THE GARLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3403, 4 June 1919, Page 65

THE GARLAND.

FOR THE QUIET HOUR.

No. 301

By Duncan Wright, Dunedin

MARTHA AND MARY.

MARTHA OR MARY? (By Caroline A. Mason.)

I oannot choose; I should have liked so

much To sit at Jesus' feet, —to feel the touch Of His kind, gentle hand upon-my head Whil© drinking in the gracious wards H2 said.

\ ' And yet to serve Him! —oh, Divine employ, — To minister and give the Master joy, To bathe in coolest springs His weary feet, And wait upon Him while He sat at meat! Worship or service,—which? Ah, that is

beat / To which Ho calls me, be it toil or rest, — To labour for Him in life's busy stir, Or seek His feet a silent worshipper.

So let Him ohoose for "us: we are not strong To make the choice; perhaps we should go

wrong, Mistaking zeal for service, sinful sloth

For loving worship,—and so fail of both

A woman knows how to sing about women, and the lines here seem to be appropriate: " Mary," says an anonymous writer, " was not commended because she neglected her housekeeping; nor was Martha rebuked for attending to it. "The good part ' which Mary had chosen was not idleness and neglect of her domestic duties, and our Saviour's tender reproach of Martha was not directed against her diligence. Martha's fault (if any) was not that she minded things, but that she was 'troubled' and careful about them. Mary's 'good part' was that she took time to love and listen to her Saviour. Martha's fault _ was that she allowed the cares of the visible world to shut out from her mind the invisible world. And our Saviour gently repeats to all who have 'ears to hear' the sublime truth that all our earthly anxieties concern things which shall be taken from us, while Mary's tenderest solicitude concern things which shall not be taken away. What Mary learned at the Saviour's feet will be fresh and nrecious to her for ever; all -the anxieties that vexed Martha's life ended' when she drew her last breath on earth. In our lives there should be a place for Martha's diligence; but Martha's 'troubles' can have no proper place in one who, like Mary, sits at the Saviour's feet; and she who sits wiiere Mary sat will scarcely feel the weight of Martha's care."

" Martha, received Him into her house. And she Imd a sister called Mary."— (Luke x, 38, 59.)

" Wordsworth," Jane Stoddart tells us, " wrote of the Jewish family whom he met io a small valley opposite St. Goar, upon the Rhine" : Two lovely sisters, still and sweet As flowers stand side by side: Their soul-subsiding locks might cheat The Christian of his pride; Snch beauty hath 111' Eternal poured Upon them not forlorn-, Though a lineage once abhorred, Nor yet redeemed from scorn. Mysterious safeguard! that, in spite Of poverty and wrong, Doth hero preserve a living light, From Hebrew fountains sprung; That gives this ragged group to oast Around the dell a. gleam Of Palestine, of glory past, And proud Jerusalem.

" Dean Inge notes that the mystic Eckhart, in commenting on the story of Martha and Mary, those favourite types of contemplation and activity, surprises us by putting Martha first. ' Mary hath chosen the good part—that is, she says she is striving to be as holy as her sister.' Mary is still at school; Martha hath learnt her lesson. It is better to feed the hungry than to see even such visions as St. Paul saw."

[Now I quote lines by Elizabeth Cummings on " Martha," although in no way do I accept or endorse her somewhat pessimistic utterances on the subject. Do readers differ from me? Even if they do we need not fall out over what may be termed a matter of taste.- Martha has often been misundertsood and misrepresented. - Had the two sisters lived in 1919 —and both had , excellent qualities*—we should have heard Mary cabled a recluse, and the Americans would, without a particle of irreverence, have called Martha a " hustler."] Here, then, is the song by Elizabeth Cummings:

Mount Olivet is crowned with gold;

Rose petals opened, fold on fold; Flashing with drops of dew;

But of their honeyed heart's delight Of glowing day and dewy night,

Poor Martha little knew. The dull hard tasks that must be done Before the day's swift course wae run, To make home bright and fair, The service no one thinks to praise, Yet all blame if it fail —always AVas anxious Martha's share.

Cumbered with service! Troubled hear Oh, not for her "the better part"

Of folded hands and calm. Mayhap the fret of toil had cost Her spirit's peace, her lips had lost The power to chant a psalm. To make the loved ones Avarm for bliss, Yet all the sweetest joy to miss Of love's supreme accord; Never a tale hath poet told Of Martha, and our Lord.

MARTHA OR MARY?

At the house of the late Dr Archer, in .London, there Avas a gathering of friends, and among them .Dr Harris, author of "Mammon," and Dr Philip, of Haberley Chapel, author of "The Marthas" and "The Marys." In the course of a friendly conversation the question Avas mooted, Which was the more amiable of the two sisters of Bethany, Mary or Martha? Dr Archer replied: " I prefer Martha for the unselfishness of her character in being more ready to provide for the Lord's comfort than gratify herself." Addressing Dr Philip, Mr Harris said, " What is your vieAv?" " Well, really," replied the good man, " I'm at a loss, though I daresay, Avere I making the choice of a Avife, I should prefer Mary." Dr Archer, turning to Dr Harris, said smartly, " Which would you prefer?" The "author of " Mammon,'' Avho for a moment was disconcerted, replied : " Oh, I think I should choose Martha before dinner and Mary after it," to the surprise and amusement of the company. THE MINISTRY OF WOMAN. (By Rev. John Pulsford.)

What a lover and what a healer and comforter Jesus is—especially of women! No severe word seems ever to have dropped from His lips towards any woman. The hard thoughts of men He rebuked at their own dinner table: and at the same time welcomed woman's touch, woman's tears, woman's anointing. Her tears, though only falling on His feet, passed into His soul, and instantly a flood of sympathy responded. Woman's anointing was so sacred to Him that He said, I will go into (death and lie in the tomb, with her fragrance about Me. There can be no doubt, I think, that her devotion and ministry to the feet of humanity in all ages are her special distinction and glory. If anyone reaches down to the lowest and last things of humanity, it is woman. Did she come behind Him and bow down at His feet? Did tears and kisses follow? and then precious ointment? Tears! kissos! sweet odours! woman's offerings to Christ! " Inasmuch as she has done it to the least and last of the race she has. done it unto Me." Human babes, from the beginning of the world, have been so ministered unto. To prisoners in their cell, to dying soldiers, to the bedridden and incurable people, and to the dead, her ministry is sacred, her offices are unutterable. If the outcasts of society, and de-spaircrl-of transgressors are ever won, and made ff"a<?rant and beautiful, woman will do it. By her tears of sympathy and her holv oil, she will make the place of God's feet glorious. ■ Her self-sacrificing love will yet reach and bless the depths of hell. And it is through her ministry to the feet of society that Christ will receive the reward of the travail of His soul.

Thy love Shall chant itself its own beatitudes After its own life-v-ovkinsr. A child's kies Set on thy sighing lips shall make thee glad; A poor man served by thee shall make thee

Tick; A sick man helped by thee shall make thee

strong; i Thou sha.lt be served thyeelf by ©very sense Of service Avkieh thou renderest. —R B. BroAvning.