第21章 Christian Consolation in Loneliness (1)

"And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me." John xvi.32.

These words are found in the farewell address of Jesus to his disciples.They were uttered in the dark hour of coming agony, and in the face of ignominious death.Because Christ was divinely empowered, and possessed the spirit without measure, let us not suppose that to him there was no pain or sorrow, in that great crisis.With all his supernatural dignity, he appears to us far more attractive when we consider him as impressible by circumstances,--as moved by human sympathies.He is thus not merely a teacher, but a pattern for us.In all our trials he not only enables us to endure and to triumph, but draws us close to himself by the affinity of his own experience.We see, too, how the best men, men of the clearest faith, may still look upon death with a shudder, and shrink from the dark and narrow valley;not because they fear death as such, but because of the agony of dissolution, the rupture of all familiar ties, and the solemn mystery of the last change.

But death and suffering, as Jesus was now to meet them, appeared in no ordinary forms.He was to bear affliction with no friendly consolations around him; but alone!--alone in the wrestling of the garden, and amid the cruel mockery.

Not upon the peaceful death-bed, but upon the bare and rugged cross, torn by nails, pierced with the spear, crowned with thorns, taunted by the revilings of the multitude, the vinegar and the gall.He must be deserted, and encounter these trials alone.He must be rejected, betrayed, crucified alone.And as he spoke to his disciples those words of affection and holiness-those words so full of counsel and sublime consolation-he remembered all this; he remembered that they who now clung to him, and listened in sorrow to his parting accents, would soon be scattered as sheep without a shepherd, and leave him to himself in all that shame and agony.But even as he foretold it there gleamed upon his spirit the sunshine of an inner consciousness,--a comfort that no cloud could darken; and instantly he added, "And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me."Having thus considered the circumstances in which these words were spoken, I now proceed to draw from them a few reflections.

I would say, then, in the first place, that the great test which proves the excellence of the religion of Christ is its adaptation to man in solitude,--to man as a solitary being;because it is then that he is thrown upon the resources of his own soul,--upon his inner and everlasting life.In society he finds innumerable objects to attract his attention and to absorb his affections.The ordinary cares of every day, the pursuit of his favorite scheme, the converse of friends, the exciting topics of the season, the hours of recreation, all fill up his time, and occupy his mind with matters external to himself.And looking upon him merely in these relations, if we could forget its great social bearings, and the harmonies which flow from its all-pervading spirit out into every condition of life, we might, perhaps, say that man could get along well enough without religion.

If this world were made up merely of business and pleasure, perhaps the atheist's theory would suffice, and we might feel indifferent whether controlled by plastic matter or intelligent mind.We will admit that happiness, in one sense of the term, does not essentially depend upon religion.Nay, we must admit this proposition.A man may be happy without being religious.Good health, good spirits;--how many, possessing these really enjoy life, without being devout, or religious according to any legitimate meaning of that term.