* Alfred Rowland.
ST. MARK 171
Thro' burden and heat of the day
How weary the hands and the feet That labour with scarcely a stay,
Thro' burden and heat!
Tired toiler whose sleep shall be sweet, Kneel down, it will rest thee to pray: Then forward, for daylight is fleet.
Cool shadows show lengthening and grey,
Cool twilight will soon be complete: What matters this wearisome way
Thro' burden and heat ? ^
iv. A Defeated Purpose.
Neither Christ nor His disciples found the rest they so sorely needed. When they crossed to their desert place where they had hoped to be by themselves apart, they found the place crowded with a waiting throng that had hurried round the lake on foot. The work had to be begun again, and the repose seemed further off than ever. In the attitude of Jesus to this new and unexpected obligation we get a glimpse into the depths of His great heart. An ordinary man would have resented the appearance of a crowd which so effectively dispelled all hope of repose and deprived Him and His of the rest they so sorely needed. But not so Jesus. When He landed and saw the great crowds, He had pity upon them and " began to teach them many things." Those who had come to Him in such a way He could in no wise cast out. The seeming annoy- ance He accepted as a Divine opportunity, and, tired and dis- appointed as He and His disciples were, He gladly and uncom- plainingly began again the great work which His Father had given Him to do.
^ It is worth pondering that Jesus deliberately sought for Himself and His disciples to escape from the crowd. It is also worth pondering that the escape proved impossible. In such a world as ours we are sometimes compelled by circumstances, or by regard for some high moral law, or for the sake of a needy brother, to act against our better knowledge. We know very well that we must spare ourselves, or our strength — and to that extent, our * Ghristiua G. Bossetti.
172 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
efficiency — will be impaired. Yet the circmnstances of our life so arrange themselves that to spare ourselves is impossible ; and so long as we have strength to stand upon our feet, we must go on with our work. These exacting demands, which seem at times so cruel, have no doubt their high compensations both here and hereafter ; but while we must learn the stern obligation of service from the willingness of Jesus to do what He could for the crowd at the very time that He so yearned to be alone with His disciples, we have also to learn from His desire that they should go apart — and perhaps many of us need this lesson still more — how indispensable is rest and loneliness to all continued and effective work.i
II.
The Need of Rest.
1. It is necessary for the body. The physician will tell you that to the ceaseless activity of our modern lives he can trace the nervous debility, the feverish excitement, the anxious face, the craving for stimulant, the premature decay of vital force.
Imagine the hardship endured by a young girl who stands behind a counter all day long with hardly an hour's rest even for meals. From eight in the morning till nine or ten at night she has to be ready to speak pleasantly to every comer, to be patient with the most fastidious and thoughtless customers ; though her feet ache and her head swims, and she feels some- times ready to drop from sheer fatigue
^ Dr. Hugh Macmillan^ describes a visit which he paid to the workshop of a worker in amber beads in Damascus. The workman took a lump of rough amber and put it on the turning lathe. After some fragments were shaved off he put it away and took another piece, shaved off a little and put it away also, and in this way went over all the pieces of amber that were meant to form the necklace. Then he went over the pieces again one after another, rounding them a little more and laying them aside. He repeated the process a third time and a fourth, till at last each bead was all that he wanted it to be. Why did he not finish one bead at a time ? Once he had it on the lathe, why did he not work at it till it was perfect ? Because he knew the nature of amber. A wood-turner will work at his piece of
1 J. E. McFadyen. ' The Clock of liaiure, 198.
ST. MARK 173
wood till he has shaped it into the article that he wants. But the amber-worker knows that the amber will fly to pieces if it does not get a rest. For amber is a great conductor of electricity, and the motion of the lathe fills it with electricity, ^o he gives it rest and lets it recover itself before he takes it ap again.
2. It is necessary for the mind. The mind is dependent upon the body. But even apart from that it seems to be necessary that we should learn at times to look away from things as well as at them if we are to see clearly and soundly It must, like the eye, rest in darkness if it is to preserve its health. There are some who reckon every pause in active thought as so much lost time ; but when the mind is lying fallow it may be laying up capacity of stronger growth. If we shall be condemned for burying our talents in the earth, we shall also be condemned for compelling others to bury theirs. One of our modem poets makes a pathetic appeal to us to take time to consider and to give others time.