Page:The way of Martha and the way of Mary (1915).djvu/304

282 "Blessed are the merciful" we took to be a Western beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in heart" to be Eastern. "Blessed are the peace-makers" has become a very Western idea, and King Edward the Seventh was sung to the grave as a saint as King Edward the Peace-maker. "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake" is in Russian "Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of truth"—for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake, for great is your reward in heaven" is taken equally by West and East, though the East feels more that the reward is within you, whereas the West thinks of a reward after death.

We considered the Temptations in the Wilderness. First, it was Eastern to go into the wilderness at all. It would have been more Western to go into the town and find salvation in work, in "doing the duty that lay nearest."

The teaching of the temptation to turn stones into bread has an Eastern emphasis. The Russian, says, "I would not if I could." The Western is ever coming to the Russian and saying, "Lo, your people are starving; but see how undeveloped your country is, you have gold, you have oil, you have coal, you have all manner of precious things in your soils and your rocks; say but the word and they can be changed into bread, and your starving may be fed." But the Russian says, "Bread is not so very important; what is important is the word that proceedeth from the mouth of God."

The second temptation, that of suicide or of nihilism, of casting oneself down from the Temple, is something the West has understood more clearly. The East continually succumbs to this temptation, and the Russian is ever "tempting God."

The third temptation has a great Eastern emphasis; Jesus, in lofty contemplation of the world and of His own genius, understands that He could be a new Alexander