Sunday, February 21, 2010
I generally don't think of myself as much of a poet or even a poetry reader. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed and connected with Edward Taylor's writing. Between his metaphors and fluid phrasing, he seemed to be putting such eloquent words to the emotions and realizations I've been having lately.
"I am this Crumb of Dust which is designed to make my Pen unto Thy Praise alone..."
How true is the phrase! We are such insignificant creatures in comparison to our Creator God - mere specks of dust. Yet he loves us beyond what we can even imagine! Our lives are designed to revolve not around ourselves, but around his praise and glory.
"Inspire this crumb of Dust till is display;
Thy Glory through't: and then Thy dust shall live."
I love this! This is what I wish for my life: that God's love and majesty would inspire me, that knowing Him would cause me to be a light for Him within the world. Through this, I know that my life has meaning and significance. I become more than a listless soul in a dying body. I become a truly alive child of God in an eternal body moving towards my eternal home.
"This Bread of Life dropped in my mouth doth Cry;
Eat me, Eat me, Soul, and thou shalt never die.
"I am this Crumb of Dust which is designed to make my Pen unto Thy Praise alone..."
How true is the phrase! We are such insignificant creatures in comparison to our Creator God - mere specks of dust. Yet he loves us beyond what we can even imagine! Our lives are designed to revolve not around ourselves, but around his praise and glory.
"Inspire this crumb of Dust till is display;
Thy Glory through't: and then Thy dust shall live."
I love this! This is what I wish for my life: that God's love and majesty would inspire me, that knowing Him would cause me to be a light for Him within the world. Through this, I know that my life has meaning and significance. I become more than a listless soul in a dying body. I become a truly alive child of God in an eternal body moving towards my eternal home.
"This Bread of Life dropped in my mouth doth Cry;
Eat me, Eat me, Soul, and thou shalt never die.
"I had often said that if the Indians should come, I should rather be killed by them than taken alive, but when it came to the trial my mind changed..."
Confession: I'm a planner. I think through my decisions before making them to be sure that I've examined every possible angle. If I have the time to prepare for something, I will.
But there are some things in life that we simply can't plan for; unexpected illness, car accidents. We are caught off guard and unaware by the unexpected. However, even with the problems and decisions we can expect, there is still a chance that within the moment of our decision, we realize that we were wrong. And change our mind. This, I believe, is what occurred when Mary Rowlandson's settlement was attacked by Native Americans[1].
"It is not my tongue, or my pen, can express the sorrows of my heart, and bitterness of my spirit that I had at this departure; but God was with me in a wonderful manner, carrying me along, and bearing up my spirit, that it did not quite fail."
There are so many times in life, it seems, when we feel like we can hardly bear our hardships. For Mary Rowlandson, this was certainly one of those times. But I think we are often surprised by what we can endure. Although it is not what we can endure; rather, it is what God can endure. So we really should not be surprised by this if we understand who God is and choose to serve him. However, we (myself included) always seem to fall short in this.
While I'm impressed by Rowlandson's choice to praise God through and in spite of her circumstances, I don't feel that it is as noteworthy as others do. I suppose this is because my life has had circumstances where praising God is difficult (more so than most other college students, I would expect), and also partly because I think that this is what God calls us to do: Praise Him.
He doesn't say, "Praise me if your life is wonderful," or "Praise me when you get that job/promotion/boyfriend/girlfriend/etc." No, He simply tells us to praise him. Without any qualifiers, to praise him. That means he deserves praise in every circumstance, situation, and trial. Because of who He is.
So I suppose that Rowlandson deserves acknowledgment in this. And maybe I don't mean that her faith and trust in God isn't remarkable, but that it's simply an example of what all of us should do when we face difficult circumstances. She shows readers that God should be praised in all circumstances, and hopefully gives them an encouragement toward this kind of faith.
[1]Note: This is my is my term for people of this ethnic group; Rowlandson refers to them as bloody heathen[s], ravenous beasts, savages, and finally (the most politically correct term she uses in a slew of very derogatory names) Indians.
Confession: I'm a planner. I think through my decisions before making them to be sure that I've examined every possible angle. If I have the time to prepare for something, I will.
But there are some things in life that we simply can't plan for; unexpected illness, car accidents. We are caught off guard and unaware by the unexpected. However, even with the problems and decisions we can expect, there is still a chance that within the moment of our decision, we realize that we were wrong. And change our mind. This, I believe, is what occurred when Mary Rowlandson's settlement was attacked by Native Americans[1].
"It is not my tongue, or my pen, can express the sorrows of my heart, and bitterness of my spirit that I had at this departure; but God was with me in a wonderful manner, carrying me along, and bearing up my spirit, that it did not quite fail."
There are so many times in life, it seems, when we feel like we can hardly bear our hardships. For Mary Rowlandson, this was certainly one of those times. But I think we are often surprised by what we can endure. Although it is not what we can endure; rather, it is what God can endure. So we really should not be surprised by this if we understand who God is and choose to serve him. However, we (myself included) always seem to fall short in this.
While I'm impressed by Rowlandson's choice to praise God through and in spite of her circumstances, I don't feel that it is as noteworthy as others do. I suppose this is because my life has had circumstances where praising God is difficult (more so than most other college students, I would expect), and also partly because I think that this is what God calls us to do: Praise Him.
He doesn't say, "Praise me if your life is wonderful," or "Praise me when you get that job/promotion/boyfriend/girlfriend/etc." No, He simply tells us to praise him. Without any qualifiers, to praise him. That means he deserves praise in every circumstance, situation, and trial. Because of who He is.
So I suppose that Rowlandson deserves acknowledgment in this. And maybe I don't mean that her faith and trust in God isn't remarkable, but that it's simply an example of what all of us should do when we face difficult circumstances. She shows readers that God should be praised in all circumstances, and hopefully gives them an encouragement toward this kind of faith.
[1]Note: This is my is my term for people of this ethnic group; Rowlandson refers to them as bloody heathen[s], ravenous beasts, savages, and finally (the most politically correct term she uses in a slew of very derogatory names) Indians.
"She sets no bounds to her affection, no hath any thought of her reward. She finds recompense enough in the exercise of her love towards it."
This is one of my favorite lines from John Winthrop's sermon A Model of Christian Charity. This is such a great description of what should truly be rewarding about loving others. This isn't usually the case, however. At least not for me. While I believe it is important to show love towards others, and do try my hardest to do so in every circumstance, it becomes much more difficult to act lovingly towards people who don't show love and kindness in return.
Love is "absolutely necessary to being the body of Christ."
This is probably the statement that I feel is most important and most convicting. As a Christian, love isn't an option. It's mandatory. Jesus tells his followers that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest is to love others. Love God. Love others. That's what it all boils down to. Winthrop is definitely onto something with this statement. Without love, we cease to function as a body. If we neglect to care for each other during struggles, we end up sacrificing the unity of the body of Christ. That's one of the amazing things about being a part of God's family; not only do we have intimate fellowship with God, but we also have fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
That's what Winthrop is encouraging the Puritans to remember; that they must be able to depend on each other and help each other out when one of their friends needs assistance. They must work together to make both a living and a life in the new world. That they can accomplish more together than the can separately. And that in order to do that, they must love. God and each other.
This is one of my favorite lines from John Winthrop's sermon A Model of Christian Charity. This is such a great description of what should truly be rewarding about loving others. This isn't usually the case, however. At least not for me. While I believe it is important to show love towards others, and do try my hardest to do so in every circumstance, it becomes much more difficult to act lovingly towards people who don't show love and kindness in return.
Love is "absolutely necessary to being the body of Christ."
This is probably the statement that I feel is most important and most convicting. As a Christian, love isn't an option. It's mandatory. Jesus tells his followers that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest is to love others. Love God. Love others. That's what it all boils down to. Winthrop is definitely onto something with this statement. Without love, we cease to function as a body. If we neglect to care for each other during struggles, we end up sacrificing the unity of the body of Christ. That's one of the amazing things about being a part of God's family; not only do we have intimate fellowship with God, but we also have fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
That's what Winthrop is encouraging the Puritans to remember; that they must be able to depend on each other and help each other out when one of their friends needs assistance. They must work together to make both a living and a life in the new world. That they can accomplish more together than the can separately. And that in order to do that, they must love. God and each other.
If you were a child in North America during the 1990's there was no escaping exposure to Disney's version of Pocahontas. The movie features John Smith as a hero with strength, smarts, and long blond hair. The female characters in the movie fawn over America's very first heart-throb.
Through reading Smith's own work, I've discovered that this depiction was far from true. While Smith did accomplish a great number of things in his lifetime, the stories about his heroics may not be as reliable as my 8 year-old self was led to believe.
Smith fought for the dutch in the Netherlands during their war of independence against King Philip II and also fought for the Austrian army during their war against the Turks (he was taken prisoner but later escaped) before his journey to America. He is known for occasionally using unnecessary force, having a hard-to-control temper, and being stubbornly self-reliant (pg. 44). What we know about Smith is mostly from his accounts and stories; this has allowed him to craft the version of himself that he would like his readers to know and believe. However, many of his anecdotes are not very believable; including his story about defending himself from 200 Native Americans using his Native American Guide as a shield. And yes, there are also many doubts about the reality of the famed Pocahontas story.
The idea that struck me the most about Smith, however, is not the disenchantment of my childhood idea of this early explorer, but a comment made in the introduction to his writing. Smith offered to be a guide to the Pilgrims for their 1620 voyage, but was passed over for a man named Myles Standish. After this, "Smith's America was not the geographical region about which he had entertained such bright hopes at the country's start, but rather the verbal realm he continued to explore in his later writings" (Pg. 44).
To think that a man who spent a such a short time (relatively) in America has had such an impact on American culture and psyche surprises me. This man, who is hailed as having a great contribution to America's history, probably didn't even consider himself an American. His version of America wasn't based on the realities he saw during his daily life, but was taken from memories and reflections upon his brief experience on the other side of the ocean. And yet it is Smith's America which is remembered, dreamed of, and reflected upon.
Through reading Smith's own work, I've discovered that this depiction was far from true. While Smith did accomplish a great number of things in his lifetime, the stories about his heroics may not be as reliable as my 8 year-old self was led to believe.
Smith fought for the dutch in the Netherlands during their war of independence against King Philip II and also fought for the Austrian army during their war against the Turks (he was taken prisoner but later escaped) before his journey to America. He is known for occasionally using unnecessary force, having a hard-to-control temper, and being stubbornly self-reliant (pg. 44). What we know about Smith is mostly from his accounts and stories; this has allowed him to craft the version of himself that he would like his readers to know and believe. However, many of his anecdotes are not very believable; including his story about defending himself from 200 Native Americans using his Native American Guide as a shield. And yes, there are also many doubts about the reality of the famed Pocahontas story.
The idea that struck me the most about Smith, however, is not the disenchantment of my childhood idea of this early explorer, but a comment made in the introduction to his writing. Smith offered to be a guide to the Pilgrims for their 1620 voyage, but was passed over for a man named Myles Standish. After this, "Smith's America was not the geographical region about which he had entertained such bright hopes at the country's start, but rather the verbal realm he continued to explore in his later writings" (Pg. 44).
To think that a man who spent a such a short time (relatively) in America has had such an impact on American culture and psyche surprises me. This man, who is hailed as having a great contribution to America's history, probably didn't even consider himself an American. His version of America wasn't based on the realities he saw during his daily life, but was taken from memories and reflections upon his brief experience on the other side of the ocean. And yet it is Smith's America which is remembered, dreamed of, and reflected upon.
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