“God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on his side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else – something it never entered your head to conceive – comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.”
–C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
DN is re-reading Moby-Dick and, reading this about Ahab in the chapter about dining at the captain’s table, he thought I’d like the reference to bears in Missouri:
“Though nominally included in the census of Christendom, he was still an alien to it. He lived in the world, as the last of the Grisly Bears lived in settled Missouri. And as when Spring and Summer had departed, that wild Logan of the woods, burying himself in the hollow of a tree, lived out the winter there, sucking his own paws; so, in his inclement, howling old age, Ahab’s soul, shut up in the caved trunk of his body, there fed upon the sullen paws of its gloom!”
Of course, I did.
(I also love that phrase, “nominally included in the census of Christendom”.)
Have a good weekend–re-read something good, watch out for bears!
It’s Wednesday, so let’s all just take a moment to be thankful:
O MY GOD,
Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects, my heart admires, adores, loves thee, for my little vessel is as full as it can be, and I would pour out all that fullness before thee in ceaseless flow. When I think upon and converse with thee ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up, ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed, ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart, crowding into every moment of happiness. I bless thee for the soul thou hast created, for adorning it, sanctifying it, though it is fixed in barren soil; for the body thou hast given me, for preserving its strength and vigour, for providing senses to enjoy delights, for the ease and freedom of my limbs, for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding; for thy royal bounty providing my daily support, for a full table and overflowing cup, for appetite, taste, sweetness, for social joys of relatives and friends, for ability to serve others, for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities, for a mind to care for my fellow-men, for opportunities of spreading happiness around, for loved ones in the joys of heaven, for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly. I love thee above the powers of language to express, for what thou art to thy creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.
(“Praise and Thanksgiving” from The Valley of Vision, the Puritan prayer book)
And that said, it seems appropriate to read this from Willa Cather’s My Antonia.
Yesterday was National Simplicity Day so here’s some Thoreau:
When it was proposed to me to go abroad, rub oft some rust, and better my condition in a worldly sense, I fear lest my life will lose some of its homeliness. If these fields and streams and woods, the phenomena of nature here, and the simple occupations of the inhabitants should cease to interest and inspire me, no culture or wealth would atone for the loss.—Henry David Thoreau, Journal, 11 March 1856
I concur. What do you think?
[The photo is Thoreau’s Cove in 1908. U.S. Library of Congress]
July is turning out to be a busier month than anticipated. We went to an actual 4th of July party last week and to a birthday party for an old friend.
Are people finally getting back in the swing of things post-COVID? I hope so. The OM is always reluctant to go anywhere, preferring to stay home, but then he has fun, even with a bunch of oldsters. I am the same way. (I keep forgetting that I am an old lady.) But it is good to get out and about.
The boy brought the wee twins over to frolic in the afternoon yesterday. The driveway had just been sealed, so we had to frolic inside, but that was fun too.
The twins were very excited that I gave them that old globe. They know an impressive array of countries and states (and state capitols).
I heard all about their trip. It sounded wonderful–they even had to get out of the water once when there was a shark sighting!
I had lunch with some old flyover institute friends and we talked treason…and
So we’ll live, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues Talk of court news, and we’ll talk with them too— Who loses and who wins; who’s in, who’s out— And take upon ’s the mystery of things, As if we were God’s spies. And we’ll wear out, In a walled prison, packs and sects of great ones That ebb and flow by th’ moon.
That’s as good a plan as any. Hang in there with me. Keep reading Shakespeare.
“There is hardship in everything except eating pancakes.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
I read this article about Welsh male voice choirs still singing and my heart was glad. I hope they can keep that Welsh torch lit for music. We have a lot of men in our PCA congregation and, praise Jesus, they all sing out throughout the service. It is indeed wonderful. (And such a change from the Episcopal churches I have belonged to.)
And Kevin DeYoung explains the fight of faith in this sad world.
Meanwhile the Christmas cactus is blooming again!
The big questions in life are not “Who am I?” The big question in life is “Whose am I?” You have got to answer that question. Whose are you? Whose are you? That’s the issue. In the twentieth century, we get all bent out of shape about self-identity and stuff. Who am I, and my worth, and my esteem, and my value, and all that — man. When you read the Bible, the huge issue is right relationship with God and to whom you belong, whose you are.
“Spiritual pride tends to speak of other persons’ sins with bitterness or with laughter and levity and an air of contempt. But pure Christian humility rather tends either to be silent about these problems or to speak of them with grief and pity. Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others, but a humble Christian is most guarded about himself. He is as suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart. The proud person is apt to find fault with other believers, that they are low in grace, and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are and to be quick to note their deficiencies. But the humble Christian has so much to do at home and sees so much evil in his own heart and is so concerned about it that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts. He is apt to esteem others better than himself.”
So there is joy in our flyover state because the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl. But we only watched Chris Stapleton sing the National Anthem because we love him and, I must say, he did a super job.
The only time I have ever cared about the NFL was when Kurt Warner played for the Rams back in the day. ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’ offense was fabulous and I loved those guys: Isaac Bruce, Marshall Falk, Aeneas Williams, and, of course, Kurt Warner. Therefore, instead of the Super Bowl, we watched American Underdog (2021) which tells the story of Kurt and Brenda Warner and his road from stock boy at the Hy-Vee to a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback.
It is an inspiring story and this film tells it well. I recommend this movie–I mean, who doesn’t love an inspiring sports story with a (spoiler alert) happy ending?
Fun fact: Considered the NFL’s greatest undrafted player, Warner is the only undrafted player to be named NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP, as well as the only undrafted quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory. He is also the first quarterback to win the Super Bowl during his first season as the primary starter. Warner was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017 and is the only player inducted into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Arena Football Hall of Fame.
In other news, did you see that lightening struck Brazil’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue over the weekend?
(Photo from The Daily Mail)
Well, it did, and once again I ask, Are these the End Times?
Anne wrote a good one about the flailing (and failing) Church of England. “The most essential thing we should notice about Jesus this morning is how different he is from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Justin Welby doesn’t have the power to heal all your diseases. But he has been given the gift of the Gospel which he could proclaim—it’s literally his main job—if he would trouble himself to discover what it is.”
And I enjoyed this article about the movie Ride the High Country (1962) and the Western genre in general. “The classic Western era was a distinct period in American film, establishing a genre with singular moral and artistic rules. These were stories about honor culture in the wilderness, a limbo space where rule of law was tenuous or nonexistent. Other critics have noted the difference in ethos between the old and new eras of Westerns, but Terry [Teachout] ‘s conservatism, and the erstwhile Christian faith of his childhood, gave him unique insight. The lawless world of Westerns, he noted, seemed to dramatize Dostoyevsky’s warning in The Brothers Karamazov that ‘If there is no God, then anything is permitted, even cannibalism.’”
Have a great Valentines day. “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)
We live in the valley of Elah, and daily, Goliath stomps into our terrified lives, shouting, “I defy you!” (1 Sam. 17:10) In God’s powerful name we must come to take our stand. Like David, we must say, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (v. 45 NIV). If we tremble in the face of Satan, it is never because Satan has grown large, but because our God has grown small.
–Calvin Miller, The Unchained Soul
This is a thoughtful piece about how people need a spiritual life and church. “As we continue to confront the despair pervading our society, we must seek to be the means of God’s grace toward those struggling with the threat of death. And as churches foremost—but also as political communities and society as a whole—we must help people find spiritual life.”
Christ is my saviour. He is my life. He is everything to me in heaven and earth. Once while traveling in a sandy region I was tired and thirsty. Standing on the top of a mound I looked for water. The sight of a lake at a distance brought joy to me, for now I hoped to quench my thirst. I walked toward it for a long time, but I could never reach it. Afterwards I found out it was a mirage, only a mere appearance of water caused by the refracted rays of the sun. In reality there was none. In a like manner I was moving about the world in search of the water of life. The things of this world – wealth, position, honour and luxury – looked like a lake by drinking of whose waters I hoped to quench my spiritual thirst. But I could never find a drop of water to quench the thirst of my heart. I was dying of thirst. When my spiritual eyes were opened I saw the rivers of living water flowing from his pierced side. I drank of it and was satisfied. Thirst was no more. Ever since I have always drunk of that water of life, and have never been athirst in the sandy desert of this world. My heart is full of praise.
–Sadhu Sundar Singh
Oh-o-oh, sinner,
When you’re mingling with the crowd in Babylon—
Drinking the wine of Babylon—
Running with the women of Babylon—
You forget about God, and you laugh at Death.
Today you’ve got the strength of a bull in your neck
And the strength of a bear in your arms,
But some o’these days, some o’ these days,
You’ll have a hand-to-hand struggle with bony Death,
And Death is bound to win.
Young man, come away from Babylon,
That hell-border city of Babylon,
Leave the dancing and gambling of Babylon,
The wine and whiskey of Babylon,
The hot-mouthed women of Babylon;
Fall down on your knees,
And say in your heart:
“I will arise and go to my Father.”
–James Weldon Johnson, from “Prodigal Son”
Have a good weekend!
(The painting is “The Prodigal Son” by N.C. Wyeth)
dual personalities 