But have the royal robes of Christ no
higher purpe>se than the mere preven?
tion of pain or of heartaches? If that
be nil the ethcacy of these wedding
garments of the Divine Bridegroom,
then I say let me bave my pain nnd
heartache!. There ls sometimes n joy
in suffering. There ls sometimes a
peace in pain. As Tennyson writes, "It
ls better to have loved and lost than
never to have loved at all." That wed?
ding ring upon your hand?would you
wish never to have had it placed there?
It may be many years ago since the
lia nd that put it upon your finger was
laid In the grave Would you like to
blot out all the memories you have had
witli that earthly life? "Oh, no," you
answer. "No. no! My joy today ls In
living lu tlie beautiful halls of memo?
ry and In thinking over again all the
happy days we spent together. I would
sooner have had a elenr husband as he
was and hnve hnd him taken nway
than never to have known what the
companionship of such a husband
meant to a wife-." If you have an in?
curable physical pain, would you have
the physician give to you nn opiate to
deaden your sensibilities and your
mind for years to come? "Oh, no," you
answer, "then I would be nothing more
than a hibernating creature or a log or
a stone. Better my thinking mind with
pnin than continual unconsciousness
without pain. " Well, then, the wed
eling robes of Christ must do more for
us than merely alleviate suffering, else
we would want none' of them. I would
not wish to live a thousand years on
earth if to do it I would have to endure
the mere animal existence of an Austra?
lian aborigine, even though then I
might not know physical or mental suf?
fering.
