EASTER'S PROMISE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21467, 15 April 1933, Page 1 (Supplement)

EASTER'S PROMISE

BY ELSIE K. MORTON

THE HILL CALLED DIFFICULTY

I perceive the way to Life lies hero. Come, pluck up heart, let's neither faint nor fear. In tho full, rich beauty of autumntide, the blessed Easter season comes to lay a hand of healing peace upon the troubled heart of mankind. All through tho long months of bountiful summer, through days of outward sunshine and warmth, there has been an undercurrent of apprehension as to what tho coming months of winter may have in store. World travellers have said again and again that New Zealand is taking her troubles badly; they mean she has not yet achieved that philosophy of misery which has drugged the peoples of older nations into apathetic acceptance of the hard times upon which tho whole world has fallen. Yet strange would it be if our country had taken its troubles otherwise! New Zealand is young; strength and prosperity have been hers for tho past thirty-ears. She has spent increasing riches not wisely, squandering them with the reckless impetuosity of youth. When wo are young we think only of the future in terms of sunny days, of undiminished strength; correction conies hard, and the stern lessons of adversity rouse not only bewilderment but bitter resentment in wills uncurbed and hearts unbowed. The centuries teach patience; tho slow revolutions of the wheel of time that we call history have taught tho older nations of the world lessons that we have onlj T now come dimly to apprehend. When the Stars Are Hidden We, for the first time, are learning that material prosperity is no fixed star shining for ever from unshadowed skies that the pathway of mankind is not a pathway paved with gold, rising from glory unto glory. We now look up and find that the stars are hidden; we look down and find that the path is hidden too, lost in dark valleys and in deep waters from which we draw back with shrinking feet. When God's rod of correction falls heavy upon the shoulders of an erring world, all mankind must suffer, but those unused to correction must ever suffer most. But to " faint beneath the rod " that must never be! Nor will tho lesson avail if it be but accepted with dull resignation, if we bend resentful eyes upon tho hard path our feet must tread, never raising them with eager hope to see if the stars once more are shining overhead. And here, at this point on the hill called Difficulty, Easter comes to us. ..." Now, about midway to the top of the hill was a pleasant arbour, made by the Lord of the hill for the refreshment of weary travellers." That seems rather a beautiful way to think of Easter. True, poor Christian, being faint and weary with the long, uphill journey, fell asleep " until it was almost night," so that by losing tho precious scroll given him by the Shining One beneath the Cross, worse evil befell him afterwards than before. But all the rest of his journey to the Celestial City he carried with him, hidden safe within his bosom, tho scroll that was the assurance of his life, and of acceptance into the .'desired haven. He met with manifold temptations and sorrows before he reached the end of the journey, ho made other mistakes and repented them with bitter tears, but never again did he lose his precious scroll, restored to him that same evening on the hill called Difficulty. The Desired Haven Surely it is just that assurance of life and final acceptance "at the desired haven" that Easter brings to us anew at this critical stage of our national life. Surely its spiritual comfort is needed more urgently to-day than ever in the brief history of our nation! The desired haven seems a long way off—that is, if we limit our outlook to the materia] world and seek no treasure beyond that of gold and earthly riches. This is just what tho world has been doing too long. Have you ever noticed that there is no mention of gold anywhere in the beautiful story of Easter? A stone rolled away, a vision of angels, sunrise in a garden—these are the symbols of the everlasting triumph of the of the fulfilment of tho promise of the ages, tho redemption of mankind and the conquest of the last enemy, which is death. What does Easter stand for in the life of our country, in tho life of the world to-day? Do you think it does not really matter at all, or that it does not matter to you ? It matters more than anything else in the world, for if no gleam of tho glorious hope embodied in Easter brighten the uphill path we still must tread, then indeed is life, at its present cost, with all its heartbreak and disappointment, not worth living. But with the precious scroll safe hidden in our breast, with the glory of the Easter dawn s„hining in uplifted eyes, then life is worthwhile indeed, the hardest portions of the lull called Difficulty brightened by the reflection of a radiance that shines straight through the portals of tho City Celestial. Easing the Burden These are thoughts for the sold this Easter season. Beyond them, urgent, imperative, is work for mind and hands. Good thoughts are of little- use unless translated into action, expressed in lives serene and courageous, steadfast in adversity. There will bo adversity enough in tho months to come. Nothing, humanly speaking, can spare us that. Hut with each one of us rests tho personal responsibility of how we are going to accept it, what we are going to do to ease the burden of suffering that lies upon the shoulders of tho world—and upon the shoulders of our neighbour, our brother man. He may be fainting beneath tho load, while wo still have strength and courage. Help to roll away tho stone for him —no need to wait till winter days draw nigh! Governments and rulers shape our nation's destiny, but each man decides for himself the way his soul shall gostraight on up tho hill of Difficulty, bravely and with a song in the heart, or down one of the side-paths that look—at first!—so much more easy. " So the one took the way which is called Danger, which led him into a great wood, and the other took the way to Destruction, which led him into a wide field, full of dark mountains where he stumbled and fell, and roso no more." But Christian pressed straight on upward, first running, then walking, then at last upon his hands and knees, because of tho steepness of the place." Hands and knees are apt to bleed in a climb such as that, but the pilgrim must still push on. It is only the fixed star of faith and hope that can lead men and nations safely through dark and difficult times such as those through which the whole world is now passing. But tho Easter promise is suro and certain. The last stone will surely be rolled away if we can but believe and accept, and a dawn more glorious than any we have known awaits those who remain faithful, even unto tho end.