Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-06-15
sY WILLIAM t. ELLIS

weeping before a grave. A familiar
enough scene; especially now women
weep because they have borne most
of the worlds suffering. The vicar
icusness or womanhood is at once a
great sorrow and a great glory
Tears are oftenest caused by death:
there are worse griefs than this one,
] put over 1t We weep most. The mys-
> terry, the silence, the separation of
J death stirs the hearts deep foun-
tains.
This woman had best cause for
weeping. In the grave beside which
she stood had been buried the body
OF her Healer, her Teacher. her best
Friend; the personal loss was beyond
measure. And in the tomb also had
oeen laid away the hopes of a band
ol eager disciples, hopes for the re-
demption of Israel and for new
reign of righteousness for all the
world. On Jesus these friends had
ouflded everything; with him in the
grave the house of their hopes had
toppled about their bowed heads.
Now at dawn Mary and the other
women had come-the alertness of
love is Misunderstanding spices for
their dead; the cold body of their
Lord was all that they expected. but
God is always doing better than His
children expect or think. Mary and
the women entered upon a new es-
tate that day which has been be-
queathed TO all womanhood since.
AS Mrs. Browning sang:
Not she with traitorous kiss her
Master stung:
Not she denied Him with unfaithful
tongue;
She, when Apostles fed, could dan
ger brave,
Last at His cross. and earliest at
His grave
What Is in a Name
Jesus is never beyond the reach of
the tears of His friends; He would
not even leave the comforting of
Mary TO the angels by the empty
tcmb, but He himself stood by
though she knew not His nearness.
Christ often comes when eyes are
holden, and the comfort that He
gives is not always recognized as
from Him. Mary thought she was
seeking help from the gardener. but
X was the Lord. Even when He ten
derly said, why weepest thou" she
did not comprehend; He had to call
her by name before she understood.
All the sweet adjectives that love
bestows upon a loved one are not so
meaningful as the personal. familiar
name, with the melting tenderness
and deep significance that may be put
into 1t. SO when Jesus turned and
said: Mary" she knew Him in
stantly: no one else could pronounce
her name like that. The Good Shep-
herd calls His sheep by name. and
each is, as Mary was, a beloved per-
Scnality.
In transport of rapture she
would have flung herself at His feet
and clung to Him, but the Master re-
strained her; the risen Lord did not
keep the same intimacy of human
al 1,a
powers and new work. Mary. too,
had an immediate mission; she could
not sit and adore. for the brethren
awaited the glorious news, He is
risen"
The Message of Mary
The first preacher of the full gos-
pei was woman. To Mary it was
given to utter the word that unfold !
ed the complete significance of the !
acts and teachings of Jesus. What a !
3 revolution in feeling and outlook the
news must have created in the minds
of the disciples. All was clear now;
the sayings that they formerly had
been unable to comprehend shone
with divine meaning. Jesus had
risen, even as He had said. He had
done exceedingly abundantly above
ali that they could ask or think. Not
defeat, but victory was their pro-
gram.
Now the infant Church had a mes
sage for the world. the very message
OF hope and life which is most need
ed. The last great enemy who had
hlanched the cheek of the bravest,
had been conquered. Men need no
longer be prisoners TO dread and
fear. A new attitude toward life and
death had been created. Thencefor-
ward the disciples would go forth. as
thousands since have done. facing
every martyrdom songfully: The
worlds wonderment, Behold, how
these Christians die" would be a
new gateway 10 the kingdom. The
resurrection hope is the capstone of
the edifice OF Christian truth. Be
cause 1 live, ye shall live also" this
is the word which the Church is now
to cry aloud above the din of the
worlds battlefelds as the comfort
for all the bereaved; and as the
sure stay of all who face death.
Our Own Days Chief Question
Every days newspaper contains a
special mention of those who have
solved the problem OF immortality;
and of those who are deeply, imme-
diately and supremely concerned in
1t. They will be found in the death
notice column, and the first group
are those who have died. and the
second group are the families and
near friends of the dead.
No question is more ancient. more
pcrtant than this one, IF man die.
shall he live again?" To some de-
gree it is certain at some time or
other to engage the thought of ev-
cry mature mind. With the daily dis
patches from abroad fairly reeking
with news OF bloody deaths by the
myriads. the problem is one that
thrusts itself ineXorably into the
consideration of even the frivolous
minded and the needless.
Every poet, every philosopher, has
speculated upon the theme. The hu-
man mind has always experienced
"intimations of immortality" The
conviction that this supreme flower
and fruit of the universe, the human
soul, was not born to fall and perish
utterly and that this earthly life is
by many signs. only the preparation
for some higher form of existence.
lies deep down in the thinking of
every normal person. Addison put
the thought into a few lines:
"It must be so-Plato, thou reason
est well,
Else whence this pleasing hope, this
fond desire,
This longing after Immortality?
Or whence this secret drea< and in
ward horror
OF falling into naught? Why
shrinks the soul