Of things, lie wants as $" TO
cultivate the spiritual iuwardness Of
n1t irv "A
& ~ nj length become magnetic aud, ina
Jneaately arrest the interest Of mind
= sAnd soul. Let us consider how the
pr,sseiple Will ACT in the actual fields
-of life.
There Is the spiritual side of life"
itself. The current usage Of the great
word is frequently thin and superb
esal. Man speaks Of enjoying a hit
cf life, or he boasts Of having seen
"a good bit of life, or when his DAYS
have been packed with work OF
crowded with pleasures. he sums them
up and claims To have had d Very fam
hYssfe' And att these phrases are sig
nifican, OF the outsiders of things and
keep as in the circumference of cir
r cnmstances, and do not take US to the
sf.h.art and center cf The holy thing.
Now Il we had been speaking with
seshe Master and had used the word in
s.this way. / think He would have I'm
snediately caught oar conversation
saHd< turned us away 20 the depths. II
I'VE had been speaking about Dives
and mad limited that he had enjoyed
ga fuil life the Master might have
s.sa answered. And what is life4n "A
man life consistent not In the album
!. dance Of the things which he pos
sesseth." Real iife Is not found in
@ws -.
with God And He would tell us that.
no matter how vast We're our accu-
-~Jnnla1lons of earthly treasure, nor how
many earnal fellowship We enjoyed.