“BUT MARY STOOD OUTSIDE AT THE SEPULCHRE WEEPING:……..SHE TURNED HERSELF BACK, AND SAW JESUS STANDING, AND KNEW NOT THAT IT WAS JESUS.” – John 20:11-14.
I remember vividly, as a young boy, seeing among my mother’s collection of old and faded photographs, ( letters and other writings which she treasured and kept in a wooden chest), photos that my grand-uncle had sent from ‘Santiniketan’, and “Nai Taleem” Tagore’s and Ghandi’s Ashrams in India. My paternal grandmother’s oldest brother, Aryanayakam Williams, son of Rev. Williams, was an erudite scholar who on completing his education in India caught the attention of the illustrious Poet and Philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, who made him his Private Secretary. There he met Tagore’s niece Asha Devi, who herself was a scholar and educationalist of no mean repute, and married her. The government of India honoured her with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for her contributions to society, placing her among the first recipients of the award.
While at the serene atmosphere at Santiniketan my grand-uncle and his wife Asha Devi heard the call of Mohandas Ghandi and left Tagore and joined Ghandi and, spent the rest of their earthly lives at Ghandi’s ashram at ‘Nai Taleem’. I had the pleasure of meeting them both, when they were visiting their ancestral home at Vattukoddai, Jaffna, in the early 70’s. Though they were with the Ghandian movement at the time they had the highest respect and regard for the learned scholar Rabindranath Tagore. That brings me to my point!
Rabindranath Tagore, a man held in such high esteem not only in India but also among the learned scholars, and the literary circles around the world, was born to highly influential and wealthy Brahmin Parents. Tagore, the Poet, the Religious Philosopher, Song Composer, Playwright, Painter, Novelist and the polymath of many other fields was the first non-westerner to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his literary masterpiece ‘Gitanjali’, a collection of poems that Yeats called “a piece of literary brilliance.” He was knighted by the British King George V, and became Sir Rabindranath Tagore. However following the Amristar massacre of 400 Indian demonstrators by British troops, Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest.
Tagore shunned politics, and instead promoted spiritual values. He moved to Santiniketan to found an Ashram with a marble-floored prayer hall, with groves of trees, gardens and a library. Then tragedy struck. There his wife and two of his children died. His father died soon after. These losses one after the other jolted Tagore to a great extent. Something snapped, and he went into deep dark depression. Once he came out of his self-imposed ‘exile in grief’ he penned the following words, “IF YOU CRY BECAUSE THE SUN HAS GONE OUT OF YOUR LIFE, YOUR TEARS WILL PREVENT YOU FROM SEEING THE STARS”.
Yes, my friends, the tears of Mary, weeping outside the sepulcher, blinded her from seeing Jesus who was standing right beside her. Jesus was so close to her but her tears shut him out of her life!
Are you in a place where your tears are preventing you from seeing the stars? Has the sun gone out of your life, and your tears of grief are preventing you from seeing the stars God has placed right above you; the promises that God is longing to fulfill in your life? Don’t let your tears rob you of the wonders God has in store for you. Mary wiped her tears and saw Jesus, and ran into His arms. You can do the same today. Jesus is standing right beside you.
“He washed my eyes with tears that I might see!”
God bless you,
Pastor Dayalan Sanders.
