07 Praise and Progress
Chapter 7 PRAISE AND PROGRESS
(1895) In the letters of this year we are not surprised to come upon occasional references to wakeful nights, as well as physical weariness and nervous strain ; the matter for wonder is that such references are so few and so casual. The prevailing notes are those of hope and praise, notwithstanding the inevitable difficulties of such a work - difficulties arising through inexperienced assistants and troublesome inmates, together with the labor involved in the extension of the Institution and the daily supervision of the affairs and interests of the little community over which Miss Reed has been called to preside, in addition to her general mission work.
Although the first hurried letter of this year speaks of "the great hinderer " being busy among her afflicted flock, the next is full of thanksgiving :
" Oh that I knew how to express the gratitude my heart feels for the prompt responses you always give to my appeals in times of need in the work so dear to you and to me. Words of mine fail to convey my appreciation of the loving-kindness and help so generously and promptly bestowed, and so I console myself with this thought : " In the grand leisure of eternity we shall have freedom of expression, and then we shall be able to recount the mercies and blessings with which our loving Master crowns our lives here ! ’ " At a later date, after expressing her concern at the "tiny old mud-houses " in which her faithful servants - ("to whom I am much attached ") - have to live, we have the following warm expressions of gratitude :
"I did not expect to have my request granted so soon ! That is practical sympathy and cooperation in earnest. The prompt responses you always make encourage and strengthen my heart, but never have I been so cheered and rested as by the last two letters, with their enclosures. God is indeed good to me in permitting me to share in this blessed work with you for Him." On March 16th she writes of that which is ever uppermost in her thoughts, as it is foremost in the objects of the Mission, viz, the conversion of the lepers to Christ :
"I can only tell you to-day that my heart is filled with joy this week, because of the presence and guidance of Him whose blessing is so manifestly upon the work given us for Him here. A goodly number of the people who came into the Asylum last year are now coming into the fold of our Blessed Redeemer. Some most interesting and precious experiences am I having with them nowadays. Two baptisms last Sunday, and several to receive the rite to-morrow or next day. Seven or eight more have requested baptism, but I fear all are not fully ready, so I will only present those who appear to be really prepared." The next letter reports substantial progress as regards the material side of the work. Details are given of the acquisition of five or six acres of land for the erection of new quarters, especially for the male inmates, as well as of the happy provision of an abundant supply of good water for the exclusive use of the Institution - in itself a very great boon.
" You will remember that not one spring is to be found on all the land we (formerly) possessed, but now I feel we have all we need ; and this building site and location is just what we require. I wish I could write you more fully, but my hand cramps, and I must leave off for to-day. I have great rest and peace in my heart over the whole affair. God’s guiding hand and His smile of blessing are so consciously upon all that concerns us here this year that my heart is filled with praise and thanksgiving to Him." As showing how narrow is the margin between " just enough and partial famine " in India, we give the following extract from a letter of June 6th, 1895 :
"Many, many thanks for your kind letter with first of Exchange received to-day. While I am always grateful for the prompt and generous help you freely give us in this far away Retreat, this remittance is doubly precious since a partial famine has raised the price of grain until, now, for one rupee we get only half as much rice and wheat as at this time last year, and it is only with much difficulty we can get any at any price nowadays. And yet my poor people have never had to go hungry once, while hundreds all about us are suffering from hunger." To American friends and helpers Miss Reed reports in the following interesting letter, dated April 6th, 1895 :
"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit . . . fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love. Php 2:1-2
’’ To my dear helpers-together by prayer and love : I have been blessedly conscious, during the past three years, of a fellowship of hearts and an atmosphere of love and prayer surrounding me because of the many prayers ascending from hearts in whom Christ dwells, for this one of His little ones. Many dear brothers and sisters, with whom I have otherwise had no communication, have stood with me ; there has, indeed, been to me a deep and real meaning in the words of the text at the head of this letter.
" In answer to prayer, scenes of sadness are changed to those of gladness, and I do not need to draw out rejoicings and praise; they just flow out. Every token of love from earthly friends is to me a sweet symbol of our Father’s love ; a pledge of His love to me and to each individual in whose heart He has prompted the desires that find beautiful expression in letters and useful and lovely gifts. For however bright and beautiful the gifts received are, the brightest part is His giving hand. In some ways God seems to be doing for me even more than He promised, not only in supplying my needs, but so many of my "notions" as well.
"Time is valuable capital to us here. Were my hands, heart, and time not so filled with duties, and did I not have writer’s cramp these days, how gladly would I reply to each and all the kind and precious letters received, and thus gratify my longings to acknowledge in private letters the pretty and useful gifts received during the past few months. But my heart is full of loving gratitude for all loving kindnesses, thoughtfulness, and prayers.
"The flowers and garden seeds, nearly half a bushel of them, make these mountain-tops and valleys blossom and yield abundant fruit in more than one sense. Tell the dear children I have shared the seeds with at least a half-dozen of our native Christian families who live in villages from ten to twenty miles from Pithoragarh. They will bring brightness not only to my poor, dear people here at Chandag Heights, but other mountain-tops and valleys are made glad as well. The bandages prepared in such generous quantities are most gratefully utilized, and my poor patients much appreciate the care and comfort given. May I hope for a new supply this year ?
"For the comfort of the dear, interested friends who have not read my report for ’94, I must add that there is in mission work, as in other things, an ebb and flow of trials and blessings, and the tide turned at the beginning of this year in blessings. Praise Him who is peace, strength, hope, and ’ shelter in the time of storm ’ for all those who put their trust in Him.
" On New Year’s Day my heart was rejoiced by the receipt of a letter from the Society in Great Britain under whose auspices I have been so signally called to work, granting my request for permission and means to purchase more land and erect a branch asylum for our men and boys of the Institution at some distance from the place now occupied by them. Most providentially have I been guided in selecting and buying a beautiful site adjoining our property, fully one-fourth of a mile distant from the house of my women and girls. You see from this that our domain is not a very limited one. I desire you to realize more fully how God has sweetly and lovingly smiled upon us and enabled us to ’ lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes ’ from year to year.
" This year more is being accomplished than in any of the three years past. In a few weeks seven more new buildings will be completed ; three of these are now in the process of erection, and the other four will be well under way before this letter reaches you. These, when completed, will provide accommodation for eighty people. In the buildings now occupied, seventy-eight are living in comparative comfort, feeling quite at home, and most of them are very grateful for the comforts provided by our dear Lord’s good stewards and caretakers.
" Now I must add a few words of assurance to relieve your dear, anxious hearts concerning my health. I would that you could realize how wonderfully well I am. My general health has never been so good as during the past two and a half years. And as for the dread malady which did cause me indescribable suffering until I made my body and the care of my health over to the Great Physician, there are only the faintest traces ; the marks have become nearly invisible. They have always been to me like the borings of the ears of the Hebrew servants. (See Exodus 21:1-6)
" I will close with extracts from a letter written by dear Miss Budden to my precious mother a few weeks ago ; this will help you to realize more fully how well I am. She says : ’ I have been up to see your Mary today, and we had more than one hearty laugh. I am sure had you been there you would have found more cause for thankfulness than sorrow. The improvement in her condition is nothing short of a miracle ; those of us who have known her intimately for the past three years know that for her general health to be what it is, and for all symptoms of this dread malady to be so completely in abeyance that to onlookers they have virtually ceased, show the working of a mighty power in her system that is divine indeed, for none other could accomplish such palpable results as we witness.’
" The Lord is my strength and my shield ; my heart trusted in Him and I am helped ; therefore . . . with my song will I praise Him."
Referring to a suggestion that some special remedies (Mattel’s), should be applied to her inmates, Miss Reed writes :
" I think it worth while to try them on some special cases. My poor, suffering ones beseech me to find relief for them. My heart aches to see them suffer, and all remedies, tried so far, only alleviate suffering for a short time."
Concerning her own health at this time (in September, 1895), one of her occasional visitors remarked after seeing her, "If Miss Reed had lived in Bible times, and were to show herself to the Priests now, she would surely be pronounced clean. With reference to this, she herself writes :
" This remark will help you to realize how wonderfully well I have become, and you will rejoice and praise God with me that I am, to all outward appearances, a healed woman ! How loving, merciful, and good God is ! How gently He has led me ! Oh ! I have no words to express the tender loving-kindness of His dealings. I will need all eternity in which to praise Him."
It should be remembered in this connection that Miss Reed has all along consistently declined the use of remedies in her own case, on the ground that since God had permitted this disease to come to her, she would trust Him entirely about it - although quite prepared to apply remedial treatment to her patients. This neglect of medical agency which arises from absolute subjection to the will of God in her affliction, will not elicit the approval of every reader. But in view of the impenetrable obscurity which still conceals the origin of the disease, of her own mysterious seizure by it, and of the admitted incurability of leprosy, many will not be surprised at Miss Reed’s attitude in reference to the use of remedies. The report of the Leprosy Commission, which made an exhaustive inquiry into the existence and treatment of leprosy in India in 1 890-1 891, is before me as I write. As the findings of the Commissioners who conducted the investigation in India are in several important points dissented from by the Committee, whose representatives they were, it is difficult to summarize its results. For instance, as to the vital question of the degree in which leprosy is contagious, the Commissioners report: "That though in a scientific classification of diseases, leprosy must be regarded as contagious and also inoculable, yet the extent to which it is propagated by these means is exceedingly small." From these concluding words the majority of the Executive Committee dissent, and as the names of eight eminent medical authorities are appended to the protest, it may be fairly inferred that the danger of contagion is by no means, so "exceedingly small " as the Commissioners suppose. But however undetermined this elaborate report of 450 pages is obliged to leave such questions as origin, contagion, and heredity in relation to the scourge of leprosy, the Committee and their Commissioners were unanimous on one point, viz, that of incurability. By any means as yet known, leprosy, they say, must be declared to be incurable. And this is borne out by detailed returns from upward of 100 stations or asylums throughout India. From these reports, we learn that although some thirty-six supposed remedies were applied, singly and in combination, there is no recorded case of actual cure. ’Partial improvement," ’’slight relief," ’’temporary benefit," are oft recurring phrases in these returns, varied not infrequently by such less hopeful terms as "no effect," "no satisfactory result," "no permanent relief," etc. In view of the mystery surrounding the origin of leprosy, whether considered historically or pathologically; in view of the instinctive repugnance with which it inspires the beholder ; in view of its fearful ravages in the human frame, of its incurable character, and, not least, of its place in Holy Writ, it is no far-fetched assumption that regards it as being, above all other forms of disease, a type of sin. Certainly it works in the physical part of man a slow, wasting destruction which bears a close analogy to the evil wrought by sin in his moral nature. How imperceptible in its beginning, how subtle in its working, how relentless in its course, how inflexible in its grasp, and how fatal in its results ! How similar alike in its origin, progress, and effects in the body of man is it to spiritual evil in his soul ! Should this analogy lead us to wonder how God’s providence can be reconciled with such a calamity as has been permitted to overtake one already devoted to His service, we may perhaps find the explanation in the answer of our Lord when asked, ’’Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" To this inquiry, which expresses the ideas of sin and suffering as cause and effect, the Master made answer, ’’Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents ; but that the works of God should he made manifest in him" And as we read of the boon of bodily relief and of the infinitely higher blessing of spiritual life that have come to many as the results, instrumentally, of Mary Reed’s affliction, we must admit that, however inexplicable and painful be the fact of her disease, it has at least led to the works of God being made manifest in her.