Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-06

tury Spanish SepulchreS, seen yeSter-
day beneath bearded live oaks of Geor-
gia, and made of ''tappy," that curious
oyster-shell concrete, which set my
mind to ranging over the graves of
earth as L have seen them. They are
everwhere:-the metal, bath-tub-like
sarcophogi which 1 saw the Arabs ex-
cavating from ruins older than Baby
Ion, at old Asshur, Assyria; the huge
stone graves of Phoenicia; the mighty
mausoleums of Egypt: the hill-tombs
which mortgage so much of China S
landscapes; the ancinent graveyards
of Europe-what q succession of them
throng to mind Each brought some
minds face to face with earth's old
est riddle: Does the highway of life
end IN q grave?
At some time or other this question
is of supreme interest to everybody.
The death notices in to-day's newspa-
per mean more to some readers than
the most startling news on the first
page. This Easter is the most solemn
of all the days that ever dawned to
multitude of human hearts, for 1t
brings them squarely up to the problem
of Immortality, interpreted in terms of
the dear dead. So with reverent sim
cerity we approach the Resurrection
theme, as it is set forth for us in the
raising of Lazarus from the dead, the
assigned Sunday school lesson.
One of the few advantages of be-
ing a stranger in a great city, which
is the completest form of loneliness,
is that thereby one enters somewhat
into an appreciation of what was the
normal lot of Jesus of Nazareth. The
lonely Christ moves our hearts. He
went about among uncomprehending
and unsymp pathetic people. Apparent
~, the one refuge which he enjoyed
during his public ministry was the
home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus,
well-to-do friends who dwelt short
distance out of Jerusalem, in the viii
lage of Bethany, on the Mount OF
Olives, just a little way beyond the
Garden of Gethsemane.
Some homes are like that, a haven
for heavy hearts. Always woman
makes them SO, and we know all that
it is necessary to learn concerning the
qualities of Martha and Mary, from
the simple fact that they made the
sort of home that Jesus loved, for its
rest and refreShment and sympathy.
TO create such home as that is
greater career for woman than to
achieve any public success thinkable.
1t was the strong ties of friendship,
knit, as may always best be done, un-
der a rooftree, that made possible this
great story of the Easter that preceded
Easter. There was brother in the
family. and that all three must have
been the real good society" of the
neighborhood is clear from the record
that Jesus loved them all.
Whoa tue Dread Telegram Comes
Some homes never receive a tele-
gram without dread that 1t may con-
tain the message which comes so often
by wire that every day hundreds OF
them are handled by the telegraph
companies. One day the ancient ori-
entail equivalent of telegram, swift
messenger, sought out Jesus beyond
the Jordan, to tell Him that His friend
:. Lazarus was sick unto death. Yes,
friend of the heavy heart, who saw
lifes brightness seem to disappear in
a yellow telegram, Jesus went through
that experience also. He was touched
with feeling of our infirmities."
Yet the prayer of the sorrowing sis.
terS was not answered as they eX-
pected. The Friend did not mount the
fastest speed in Perea and make all
possible haste over the hilly road to
Jerusalem. He deliberately waited, to
the surprise of His disciples, who knew
the depth of the Masters affection for
that Bethany family. He had larger
plans for them all than they could
know. Dimly. we now perceive how
the raising of Lazarus was an essential
part of the plan of Christ, being the
antecedent cause of the Triumphal
Entry, and the OCCASION for precipitat-
ing the climax that led to Calvary.
But all this was unknown to the fam
lily and to the disciples To us it is
not given to see the heaven side of the
divine designs.
glory of God" said Jesus. So Laza-
rus had a part, all unrealized by him.
self and those closest to him, in work
ing out the inscrutable will of God.
And this is the last word that can be
said in comfort to all who grieve be-
low. We cannot explain, we cannot
understand, but we know that the Fa-
ther whose wisdom is equaled by His
love, is carrying out purposes which
are born in a Father heart. Some time
we shall understand. Meanwhile. we
rest upon the word of Jesus, that sick
ness and sorrow and even death may
be for the glory of God; and to glorify
God is the chief end of man. Our at
titude may wisely be that which is in
scribed on the tomb of distinguished
soldier and citizen of Wellsboro, Pa.
Awaiting further orders"
The Doubter Who Was Hero
Up in Jerusalem stones awaited
Jesus, should He comply with the re-
quest of the sisters, as His disciples
were quick to remind him. Yet, after
waiting two days, He announced that,
although Lazarus was now dead, He
would go to him. Thereupon Thomas,
whom history has written down as the
NSpOh6 up like d brave ana
loyal soul, Let us also go, that we
may die with him." Why should we
not remember Thomas always as at
his best, ready to make the supreme
proof of friendship?
First Martha and then Mary met
Jesus on the way, as he drew near to
Bethany. Both accosted Him with a
remark that was rebuke: IF thou
hadst been here our brother had not
died" All, the ifs and the "buts"
that we hurl at God! Consider what
God bears from mortals, of impati-
ence, querulousness, chiding and un-
belief. Even such an exquisite saint
as Mary could not let the Master be
master. We worship God, and then re-
fuse to Him the least of the perquisites
of God. Calling Christ Lord, we deny
Him the right to be lord of our lives.
The Shortest Verses Long Meaning
Spurgeon used to say that he could
forgive the translators of the King
James version all the i'll they had done
to the sacred text by butchering it up
into text paragraphs, because they had
left the one sentence standing alone,
Jesus wept." Children learn this as
, the shortest VERGE in the Bible. 1t
stands alone, not only on the page of
Scripture, but also in all literature.
Where else will you find any religious
teacher, from Zoroaster to Moham-
med, weeping in human sympathy and