When I awoke this morning I was somewhat like the woman in the picture; distressed about a dead canary. The following quote properly adjusted my attitude.
"Let any man go into silence: strip himself of all pretence, and selfishness, and sensuality, and sluggishness of soul; lift off thought after thought, passion after passion, till he reaches the inmost depth of all; like how short a time it was that he was not; and again, how short it will be and he will not be here; so open the window and look upon the night, how still its breath, how solemn its march, how deep its perspective; and think how little he knows except the perpetuity of God, and the mysteriousness of life:-- and it will be strange if he does not feel the Eternal Presence as close upon his soul as the breeze upon his brow; if he does not say, "O Lord, art thou ever near as this, and have I not known thee?" -- if the true proportions and the genuine spirit of life do not open on his heart with infinite clearness and show him the littleness of his temptations and the grandeur of his trust. He is ashamed to have found weariness in toil so light, and tears where there was no trial to the brave. He discovers with astonishment how small the dust that has blinded him, and from the height of a quiet and holy love looks down with incredulous sorrow on the jealousies and fears and irritations that have vexed his life.
A mighty wind of resolution sets in strong upon him and freshens the whole atmosphere of his soul, sweeping down before it the light flakes of difficulty, till they vanish like snow upon the sea......"
"Tears where there was no trial to the brave." As I reflect on the many posts on my blog, the poor souls who endure great trials, oppression, hunger, and suffering; true trials for the brave, I was ashamed of my cry baby attitude, and clutched tighter to the hands of Jesus and 'cowboy up'd'.
James Martineau - British teacher of religion, 1805-1900 - Painting by Alma Tadema
6 comments:
Fred its ok to cry over a pet for heavens sake, being a man means you will cry sometimes :)
I also love Canary's. I am sorry for your loss of your friend, who sang his sweet song to you...
Mary...I think you missed his point. LOL! My dad steps on canary's. :)
Dad, this is a perfect description of devotional times. I just wish it was written in a more accessible way. I would like to use this in my prayer discussions.
lolololol oh my goodness I think I lost my mind....lolol
Thanks for pointing that out. Its one of those days!
(TOTAL BRAIN FART)
Don't feel bad Mary, I opened this post by saying I was distressed about a dead bird. But what I meant was I was being overly concerned about a smaller issue. Although I might not cry about the loss of a canary,(although I happen to like canaries,especially German Rollers, and would never intentionally harm any animal, just for the record), I do find myself sulking about trifles, petty disappointments and hangnails; and when I look at my own posts, and read how people suffer mercilessly, it makes me ashamed of myself.
Love Fred
I wasn't making Fun Mary :)
though I thought it was funny...I just laughed at the thought of my dad, sulking over a little bird.
Now granted, I am thinking about the "younger dad" which was man who used to shoot 6-shooter pistols, you know, the kind Jesse James used. In fact I have a few memories of him in old photos holding up some dead birds He had shot out of the sky in his younger, anti-feathered blood lust.
But from the sounds of his reply above...it looks like the salmon colored sweater wearing, sprout eating, latte sipping, avant-garde shuffle boarding crowd in Portland...have got him under their spell.
OK Now I am laughing (sorry Fred) NO COMMENT
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