The Death Bed

We watched her breathing through the night--
Her breathing soft and low--
As in her breast the wave of life
Kept heaving to and fro.

So, silently we seemed to speak,
so slowly moved about,
As we had lent her half our powers
To eke her living out.

Our wearied hopes belied our fears,
Our fears our hopes belied;
We thought her dying when she slept,
And sleeping when she died.

For when morn came, dim and sad,
And chill with early showers,
Her quiet eyelids closed ; she had
Another morn than ours.
Thomas Hood

Eva's Death -- From Uncle Tom's Cabin

Eva, after this, declined rapidly; there was no more any doubt of the event; the fondest hope could not be blinded. Her beautiful room was avowedly a sickroom, and Miss Ophelia, day and night, performed the duties of a nurse, and never did her friends appreciate her value more than in that capacity. With so well trained a hand and eye, such perfect adroitness and practice in every art which could promote neatness and comfort and keep out of sight every disagreeable incident of sickness – with such a perfect sense of time, such a clear, untroubled head, such exact accuracy in remembering every prescription and direction of the doctors – she was everything to St. Clare. They who had shrugged their shoulders at the little peculiarities and setnesses --- so unlike the careless freedom of Southern manners – acknowledged that now she was the exact person that was wanted.
Uncle Tom was much in Eva’s room. The child suffered much from nervous restlessness, and it was a relief to her to be carried; and it was Tom’s greatest delight to carry her little frail form in his arms, resting on a pillow, now up and down her room, now out into the veranda; and when the fresh sea-breezes blew from the lake – and the child felt freshest in the morning – he would sometimes walk with her under the orange-trees in the garden, or sitting down in some of their old seat, sing to her their favorite old hymns.
Her father often did the same thing; but his frame was slighter, and when he was weary, Eva would say to him –
“Oh, papa, let Tom take me. Poor fellow! It pleases him; and you know it’s all he can do for me now, and he wants to do something!”
“So do I, Eva!” said her father.
“Well, papa, you can do everything, and are everything to me. You read to me –
you sit up nights; and Tom has only this one thing, and his singing; and I know, too, he does it easier than you can. He carries me so strong!”
Harriet Beecher Stowe -- Sister to Henry Ward Beecher, Father Lyman Beecher.

This piece touches me at so many levels. Of course with six granddaughters, I sense the pathos and imagine the grief of the parents. But the character that makes me well up is Tom.
I picture him and his limitations, but what he can do, he does with such love. "He carries me so strong." That line just strikes such a chord in me. I had an Uncle that also had many limitations, but he too, 'carried me strong'.

To A Waterfowl

This classic poem by William Cullen Bryant is well known, but each time I read it I love where he takes me. I love the nature poets. I have sat by a pond or lake many times fishing and watching the ducks fly in for a landing with their wings making that soothing whistling sound. I have watched as well, many times the ducks in the distance, a shadow in the setting suns light, so I particularly like this one and where it takes me.

To a Waterfowl

Whither, midst falling dew,
While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou purse
Thy solitary way?

Vainly the fowler’s eye
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,
Thy figure floats along.

Seek’st thou the plashy brink
Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,
Or where the rocking billows rise and sink
On the chafed ocean-side?

There is a power whose care
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast –
The desert and illimitable air ----
Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fanned,
At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere,
Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,
Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end;
Soon thou find a summer home, and rest,
And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend,
Soon, o’er thy sheltered nest.

Thou’rt gone, the abyss of heaven
Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given.
And shall not soon depart:

He, who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright.
William Cullen Bryant.

What Immigrants Bring to Oregon

Ugh, you hear it all the time. “Ey, Mayor Potter, what’s the deal with that new office of Fresh-Off-the-Boat Attitudes?”
“You really think a huddle of smart-aleck immigrants are worth our money?”
I’ve seen it happen, I’ve watched him pause, before responding. “Hmm, Yes, Immigrants, Uh, why are they important to us?”

I hold up three fingers for each big reason we are indispensable. Us immigrants, to America.
Okay, once and for all, City Hall types, snip and magnet this column to your file cabinet --
Fresh off the boaters are unabashed believers in American participatory democracy. We love the stuff. Cynicism and his uncivil cousin, passivity, have not yet visited our humble homes.

Newcomers are all about community. Count us in your tribe, and we’ll rumble to the last stubborn soldier for you. Loyalty is the currency of every ricepicker’s realm.

Immigrants are above all, a practical folk. Wasting time, squandering face, and most importantly, misspending money, are antithetical to these very bones.

Let me give you some cultural differences, we went by a pet store and here is what we call our D list. D is not for dope, or for dumb, D is for dog.

At the dog store, we saw doggie videos. VHS format is $10.50; DVD for $15.50.
You sit Skippy in front of your Sanyo. These movies are for him. Shot from a “Doggie Cam point of view. Whew!!!
This is decidedly unFOB (Fresh off the Boat).
Dogs do not figure big into democracy. People do. People watch movies.

On the doggie store’s shelves there are clothes. Dog clothes. Shoes, shirts, sweaters, windbreakers, rain slickers. They sell Doggie-Ts that say; Pet this; Rich Bitch; Bad Hair Day and perhaps the most vexing for FOB folks; “Favorite Grandchild” in both hot pink and baby blue. Life jackets run from $49. to $70.
For Dogs.

Definitely not FOB. Of course, we are communal; certainly I am loyal as a dog. But dogs belong outside. They wait below Aunties kitchen window for leftovers.
They’ve never—not in any grand elder’s memory – worn coats or galoshes. Dogs are pretty good at ducking rain. Indeed, it’s a dog’s job to protect us, not the other way around. As a matter of fact, when things get really bad…we eat them.
Lab adobo. Yum!

In front of the doggie store, there are strollers. Dog strollers. You put Muffy in there. You push her around town. There’s screen windows all around so she can see. “Mesh provides full protection from bugs.” The best model has shock absorbers in back and bright reflectors up front. For safety. They go for $127. to $229. That’s US dollars. That’s totally unFOB.

FOB is as follows; Money is really hard to get. Really hard to save. Really important for schooling our kids, for keeping healthy our grandparents, for living cozy in a house ma’s dreamt of; for dressing good at church or temple or mosque, for arriving there in a really cool Acura. White is best.
Money is necessary for back home; money can’t be made back there like you can here. Our money will make right all the bad brought upon us by awful winds and ugly oceans and angry volcanoes and murderous quakes. And our stupid sultans. Our careless leaders.
Ayoh, Portlanders. Oregon does not have too many immigrants – indeed, we have not enough. Newcomers come practical, clear headed. Like common sense, you can’t have too much.

This article taken from The Asian Reporter.

Spit out the bones

I was reading one of my favorite authors the other day, Orison S. Marden. He is the most optimistic author I have ever read. He is a Christian, with a D.D. and an M.D. and a few other letters as well. He lived in the late 1800s and died in 1926 I think. I think enough of one of his books that I have purchased one for each of my kids. That being said, whoever I read, I take the good and pass over the not so good. So, as I was reading a chapter about 'Thinking You Are A Failure', which is about negative thoughts and the senseless banter that goes on in our heads, when I came across these lines -- "A vividness, a certain force, accompanies the spoken word,--
especially if earnestly, vehemently uttered -- which is not apparent to many in merely thinking about what the words express. If you repeat a firm resolve to yourself aloud, vigorously, even vehemently, you are more likely to carry it to reality than if you merely resolve in silence.
We become so accustomed to our silent thoughts that the voicing of them, the giving audible expression to our yearnings, makes a much deeper impression upon us."

So I began to picture myself doing what he suggested and I said, 'Hey, if I'm going to be speaking outloud, and vigorously, and vehemently, then I'm not going to waste my time talking to myself, I'm going to talk to someone who can get the job done! So I left my chair, went into my bedroom and began to pray.
Now I have no doubt that speaking positive thoughts would have some advantage, but, please forgive me, I'll do my shouting, my yearning, my vigorous talking, with the Lord. I don't say this to discredit my favorite author, but sometimes you eat the fish and spit out the bones. This was one of those cases.

Thoughts from Napoleon

In his exile at St. Helena, Napoleon was one day conversing, as was his wont, about the great men of antiquity, and comparing himself with them. He suddenly turned round to one of his suite and asked: "Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was?" The officer owned that he had not given much thought to such things. "Well, then," said Napoleon, "I will tell you." He then compared Christ with himself and the heroes of antiquity and showed how far Jesus surpassed them.
"I think I understand somewhat of human nature," said he, "and I tell you all these were men, and I am a man, but not one is like Him. Jesus Christ was more than a man, but not one is like him. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself; founded great empires; but upon what did the creation of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love and to this very day millions would die for Him.
Men wonder at the conquests of Alexander, but here is a conqueror who draws men to Himself, incorporates into Himself, not a nation, but the whole human race."

Sweetmeats?

This is an excerpt from a chapter on Rewards and Punishments, from "Our Home". 1899

"As a rule the reward when given should appeal to the mental rather than the physical.
It should be something which has a tendency to stimulate the thinking or inventive power rather than something which merely satisfies a physical want. It is generally better to give a book than a drum, although there are far meaner rewards than a drum. Candy and sweetmeats should never under any circumstances be offered. That which is unfit for an adult is surely unfit to constitute a reward for a child. It is a fact that the world makes its greatest efforts in response to the demands of sensual gratification. Is it unreasonable to suppose that the foundation of this evil is laid in childhood through the pernicious practise of rewarding children with sweetmeats?"

I'm afraid I stand guilty, being a Grandfather, I might be accused of this evil, pernicious practise on an occasion or two. That aside, I like the advice and it makes me think a little instead of missing an opportunity to do something that is more than an immediate reward, like candy would be.

Dealing with doubt in children

When one begins to doubt any doctrine, whether intellectual or religious, he naturally conceives a dislike for any authority which disputes his ground, unless the authority is enforced by reasons which his own intellect is compelled to acknowledge as conclusive. Superior logic is the only authority which a questioning mind naturally receives with good grace. Hence, if you do not wish your child to hate the Bible, do not attempt to silence all his questions by the mere quotation of Scriptural texts, but first, calmly and kindly, lay bare the fallacy in his argument, and then show him, if you choose, how your own argument accords with Scripture."
Our Home - by Charles E. Sargent, M.A. 1899

Train your children to save with a penny

"A penny is a very small matter, yet the comfort of thousands of families depends upon the proper spending and saving of pennies. If a man allows the little pennies, the results of his hard work, to slip out of his fingers -- some to the beershop, some this way and that -- he will find that his life is little raised above one of mere animal drudgery. On the other hand, if he take care of the pennies -- putting some weekly into a benefit society or an insurance fund, others into a saving's bank, and confiding the rest to his wife to be carefully laid out, with a view to the comfortable maintenance and education of his family; he will soon find that this attention to small matters, will abundantly repay him, in increasing means, growing comfort at home and a mind comparatively free from fears as to the future. And if a working man have a high ambition and posses richness in spirit, -- a kind of wealth which far transcends all mere worldly possessions -- he may not only help himself, but be a profitable helper of others in his path through life."

So here is a practical idea for instilling this habit into your children; tell them that each time they find a penny you will double it, or it may be if you are able, you will give them a nickel for each penny that they find. In our world, there are many that will not stoop to pick up a penny. Let that slothfulness be your children's means to saving.

Standing before Kings

The proverbs of Solomon are full of wisdom as to the force of industry, and the use and abuse of money: - 'He that is slothful in work is brother to him that is a great waster.' 'Go to the ant you sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.' 'Poverty, says the preacher, shall come upon the idler,
'as one that travelleth, and want as an armed man;' but of the industrious and upright, 'the hand of the diligent maketh rich.'
'The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.'
'Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings.' But above all, 'It is better to get wisdom than gold; for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.'

Simple industry and thrift will go far towards making any person of ordinary working faculty comparatively independent in his means. Even a working man may be so, provided he will carefully husband his resources, and watch the little outlets of useless expenditure.
Samule Smiles, Money, its use and abuse

Do you want to be rich?

I think it’s a fair question; one which every one in America has asked themselves.
I’m not asking you if you are willing to sell your soul for riches but simply, do you want to be wealthy? Riches bring much power to do good, as well as evil.
All of us know of ministries doing wonderful things. They have the people ready, trained, equipped of God, but the one thing lacking is funds. Christians that have wealth support countless ministries that give sight to the blind, clothes to the naked, medicine to the infirm, as well as spread the Gospel throughout the world.
So, I’m asking, do you want to be wealthy? Wealth brings independence, a satisfaction that your family will be able to enjoy a comfortable home and weather life’s storms. I could go on and list countless other things that wealth brings without damning your soul.
So, I thought I would begin to post articles concerning the attainment of wealth the way Godly people through all ages have accomplished it.
These are the time tested, righteous pursuits of wealth that have worked in all generations. It will be worth our while to carefully consider what the wealthy say about the attainment of riches.

Securing Independence

To secure independence, the practice of simple economy is all that is necessary. Economy requires neither superior courage nor eminent virtue; it is satisfied with ordinary energy, and the capacity of average minds. Economy, at bottom, is but the spirit of order applied in the administration of domestic affairs; it means management, regularity, prudence, and the avoidance of waste. The spirit of economy was expressed by our Divine Master in the words, ‘Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing may be lost’. His omnipotence did not disdain the small things of life; and even while revealing His infinite power to the multitude, he taught the pregnant lesson of carefulness of which all stand so much in need.’

We must have enough before we have to spare

Dr. Johnson held that early debt is ruin. His words on the subject are weighty and worthy of being held in remembrance. ‘Do not accustom yourself to consider debt only an inconvenience; you will find it a calamity. Poverty takes away so many means of doing good, and produces so much inability to resist evil, both natural and moral, that it is by all virtuous means to be avoided…. Let it be your first care, then, not to be in any man’s debt. Resolve not to be poor; whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable and others extremely difficult. Economy is not only the basis of quiet, but of beneficence. No man can help others that lacks help himself; we must have enough before we have to spare.’

Spare change?

The loose cash, which many persons thrown away uselessly, and worse, would often form a basis of fortune and independence for life.
The wasters are there own worst enemies, though generally found amongst the ranks of those who rail at the injustice of “the world” But if a man will not be his own friend, how can he expect that others will? Orderly men of moderate means have always something left in their pockets to help others, whereas your prodigal and careless fellows who spend all never find an opportunity for helping anybody.

The machinery of moral existence

A perfect knowledge of man is in the prayer, Lead us not into temptation.
But temptation will come to try our strength; and once yielded to, the power to resist grows weaker and weaker. Yield once, and a portion of virtue has gone. Resist boldly, and the first decision will give strength for life, repeated, it will become a habit. It is in the outworks of the habits formed in early life that the real strength of the defense must lie, for it has been wisely ordained that the machinery of moral existence should be carried on principally through the medium of the habits, so as to save the wear and tear of the great principles within. It is good habits, which insinuate themselves into the thousand inconsiderable act of life, that really constitute by far the greater part of mans moral conduct. Samuel Smiles.

This piece is so practical, and so true. So many of us struggle, seemingly forever, because we were truant in building good habits when young. Oh the difficulty of building them when older, your life and mine attest to it. But for the power and influence of Christ's intercession, we would have no hope. What some of us battle with and pray for years, with less than perfect results, others who built the good habit when young, simply cannot understand our problem.

The importance of training our children can never be overstated.

Divine Electric Element

The young person, as he passes through life, advances through a long line of tempters ranged on either side of him; and the inevitable effect of yielding, is degradation in a greater or lesser degree. Contact with them tends insensibly to draw away from them some portion of the divine electric element with which our nature is charged. Samuel Smiles

I suppose of all the descriptions of how sin degrades and robs us, this one captures an element that is immediate to identify, but elusive to describe; 'the divine electric element with which our nature is charged'
There is a divine electric element in our nature and sadly we rarely see it in one with any age.
The dancing life in a seven year old, the face on the edge of laughter of a 12 year old, the eye to eye conversation with the innocent, all have that divine electric element.
But as we surrender our will to temptation, we begin to erode some portion of that element, the result of which is vividly apparent in the eyes.

Putrid with lust, sin, and crime.

I was reading a chapter on repentance and one section the author writes of the different characters, hearts and personalities. I like the way he illustrates them.
Of course I see a trace of each in myself but certainly some would describe me more. I won’t divulge those of course.

“Some hearts are like the desert, naturally barren and sterile, and need a new soul entirely before any religious fruit can grow.
Some are like natural trees that bear plenty of fruit of a poor quality; these need grafting with a new and higher life.
Some are like marches and fens, foul and rank with noxious weeds and plants that need killing out or pulling up by the roots, before anything better can have room to grow.
Some are like rocks, utterly hard and insensible, and need to be blasted and broken up with great shocks of calamity, or accident, or suffering, before they begin to move or feel at all.
Some are like wild vines that are frail, tender, clinging and loving, and these need to be taught and cultivated and strengthened by the power of faith, and the help which Christ alone can give.
Some are like the timid, retiring wild-flower in the forest that needs to be brought out into the sunlight of God’s reconciled countenance and be made to grow with new strength and beauty.
Some are like gardens that bring forth fruits, flowers and weeds in equal proportions; these need cleaning and ploughing and replanting.
Some are gnarled and twisted like a bush, almost beyond the power of redemption by any ordinary means.
Some are already putrid with lust, sin, and crime, like decayed wood or herbage.
And others are naturally lovely and amiable, and inclined towards the good and lovely, just as rootlets strike out towards water by an inherent instinct; who are what may be called religiously inclined, but still not spiritual, not holy according to the Scriptures and the requirements of Christ, not Christians in the true sense of the word.
But all alike, whatever their natural variations or excellences, nee to be converted before they can be saved.” Jerome Paine Bates, A.M.

This made me think of the difficulty the Pastor is faced with in presenting a message that pierces the “rocks, utterly hard and insensible” without crushing the
“retiring wild-flower”.
I regret that too often I have had little discernment into the character and nature of one I had opportunity to talk with and where “sunlight” was needed, I rather “blasted with great shocks of calamity”.

The Libertine

“I fear few villages exist without a specimen of the Libertine. His errand into this world is to explore every depth of sensuality, and collect upon himself the foulness of every one.

He is proud to be vile; his ambition is to be viler than other men. To him purity and decency are a burden, and only corruption a delight
“This creature has changed his nature, until only that which disgusts a pure mind pleases his. He is lured by the scent of carrion. His coarse feelings, stimulated by gross excitants, are insensible to delicacy.”
“The exquisite bloom, the dew and freshness of the flowers of the heart which delight both good men and God himself, he gazes upon, as a behemoth would gaze enraptured upon a prairie of flowers. It is so much pasture. The forms the odors, the hues are only a mouthful for his terrible appetite. Therefore, his breath blights every innocent thing.

He sneers at mention of purity, and leers in the very face of Virtue, as though she were herself corrupt. He assures the credulous and naive disciple that there is no purity; that its appearances are only the veils which cover indulgence. Nay, he solicits praise for the very openness of his evil; and tells the listener that all act as he acts, but only few are courageous enough to own it.
Experience shows that the worst men are, often, the most skilful in touching the springs of human action. A young man knows little of life; less of himself. He feels in his bosom
the various impulses, wild desires, restless cravings he can hardly tell for what, a somber melancholy when all are gay, a violent exhilaration when others are sober. These wild gushes of feeling, peculiar to youth, the shrewd and sagacious tempter has felt, has studied, has practiced upon, until he can sit before that most spacious organ, the human mind, knowing every stop and all the combinations, and competent to touch any note in the unwitting. He decries the virtue of all men; studies to produce a doubt that any are under self-restraint. And edging in upon the yielding youth, who begins to wonder at his experience, he boasts his first exploits, he hisses at the purity of women; he grows yet bolder, tells more wicked deeds and invents worse even than he ever performed. All thoughts, all feelings, all ambition, are merged in one and that lowest, vilest, most detestable ambition.”

Henry Ward Beecher - Lectures to Young Men

Lord let me not forget thy great mercies, the ardor in which you sought me and the love you displayed when you bought me. Let me not forget the very jaws that thrashed me and the scars left from the evil one who stalked and still stalks my soul for eternal desturction. You have rescued, cleansed, purified, consoled this empty handed beggar. May my life ring as a testimony, not a disgrace, to thy great mercies.
Author unknown

A little learning is a dangerous thing.

A little learning is a dangerous thing.
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
and drinking largely sobers us again.
Fired at first sight with what the muse imparts,
in fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts,
while from the bounded level of our mind,
short views we take, nor see the lengths behind:
but more advanced, behold with strange surprise
new distant scenes of endless science rise !
So pleased at first the towering Alps we try,
mount o’er the vales and seem to tread the sky,
the eternal snows appear already pass’d,
and the first clouds and mountains seem the last:
but, those attain’d, we tremble to survey
the growing labours of the lengthen’d way,
the increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes,
hills peep o’er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!


Oh, I like this poem, by Pope, a difficult one for me to grasp the first time through. And I'm not sure I understand it all, but here is my take on it.

I begin to reminisce about days when I saw life and all I thought it had to offer and I was so sure I was well equipped to handle all that would come my way. So eager to jump into the fray. With youth comes the boundless optimism as well as energy, “fired at first sight with what the muse imparts, in fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts.” I think much of my life has been spent in intoxicated thinking that I had some wisdom or understanding of life, only to find I have been drinking shallow. So naively confident that I could see the heights, and the depths of life, taking life on the surface, thinking I saw all there was. “Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind”.
As life unfolds her endless mysteries it so humbles the soul, the infinite climb to reach just the base.
The line “The eternal snows appear already pass’d” is something that time alone can refute. When young we think the way things are, will always be, and as time sweeps by we see the snows, or difficulties were only gone for a season, and as they blast once more the impact they have was completely unprepared for. “And the first clouds and mountains seem the last” as I have aged and lived through many a cloudy day and scaled a few mountains only to see another behind it, brings a seriousness to me, and a vivid awareness of the lack of true courage in me. I have spent most all my life battling and scaling the foothills. Completely unaware of the Alps beyond. Said much better by Pope in the last two lines.
“The increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes, Hills peep o’er hills, and Alps on Alps arise.”

Always in haste, but never in a hurry....

When I'm feeling tired and overworked, it sometimes pulls me out of my crybaby stage by reading about people that truly made sacrifices. John Wesley, though just a man, accomplished much for the Kingdom of God.



John Wesley

John Wesley's mother had a fine education and many accomplishments. She was beautiful of form and person, and withal intensely religious. She so molded the character of her children in their childhood that when John finally left his parental home at thirteen years of age, to become a student in a preparatory school, and then three years later to enter the University at Oxford, he had already received from his mother those prime qualities of method, punctuality, diligence, energy, and piety, which he afterward developed into that vast system of ecclesiasticism and doctrine now extended throughout the whole world.
John Wesley "stands out in the history of the world unquestionably pre-eminent in religious labors above that of any other man since the Apostolic age."
John Wesley, who was one of the most practical of men, was cast out from the churches and denounced as a wild visionary, and mischief maker, and a teacher of sedition and heresy, by the very men who, ere he died, came to regard him reverently as the instrument in God's hands for rescuing England from the "virtual heathenism into which it had lapsed": and for saving the whole Reformation movement started by Martin Luther, from the "imminent ruin hanging over it," and for again reviving that vital "religion that was dying in the world," and they proclaimed him as the greatest mind that had appeared in the religious world since the days of the Apostle Paul.
For nearly sixty years he preached on an average fifteen sermons a week; he wrote incessantly with his pen, and published hundreds of volumes of books, tracts, magazines, treatises on almost all useful subjects, classical, moral and religious; he traveled thousands of miles on foot, on horseback, by coach; he was often mobbed, and for years was constantly threatened with death by men of violence; his life was often in peril on land and sea; he had often the largest congregation to hear him that ever were gathered in modern ages, numbering sometimes more than thirty thousand.
He erected hundreds of schools, chapels, churches; educated thousands and thousands of his countrymen and , though having an income from his books of many thousands of dollars, he religiously and constantly gave it away to the poor, and to spread the gospel he preached, and at his death he had barely enough to bury him decently. He was as saving of his time as ever a miser was of gold; each hour had its task. His favorite maxim was :Always in haste, but never in a hurry." His first rule for the conduct of the thousands of men he sent forth to preach was, : be diligent; never be unemployed; never be triflingly employed; never while away time; never spend any more time at any place that is strictly necessary.:
Circumstances have much to do with developing great men, but they do not create them. John Wesley turned the most unfavorable circumstances to bring about a revolution in the religious world, which by its beneficent results entitles him to be justly ranked among the great men of the ages
This illustrious man affords a striking example of the dignity of labor. His greatness was the result of his incessant diligence.
The world honors honest labor, but despises the idler.

This was taken from a treatise on the benifits of labor.

Bapticostal

I attend a Baptist church, although I'm not a Baptist. In my thirty 37 years as a Christian, I have attended many denominations. I also took away from each something needed.
I love many things about the Conservative Baptist Church, although the word conservative, as it relates to worship, leaves me a little wanting. I wrote another hokey ditty about church as I like it, that is actually a combination of memories from all the churches I've attended.

Heavenly Fire

My heart just cries for old time preaching!
Strictly from the Bible teaching.
Raise your hair and heart higher
smell the smoke, feel the fire!
Tear your eyes, lump your throat,
consecrate and fully devote
every corner and all that pleases
friends, family and holy Jesus.

Uncompromised preaching!
Angelic refrains,
heavenly fire through your veins.
Preacher red-faced, veins a popp'in,
send you down the aisle a hop'in.

Souls won by holy zeal
not a fit and dressed mercantile.
Any burdened soul welcome to sing,
off key notes don't mean a thing.

Music gets your toes a tapping,
tambourine and hands a clapping.
Singing 'bout the gospel story,
soul and lips shouting glory!
Left repentant, bathed in tears,
Holy Ghost lifts all your fears.
Soon forgotten earthly harms,
wrapped secure in Jesus arms.

Accessory to the crime

I watched an old black and white movie some time back and it was about the burden of poverty and the mark it leaves on children. When it was over I wanted to try and write down the emotions the movie left me with. The following poem is a little hokey, but it captured a piece of it.



Poverty often sketches a face leaving it's mark.
Haunting, hollow, hopeless.

Icy fingers churn within when it's worn by a child.
Glimmer in the eye, sheepish dimpled smile,
sashaying from one foot to the other in anticipation,
glad innocence,
dimmed by harsh realities.

Grand theft,
The robbery of innocence in any form
rallies all within to vengeance, to rescue.
A wringing, heart mourning, indignation wells to protection.

Let us never hide our eyes becoming-
Accessory to the crime.........

Blaze '06

Well, I just got back from Spokane and another Blaze conference and I’m still basking in the afterglow . Once again the Lord met us there and I took away so much. It is such an experience to see God move and work; whether it’s in the music, preaching or altar calls.
All the messages spoke to my heart and they all called for a greater dedication which I was ripe to hear.

The conference was held in a unique building called “The Service Station”. It is owned by a Christian man and is a non-profit business. When you enter, it is an upscale coffee house with a dash of Starbucks ambiance. Furnished with leather lounge chairs, modern décor, warm feeling, a jazz group or a single piano player in a nook playing background music to the laid back atmosphere. There are a variety of tables where some were playing card, using lap-tops, mingling with friends while sipping their coffee or eating a sumptuous desert from the Deli bar.
A younger clientele, but some older as well.

Behind, but in the same building, is a large conference room, with stage and professional lighting and seating for about 150. This is where Blaze took place.
Four churches participated in Blaze this year and I think as many joined the band. The music was youth oriented with a hard driving rock beat which melted into smooth spirit lifting worship songs. LeeElla led the singing with a mix of songs that set the mood and warmed the heart as only LeeElla can do.

The speakers this year were Eric on Friday night and Scott Gull’ey the balance of the three sessions. Eric led out with a message on Sampson, and the series of events that led to his ultimate bondage, his plea to God while bound, blinded and controlled. With his mercy plea God began a restoration in his soul and in his death he gained more victory than in his life. It was a stirring, passionate, relevant message that started Blaze out with altars full, tears flowing and true church ministry at its best. I sat somewhere between prayer and spectator, eyes brimming as I watched the Holy Spirit cause a meltdown in hearts. It is always a moment of pride when I see Eric preach. In my opinion, he has developed into a hold your attention, impassioned orator.
As Eric went from person to person lined at the altar, it was a most sacred experience. Eric stopped at one young man, slight of build, maybe 15, and Eric began to pray, then as the emotions ran hot and tears flowed from both, Eric was forced to halt for the tears choking his voice. As composure came, he continued and then continued down the line speaking into the lives of penitent and seekers. For an hour church leaders, the visiting speaker, and Eric hugged, spoke to, prayed and wept with the youth as all were bathed in a Holy Spirit embrace. Holy ground, holy ground…..

The second session, by Scott Gull’ey, was about the death of Jesus at Gethsemane. His point; the decisions to die are made at Gethsemane, or our prayer closets, not at the hour of testing. Jesus laid his life down at Gethsemane not at the cross. He faced the cross with a previously determined will prepared in Gethsemane. Powerful and convicting.

Scott’s second message on “When the Lion Roars” was another penetrating message about how the children of God, when faced with the Roar of Satan, can step up in faith and anointing to do battle and as Sampson, rend in two the devil.
Scott, preaching with power, humor and anointing, always using his unique terms like; issues that cause tissues, we all have Junk in the Trunk, and repentance that cleansed him and he ain’t a ho no mo!

Scott’s third message was at Eric’s new church and focused on the need of faith in this new venture.

There was also a teaching on personal purity led by Jackie, for the women and two Christian brothers named Jason for the guys. I did not attend either but the reports were that they both were powerful and relevant, reaching deep within those in attendance.

Blaze, a mixture of passion, humor, conviction, revelation, worship, salvation and repentance. The epicenter of what God is doing.

When aspiring to the highest place,
it is honorable to reach the second
or even the third rank.
Cicero.

The common problem, yours, mine, every one’s,
Is, not to fancy what were fair in life
Provided it could be,
but, finding first, what may be,
then find out how to make it fair
up to our means;
a very different thing.
Robert Browning.

Blind to our Faults

Fenelon -Letters of Love and Counsel

But note well for your comfort that we only see our faults for what they are when we are recovering from them. It is only when we have no wish for improvement that we are incapable of seeing how fundamentally rotten we are : it constitutes that state of blindness, presumption and insensitiveness which delivers us over to our own devices. A man who lets himself be carried along by the current of a stream has no idea how swiftly it is running; it is only when he begins to struggle against it that he realizes its strength. ---- pg. 19

Pimps of Pleasure

I like to read old Christian literature because so many of the things were written before our culture became desensitized to vices we rarely raise an eyebrow at today. Much was written on the theater of old. If these authors were to see all that’s offered on the big screen or through video today, I think they would mourn for the “advancements.”
This short essay was written to the youth living in the country, where 70% of the population resided at the turn of the 20th century, and the exposure to the theater would only take place on those rare trips to the city to sale their produce etc.
None the less, the principles of evil are the same and in the following quote it’s obvious that the issues were the same though the degree of graphic lewdness before this century were no more than “tarts and cheesecake.”

Pimps of pleasure
"Here is pleasure, all flushed in its gayest, boldest, most fascinating forms; and few there be who can resist its wiles, and fewer yet who can yield to them and escape ruin.
If you would pervert the taste- go to the theater. If you would drink in false views-go to the theater. If you would efface as speedily as possible all qualms of conscience—go to the theater.
If you would put yourself irreconcilably against the spirit of virtue and religion- go to the theater. If you would be infected with each particular vice in the catalog of Depravity- go to the theater. Let parents, who wish to make their children weary of home and quite domestic enjoyments, take them to the theater. If it be desirable for the young to loathe industry and informative reading, and burn for fierce excitements, and seek them by stealth or through pilferings, if need be- send them to the theater.
It is notorious that the bill of fare at these temples of pleasure is made up to the taste of the lower appetites; that low comedy, and lower farce, running into absolute obscenity,
And are the only means of filling the house. Theaters which would exhibit nothing but the classic Drama, would exhibit it to empty seats. They must be corrupt to live; and those who attend them will be corrupted."

When you read a blazing attack on an industry which most of us were nursed on from the cradle, and today has so many creative ways to bring the theater into our homes, it seems harsh or overstated. Or does it?

Some Reasons We Believe

The most compelling reasons that we believe the Bible, are the following;
When we see how exactly the rule of duty prescribed in the Bible agrees with that enforced by our own conscience.
When we see how the account which the Bible gives of human nature, coincides with our human experience.
When we see how powerfully the truths presented there operate to purify our soul.
When we feel how completely the truths presented console and sustain our soul.

Happiness

" All real and wholesome enjoyments possible to man have been just as possible to him since first he was made of the earth as they are now; and they are possible to him chiefly in peace. To watch the corn grow, and the blossoms set; to draw hard breath over plowshare or spade; to read, to think, to love, to hope, to pray- these are the things that make men happy... Now and then a wearied King, or a tormented slave, found out where the true kingdoms of the world were, and possessed himself, in a furrow or two of garden ground, of a truly infinite dominion." John Ruskin.

Peroxide, Studs and Gestapo Boots

A while back I had a friend who was having trouble with his teenager. So I thought I would
write him a little ditty of encouragement.


Peroxide, Studs and Gestapo Boots

Somewhere between innocence and arrogance
Lie those years with no defense.
A time when brains seep out the seams
those cherished years called the “Teens!”

Hating school, church, and home
and under that leaking peroxide dome,
is attitude, and barbed wire speech
lucky to stay outta Dad’s reach
when tempers flare like fire!!!

Loving smile they used to share
replaced with venom and hardware.
Innocent pursuits, now lame and dull,
now it’s “Pops, check out my tattooed skull.”

Studded tongues, nose with a ring,
I just don’t understand a thing!
Gestapo boots, chains and chants,
Damn it, pull up those baggy pants!

Compose myself, settle down.
Remember--
I once terrorized my little town.
Fred Blauer 2-2000

Nursing home memory

I talked with a motivated Christian last week who had an interest in Nursing home ministry.
It reminded me of this experience I had a few years back. I was working with a woman named Joyce at the time, she is referenced in this account.

I had a haunting experience yesterday at the rest home. During the service about mid-way through a person was brought in with the metal cage type apparatus that fits your head when it's mandatory that your head does not move. It appears to be bolted into your head. Do you know the type of cage I'm talking about? This woman who wore this was, I assessed, in her mid sixties. which is young for the rest home. I could see traces of youthful beauty in her eyes. Although the Lord allows me to see the youth in most of the residents there. Anyway, this was her first visit to the service and I tried not to stare. As we sang and carried on in our normal fashion, Joyce was very moved that this lady was weeping and felt it necessary to tell me in the middle of a song. Joyce always has a way of putting people on the spot. which just makes me squirmy! Anyway I'm just sure this lady knows we're talking about her, so I make sure as not to stare. Anyway when the songs over Joyce goes up to her while I continue the service. Then Joyce stops me and has to put this lady on the spot just like I feared! Well, it turns out this lady wasn't uncomfortable about talking and she answers Joyce's inquiry about her tears by explaining that all her life she ran from God and was involved with drugs and the like, till November 10th, it all came to a head when her husband tried to kill her! In fact he actually did! She was pronounced dead, but was revived. She turned her life over to Christ after this experience and was so filled with joy that we all just rejoiced with her. She said she wanted to talk to me and Joyce after the service. Needless to say the hair is just now laying down on my neck. The balance of the service took on a different enthusiasm than the beginning, you can just imagine.
No way to exaggerate it.
After service I asked her if she wanted a ride home and so I took her to her room where we talked and I found out more detail. It turns out she is 46! One year older than Sue. It is impossible to tell because of her condition. The method her husband used to try and kill her was to run over her with his car! He crushed her skull, broke her neck in two places and to repair her neck they had to go in from the front so they had to slice her throat! Her hair was shaved and she had stitches all over her skull. Her skin was jaundice and she is very dehydrated and so her skin appears very old. She is just a mess. But she is on fiiiiiiiiiirrrrre with God!
She is in pain and can't lay down with that cage, she is in physical therapy daily to learn how to walk and to speak, which she does well, a little slow but clear. In all this horror she has a Jesus smile on her face that went the length of the corridor.
I'm ashamed to admit that in my church the testimonies are fewer than they should be. And the miracles are almost non-existent. But yesterday I sat and talked with a walking miracle of grace.
I can hardly shake her from my thoughts. I woke up last night with her face etched in my mind.
God still raises the dead, and saves the lost!!!!

Absolute Truth?

We live in an age when absolute truth is questioned. Some espouse there is no such thing as absolute truth and each creates and lives in his own reality. I think if we take a moment to reflect on the value of truth in our lives, we will see how important absolute truth is and how we all have the same need for it.
Every person is bound to love the truth. We recoil when we find truth absent from love, marriage, our government and courts. Whether it be in law, science, medicine or marriage, no progress can be made without absolute truth.
There is no justice without truth and scarcely a contract can be made without absolutes.

We are bound to love the truth in personal affairs as well, even in the smallest matters. Think about the importance of truth in the following-
In our daily thoughts; in our feelings; in our personal taste; in trifles as well as things of great importance; in matters of praise or blame; in good humored satire an wit; in that immense microscopic realm of human life down below human law, and even below the reach of public sentiment, where people are themselves the sole spectators of themselves.

Truth and justice, therefore are the soil out of which all moral faculties may be said to grow. Regardless where we are born or what culture we are in, we all share the same love for truth.
Charles Hodge

The Cynic

The Cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one.
He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin,
and never seeing noble game.
The Cynic puts all human actions into only two classes – Openly bad, and secretly bad.
All virtue and generosity and disinterestedness are merely the appearance of good, but selfish at the bottom. He holds that no man does a good thing except for profit.
The effect of his conversation upon your feelings is to chill and sear them; to send you away sore and morose. His criticisms and innuendoes fall indiscriminately upon every lovely thing, like frost upon flowers. If a man is said to be pure and chaste, he will answer:
Yes, in the day time. If a woman is pronounced virtuous, he will reply: yes, as yet.
Mr. A is a religious man: Yes, on Sundays.
Mr. B. has just joined the church: certainly, the elections are coming on.
Such a man is generous: of other men’s money. This man is obliging: to lull suspicion and cheat you. That man is upright: because he is naïve.

Thus his eye strains out every good quality and takes in only the bad. To him religion is hypocrisy, honesty a preparation for fraud, virtue only want of opportunity, and undeniable purity, asceticism. The live long day he will coolly sit with sneering lip, uttering sharp speeches in the quietest manner, and in polished phrase, transfixing every character which is presented: His words are softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords.

All this, to the young, seems a wonderful knowledge of human nature; they honor a man who appears to have found out mankind. They begin to indulge themselves in flippant sneers; and with supercilious brow, and impudent tongue, wagging to and empty brain, call to naught the wise, the long tried, and the venerable.

I do believe that man is corrupt enough; but something of good has survived his wreck; something of evil restrained, and something partially restored; yet, I look upon the human heart as a mountain of fire. I dread its crater. I tremble when I see its lava roll the fiery stream. Therefore, I am the more glad, if upon the old crust of past eruptions, I can find a single flower springing up. So far from rejecting appearances of virtue in the corrupt heart of a depraved race, I am eager to see their light as ever a mariner was to see a star in a stormy night…..

Henry Ward Beecher, one of the finest preachers of the 19th century.

The Sex Problem

No easy solution to the “sex problem” has ever been discovered and none ever will be. From the foundations of the world it was ordained that this problem should be difficult to the sons and daughters of men. Nobody has yet been able to circumvent nature at that point. Socrates seems to have recognized this when he replied to the young man who consulted him about getting married, “whether you marry or refrain from marrying, you will regret it afterward.” Should we not all be in a better position for dealing with the sex problem if we frankly recognized from the outset that we were up against “a very difficult affair” and that a short and easy cut to the solution is impossible for everybody ? Here, if nowhere else nature seems to have resolved that mankind shall struggle till the end of his days. There is no escape for anybody. The self of a human being is a complicated and many-sided affair, in which the sex element, though always present and unquestionably important, is only one of a thousand demands which have to be satisfied before anything worthy can be attained.
Man, by nature, is a skill hungry animal. His nature is defined by his function; and his function, as revealed alike by the structure of his body and his mind, is the exercise of skill. Taking the “self” all round, it seems to me that its hunger for skill is the most important and universal feature of it........... Here it is [in skillful activity] that the self most completely attains the joyous satisfaction of its deepest needs, while satisfying at the same time the needs of the social environment, with which it is integrally one. Without some form of skillful activity on lines that are socially valuable, self-expression is impossible.
L.P. Jacks -turn of the 19th century.

The Volunteer Organist

The great big church wus crowded full uv broadcloth an’ uv silk.
An’ satin rich as cream that grows on our ole Brindle’s milk;
Shined boots, b’iled shirts, dickeys an’ stovepipe hats were there.
An’ doods ‘ith trouserloons so tight they couldn’t kneel down in prayer.

The elder, in his poolpit high, said as he slowly riz:
“our organist is kep’ to hum, laid up ‘ith rheumatiz,
An’ as we hev no substitoot, as Brother Moore ain’t here,
Will some’un in the congregation be so kind’s to volunteer?”

An’ then a red-nosed drunken tramp of low an’ rowdy style
Give an introductory hiccup an’ then staggered up the aisle.
Then thro’ thet holy atmosphere there crep’ a sense ov sin.
An’ thro’ thet air uv sanctity the odor uv ole gin.

Then Deacon Purington he yelled, his teeth all set on edge;
“This man perfanes the house uv God, W’y, this is sacrilege!”
The tramp didn’t hear a word he said, but slouched ‘ith stumbling feet,
An’ sprawled an’ staggered up the stairs an’ gained the organ seat.

He then went pawin’ thro’ the keys, an’ soon there rose a strain
That seemed to jest bulge out the heart an’ ‘lectrify the brain.
An’ then he slapped down on the thing ‘ith hands an’ head an’ knees;
He slam dashed his whole body down kerflop upon the keys.

The organ roared, the music flood went sweepin’ high an’ dry;
It swelled into the rafters an, bulged out into the sky.
The old church shook an’ staggered and seemed to reel an’ sway,
An’ the elder shouted “Glory!” an’ I yelled out “Hooray!”

An’ then he tried a tender strain that melted in our ears,
That brought up blessed memories and drenched ‘em down ‘ith tears;
An’ we dreamed of old-time kitchens, ‘ith Tabby on the mat,
Uv home an’ love and baby-days, an’ mother an’ all that.

An’ then he struck a streak of hope, a song from souls forgiven,
They burst the prison bars uv sin an’ stormed the gates of Heaven;
The morning stars they sung together, no soul wus left alone,
We felt the universe was safe an’ God wus on His throne.

An’ then a wail of deep despair and darkness came again,
An’ long black crepe hung on the door uv all the homes of men;
No luv, no light, no joy, no hope, no songs uv glad delight,
An’ then – the tramp he staggered down and reeled into the night.

But he knew he’d tol’ his story, though he never spoke a word,
An’ wuz the saddest story that our ears had ever heard;
He hed tol’ his own life history, an’ no eye wuz dry that day,
When the elder rose an’ simply said, “My brethren, let us pray!”
Sam Walter Foss

Ritual and Sacraments

I was reading a sermon by Edwin Hubbell Chapin, one of the finest orators of his time, and he was describing the different ways that people worship, and this paragraph, on those that find meaning in Ritual and Sacraments, I found interesting. I have walked into a Catholic church a few times in my life and was taken by the grandeur and sensed a reverence within the beauty. In this piece he flushes out those feelings I had.


There are those who can find peace only in the arms of an hereditary Faith: who can feel the inspiration of worship only among forms that have kindled worship in others for a thousand years: with whose earliest thoughts and dearest memories is entwined a Ritual and an Established Church, so that personal affection and household sanctity, as well as religious feeling, demand that every great act of life -- as well as joy or sorrow-- should be consecrated by the familiar sacrament. For that church, too, their fathers have died in darker times, and beneath its chancels, sainted mothers moulder into dust. All, too, that can exalt the ideal, or wake the pulses of eloquent emotion, is connected with such a church. To them it opens a traditional perspective, the grandest in all history.
Behind its altars, sweep the vestments of centuries of priests, and rises the incense of centuries of prayer. In its stony niches, stand rows of saints, who have made human life sublime, and who, through all the passing ages, look down upon the turmoil of that life with the calm beatitude of heaven; while its flushed windows still keep the blood-stain of its own martyrs, plashed against it ere yet it had become an anchored fact, and while it tossed upon the stormy waves of persecution. I can understand, then, how an imaginative and reverential mind can find the truest religious life only in connection with Ritual and Sacrament.

In the following paragraph he describes those that find satisfaction in the discipline of a spontaneous devotion; also the faith of the Puritans with their rugged independence of soul, that faithfulness to the individual conscience, that sense of the Divine Sovereignty, which could kneel at no man's altar, and to God alone. And other modes of worship as well.
Let them all continue.

We must.....

The message today was on Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman. I was eager to hear what new insights the Pastor would reveal from this famous passage. He picked up in
John 4:4 It begins saying—“Now he had to go through Samaria.” He stopped there and I wondered what he would say about that simple statement. He posed the question, ‘why did Jesus have to go through Samaria?’ Certainly this was not a story about travel directions, He certainly did not have to go through Samaria. In fact, it would be rare for a Jew to go through this town of mixed races and mixed religions. Many would never take this route. But Jesus HAD to go? Jesus always seems to do as he sees fit and surely no one compelled him to go.
The Pastor then began to surmise that this chance encounter with the Samarian woman was not chance but rather the reason Jesus chose this route. Her need compelled Jesus and he MUST go, not to get something from her but to give her the deepest need of her soul. He was interested in her. Because of her he had to go that way. He must.

The Pastor had a picture of Madonna the singer on the overhead to demonstrate how we tend to see the surface and often overlook the needs of the heart. Of course my first reaction was a middle age repulsion of this embodiment of evil, so his modern day illustration of the repulsion of the Jews was effective. The Jews had two sayings about Samaritans; “to eat Samaritan bread is to eat swine’s flesh, and, Samaritan women are always unclean.” I guess I kind of felt that way about Madonna. But Jesus HAD to go to through Samaria.
I left church today with a greater sense of the heart of God. I felt if the living Christ truly lives in us, and in a world with needs at every turn, then we too must go.

Prepared to do any good work

In my reading recently I came upon this – “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.
If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”

I met a niece about five months ago; Married to truly great guy, they rear their four children in a devoted Christian home. But their children came through much difficulty; Mary, my niece, had great difficulty with each childbirth; health problems, premature births and one little girl who died after only an hour and a half of life. This tiny little angel, Mariah, lay in a hospital blanket, no clothing available for one so small.
Now Mary can knit and crotchet. Soon God moved on her to use this talent to knit tiny clothes for other women that have premature babies. She found that all over the country in Neonatal facilities, in Pregnancy Resource Centers and the like, there is a need for these tiny infants. That was a few years back and now she has a charity in all 50 states where women, and some men, knit clothing for children in need. Now till I met Mary, I never knew the need existed. But God did and he moved on Mary, a woman “prepared to do any good work.”

I read on the Free Burma Ranger site that high in the mountains of Burma they have a need for hats for the young children to protect from the cold. I mentioned this to Mary and that day she posted the need on her web-site and that week she had members knitting hats to fill the need. Now Burma has a permanent place on her web-site and she asked me to manage that site with information, updates and needs.

Now Tabitha, immortalized in the Bible, was always doing good, making robes and clothing for the poor: a noble, holy work, useful to the Master.
She was prepared to do any good work.

Please visit Mary’s web-site at Heavenly Angels in Need .com

"Be Short"

I was reading a brief biography of Cotton Mather, a Early American Puritan- born 1663
The following piece interested me and maybe you as well?

"No person in America read or possessed so many books or retained so much of what he read.
So precious was time to him that "Be short" was inscribed over his study door to prevent visits of unnecessary length. His publications amounted to 382. His "Essays to do Good" is a most excellent publication, to which Dr. Benjamin Franklin ascribes all his own later usefulness."

I can just imagine visiting his study and the intimidation that little sign would cause.
Also, not a bad recommendation to have Franklin ascribe his usefulness to you, wouldn't you say?

The Power and Influence of Young Women

I was reading in a book called Portraits and Principles, an anthology of essays by successful people and how they got that way, when I read this one addressed to young women. I have one fourteen year old granddaughter, and others growing up quickly, that I want to pass this on to.
When I finished it I thought there may be others that would like it for the same purpose.

The following piece is a paraphrase from an essay titled-
The Influence of Young Women by Lady Henry Somerset – She was the President of a British women’s Temperance union in the late 1800s.
I might rename it The Power and Influence of Young Women because as I read it I became aware of power women have. She begins with what seems as a unrelated issue, stating that mankind can develop nature but not improve upon it.
“All the present deliciousness of fruits or flowers was contained in the original seeds out of which they were developed. Men have added nothing to nature.”
Her point being that fruits and flowers are and can be improved upon, and then she likens this to the family of man, and that through the home it can be improved as well. “ Without one’s family, what were all else of life?
Without them would life be worth the living? How could there be love, and hope and ambition, without the family? There might be lust of appetite, or gaining things, of conquest, for mere existence, but how could holy love exist without the family relation? And love is life. In the Bible the words are almost interchangeable in meaning.”

She makes this general statement, although made over a hundred years ago I think it is as true today as then. “Now men are ruled by their appetites, and women by their affections, until education has taught them the proper uses of both.”
Now she goes on and this is where it gets interesting to me; she begins to encourage young women on how to pick out a man and in doing so exert her power over all of society.
“The young women of today will be the matrons of tomorrow, and while they never can make over the young men whom their mothers have made years ago,
(She mentions earlier that as a rule the first seven years of life determine the future of the child and so of the man.) they can almost wholly determine the character of the next generation, by wisely using their influence with the present one. What kind of associates, what kind of companions, will you choose among men? Fate will not fix it for you, but you must determine it.
There are serious vices among men, foul blots on humanity that impair its energies, that bar all upward progress of the race, that are steadily dragging it downward to that of a beast and actions of the devil – vices that breed crimes, natural and unnatural, preternatural ( unlike ordinary natural occurrences ), by which and from which woman has been and is the silent, and greatest sufferer.
Shall these be continued? On its answer hangs the destiny of the ages. Shall the vice of the father be fastened on your innocent child through you?
That is the problem you are to solve.
Over against the world’s misery stand the young women of the day with the power not merely to lessen it but to blot it out. Will they do it? Do you ask how?

By resolutely refusing to be the medium for its perpetuation.

Demand purity of thought, purity of purpose, purity of deed that is unyielding, with the young men with whom you accompany.
How long would the vice of drink, the use of drugs, the delirium of gambling, the leper-seeking of lust with all of its perversions, dwell in the world, if the young women in it were to refuse to accompany any young man tainted by them?
Not a generation.”

She goes on to give countless example of how young women take as friends for themselves young men who have habits that inevitably end up hurting themselves, because the young man is cute or clever, rich or has position.

The main point of the essay is to point out the power young women have.
They can by right choices for themselves, not only help themselves, but, when married and if children come, bless the children by their choice, and all of society.

Poor but content

This is another good story custom made for parents to use as a training tool for their children.

“ In a time of famine a rich man sent for the poorest children of the town, and said to them;
“There is a basket full of bread; you may come every day and take a loaf until it pleases God to send better times.”
The children attacked the basket, and disputed as to which should have the largest loaf, and then went away without thanking their benefactor.
Only Frances, a very poor but cleanly girl, modestly remained behind, and had the smallest loaf which was left in the basket. She gratefully returned thanks and went home quietly. One day the children behaved very badly indeed, and poor Frances received a loaf very much smaller than the rest; but when she took it home, and her mother cut it open, a number of pieces of silver fell on the floor.
The poor woman was astonished and said:
“Go and return this money immediately, it must have been a mistake.”
Frances went directly with it to the gentleman, who said:
“My dear child, it was no mistake. I had the money put into that loaf to reward you. Remain always as peaceable and contented. Those who are satisfied with a little always bring blessing upon themselves and family, and will pass happily through the world. Do not thank me, but thank God, who put into your heart the treasure of a contented and grateful spirit, and who has given me the will and opportunity to be useful to those who are in need of assistance.”

Purpose and Direction

The thing, which an active mind most needs, is a purpose and direction worthy of its activity. The dread that we have that precious hopes will never be realized is more than half of the burden that we have to bear. Better fail a thousand times and in everything else, than attempt to shape for yourself a life without God, without hope in Christ, and without an interest in heaven. But those who have a high, pure aim in life, some noble end to be accomplished for the benefit of our fellow creatures, and the advancement of the interests of the Redeemer’s kingdom, if such an object is labored and striven for, in the strength of the Lord, something precious and beautiful in the sight of God and the angels will be formed, a full and completely rounded life, answering the end for which it was created. Well Springs of Truth

Patience and Forbearance

The horse of a pious man in Massachusetts happened to stray into the road. A neighbor of the man who owned the horse, caught him and put him in the pound.
Meeting the owner soon after, he told him what he had done, and added,
“If ever I catch him in the road hereafter, I’ll do just so again.”
“Neighbor” replied the other, “Not long since, I looked out of my window in the night, and saw your cattle in my mowing-ground; and I drove them out, and shut them in your stable;
and I’ll do it again.”
Struck with the reply, the man liberated the horse from the pound, and paid the charges himself.
Well Springs of Truth 1883

Tingling nerves

What is the true test of piety? Plain matter-of-fact, un-ecstatic obedience as of a child to a father; that is the test. The only true joy is born of such obedience. Ecstasies that come from any other source do not belong to the legitimate family circle of heavenly joys. They are the result of that which it does not take heaven to explain. They can be produced at any time and on any occasion by a combination of earthly forces. Singing can produce them. A sympathetic voice can charge the mystic thrill along the nerves till they tingle. Eloquence can produce them. How often under the orators power men and women weep, groan and shout in loud acclaim! The mesmeric influence which hovers over marsh land during a summer heat can communicate by subtle and untraceable potency its deceptive and transitory excitement, so that the vast multitude shall be charged full of the current whose expression might deceive the very elect.
Many suppose that this kind of feeling is legitimate, spiritual, and represents the real power of God. Yea, many gauge their piety by the presence or absence of these feelings; which are feelings that reach no farther than the muscles, and have their home in nothing more divine than the nervous tissues. The piety of Jesus consisted in obedience. His great aim was to do the will of God. He loved God perfectly, and loved man perfectly, and so perfectly fulfilled the law; and so had perfect happiness. Obedience to God lies in natural duties as truly as what are known as technically spiritual. The perfect life stands parent to the perfect joy. Well Springs of Truth

My experience as a Christian was birthed in emotion. When I came to Christ I was raptured away with such a sense of divine presence and heavenly encouragement that I was compelled to go on and follow this Jesus and his gift of peace. Throughout my Christian walk there have been times of great emotion, and heavenly euphoria. So, as I read this piece I first leaned towards disagreement. But after further consideration I agree more than disagree. I have witnessed many over the years that find a consolation in emotion and pursue meetings that bring them into this state of pleasure without much change. So I think this piece is good to urge us to balance, and to test our own spirit by obedience. What other measuring rod is there?

Be it small or great.

“My sister, a woman of your ability and culture might grace earth’s highest salons, and your beauty properly arrayed would adorn a palace. But God has put you in a humble home, and given you a needle for your equipment. Do not, therefore, stitch a complaint and a story of former wealth into every seam. Show your ability by the excellence of your work.
If we are not superior in little things, we would not be superior in the great things of which we dream ourselves capable. In nothing is true ability – not a mere sham pretense of talent – shown more clearly than in doing thoroughly whatever comes to hand, be it small or great.”

Well Springs of Truth 1883

Loyalty to Duty

There are dogs of Herculaneum which display faithful loyalty to duty. One such dogs cast was taken from the ash cavity in which he was discovered. He died of suffocation and agony. But, like the sentinel, he never left his post. The Herculaneum dog Delta has left behind him a wonderful record of valor. In the disinterment of the buried city, his skeleton was found stretched over that of a boy of about twelve years old, most probably clasping his charge to prevent his being suffocated or burned. The boy perished as well as the faithful Delta, but a collar remains to tell of the noble courage of the dog. It relates that he had three times saved the life of his master—from the sea, from robbers, and from wolves.”
If there is such a spirit of loyalty to duty to be found in poor brutes, how much more ought human beings to cultivate this quality?. Well Springs of Truth 1883

Learn to condense

Matt, you're going to love this post!

Southey says, “If you would be pungent, be brief; for it is with words as with sunbeams—the more they are condensed the deeper they burn.” Long visits, long stories, long exhortations and long prayers seldom profit those who have to do with them. Life is short. Time is short. Moments are precious. Learn to condense, abridge and intensify. We can endure many an ache and ill if it is soon over, while even pleasures grown insipid and pain intolerable if they are protracted beyond the limits of reason and convenience.” Learn to be brief. Lop off branches; stick to the main facts in your case. If you pray ask for what you would receive, and get through; if you speak tell your message, and hold your peace; boil down two words into one, and three into two.” Well Springs of Truth 1883

Heart answers to heart

“How it strengthens our love for our fellow-man to know that in every land and in every clime, minds and hearts are so much alike that they respond in unison to the master touch of genius! How it thrills us in reading, to find our own thoughts suddenly brought before us by some great writer clothed in words as we could never utter! But we know that we are akin to him, for does not heart answer to heart, and mind to mind, as we see before us a transcript of our own thoughts?—thoughts which may have been so vague and fleeting as to elude farther search for them--- but here they are; we have found them at last, clothed in enduring beauty, and made palpable by the genius of another.” Well Springs of Truth 1883

”If the chain which binds a man, when wound about him in its full strength, is so great, what shall be said of those who thoughtlessly forge the first links? Are you forging any?”
Well Springs of Truth 1883

Honor old age

A Russian princess of great beauty, in company with her father and a young French marquis, visited a celebrated Swiss doctor of the eighteenth century, Michael Scuppack, when the French marquis began to pass one of his jokes upon the long white beard of one of the doctor’s neighbors who was present.
He offered to bet twelve gold pieces that no lady present would dare to kiss the dirty old fellow. The Russian princess ordered her attendant to bring a plate, and she deposited twelve gold pieces and sent it to the French marquis, who was too polite to decline his bet. The fair Russian then approached the old peasant, saying,
“Permit me, venerable father, to salute you after the manner of my country,”and embracing him, gave him a kiss. She then presented him the gold, which was on the plate, saying, “ Take this as a remembrance of me, and as a sign that the Russian girls think it their duty to honor old age.” Well Springs of Truth" 1883

The music of humans

With my recent trip to Ensenada still fresh on my mind, the title of this article caught my eye.
Though locations were different she captures the spirit of Latin America, and other poor cultures I have visited, so well. I think you will enjoy this whether you have travelled or not.

Lessons From South of the Border

“I just see some things differently now.” I was explaining to a friend after my recent trip to Guatemala and Nicaragua. Things here in the US just seem so orderly, rich, quiet, and…sterile.

In the month spent south of the border, I became accustomed to daily walks among throngs of Latin Americans who live their lives on busy streets buying and selling from each other, running for buses, walking to jobs, schools, pulling their pigs to market, carrying huge loads on their backs and heads leaving trickles of sweat on dusty streets.

From the early dawn wakeup calls of roosters and church bells to the late evening, throbbing is heard throughout the darkened city streets, I felt connected to the rhythms of daily life in a way that I miss here in the US.
My senses were awash each day with the sights, sounds, smells, and whirling vibrant activity of human interaction.
Horns beeping, bus attendants yelling out destinations, children laughing and kicking balls down crowded streets, women gesturing wildly to get a point across as they bargain in street markets, shoe-shine boys clamoring for business, sizzling onions and meat cooking at a street stall.
Then to add to the chaos, a car drives by with a blaring message from its enormous attached speakers announcing a dance that evening in the central park.
I sat in buses packed far past capacity with people being pushed along a sea of humanity toward their destinations. After a respite from the lively street scene, I’d jump off a barely stopped bus and rejoin the cacophony of sounds, the music of humans, living in all its confusion, joy, hardship, inter-dependence, and struggle.
I was as wide-eyed with amazement as the babies bouncing along on their mother’s backs.

“But isn’t it really poor and sad their?” a friend asks.
I think for a minute trying to understand my own mixed feelings. Why did it seem so rich, so vibrant, so alive when indeed the people have so very little?
The people of Latin America appear to enjoy the rich simplicity of life in a way that we don’t here. They don’t expect life to be easy and truly enjoy the times when things work out. They live in all its messy, disorderly, uncontrolled beauty seeming to understand their limits and their reliance on each other.
People here live behind closed doors in protection of their wealth, comfort, and things. Many don’t have to rub up against neighbors, depend on them, sit and talk until the wee hours about troubles, run for buses and sit next to them as we struggle to eke out a living.

We don’t wake to the same sounds as each other and go to sleep at night with opened windows and night air filled with laughter, crying and passion.
But the price we pay for our privacy, comfort, ease, and order is a sense of disconnection and loneliness. It’s possible to live out our days having little or no contact with neighbors, only impersonal contact with merchants, alone in our homes, isolated, and dependent on our cars, driving to jobs where we sit in cubicles, alone at computers, or home with young children away from the comforts of other mothers raising their children.

Lives like that can seem comfortable but there’s a trade off, one that leaves many Americans depressed and confused about where they belong in relation to others.
Here in America, we have to work hard to increase our sense of connection and community with each other (given our current culture and lifestyle) as people in other parts of the world have to work to put food on the table.
It is a goal worth pursuing.

Charlotte Finn

They did not make a voyage, though long at sea.

This piece comes from a chapter called “Reason and Discretion” by Jeremy Taylor.
He paints an all to common picture of the young man that has rejected religion and unwilling to surrender his heart to Christ. He presents a series of behaviors and actions that are typical to the person closing their ears to Christ.

“ And now let us consider what that thing is which we call years of discretion.
The young man is past his tutors, and arrived at the bondage of a caitiff (despicable, vile, cowardly) spirit; he is run from discipline, and is let loose to passion; the man by this time hath wit enough to choose his vice, to act his lust, to court his mistress, to talk confidently and ignorantly and perpetually, to despise his betters, to deny nothing to his appetite, to do things that, when he is indeed a man, he must forever be ashamed of.
For this is all the discretion that most men show in the first stage of manhood; they can discern good from evil; and they prove their skill by leaving all that is good, and wallowing in the evils of folly and an unbridled appetite.

And by this time the young man hath contracted vicious habits, and is a beast in manners, and therefore it will not be fitting to reckon the beginning of his life; he is a fool in his understanding, and that is a sad death; and he is dead in trespasses and sins, and that is a sadder: so that he hath no life but a natural, the life of a beast or a tree; in all other capacities he is dead; he neither hath the intellectual nor the spiritual life, neither the life of a man nor of a Christian; and this sad truth lasts too long.
For old age seizes upon most men while they still retain the minds of boys and vicious youth, doing actions from principles of great folly and a mighty ignorance, admiring things useless and hurtful, and filling up all the dimensions of their abode with businesses of empty affairs, being at leisure to attend no virtue.
They cannot pray, because they are busy and because they are passionate; they cannot communicate, because they have quarrels and intrigues of perplexed causes, complicated hostilities, and things of the world; and therefore they cannot attend to the things of God, little considering that they must find a time to die in; when death comes, they must be at leisure for that.
Such men are like sailors loosing from a port, and tost immediately with a perpetual tempest lasting till their cordage crack, and either they sink or return back again to the same place; they did not make a voyage, though they were long at sea.”

In conversation with my niece the other day regarding thoughts given in confidence, I ran across this quote as a sober reminder--
"Never over-rate the friendship of any audience before which you may stand." Joseph Cook

Simple tears?

I learned from the radio the other day that there are three kinds of tears.
Yes, the chemical make-up of our tears are all different.

First, we have tears that lubricate the eyes and in addition they contain a low level antibacterial agent to cleanse.

Second, and different in chemical make-up from our lubricating tears, are our tears of sorrow.

And thirdly, and also chemically distinct from the others, are our tears of joy.

"Great are the works of the Lord." Ps. 111:2

I found that worth pondering, in light of our Great God, and also wondered where a Darwinist would put that in the chain of evolution.

Deserts and Barbarians

I read an interesting passage today from a book called “Plain Living, High Thinking” In this chapter he was discussing the importance of self-culture in the area of reading and the like. He points out the errors in putting too much focus in one area and how it actually can cause you to know less. His point is, the person who devotes themselves to a single subject of study will never become wholly master even of that; because so close is the connection between the various branches and departments of human knowledge and they subtly run into or clash upon one another. In trying to become an expert one actually becomes extremely ignorant. He knows nothing because he knows little, or only what can be known about one subject without perspective of other things. He quotes Lord Lytton,
“To sail around the world, you must put in at many harbors, if not for rest, at least for supplies. Therefore I say to each person, as far as you can, partly for excellence in your special mental calling, and more importantly, for completion of your end in existence, strive while improving your one talent to enrich your whole capital as a person. It is by this way that you escape from that wretched narrow-mindedness which is the characteristic of every one who cultivates their specialty alone.”
He goes on to give an illustration I like that goes something like this;
“To clarify, let me say that whatever your calling, If you only cultivate that calling to the exclusion of all else, you will become as narrow-minded as the Chinese when they placed on the map of the world the Celestial Empire, with all its hamlets and villages in full detail, and outside the boundaries of the Empire they make dots and lines with the subscription, “To deserts unknown, inhabited by barbarians.”

It made me think how foolish a person would be if they pursued the position of a judge and only studied law without history or psychology. How could one judge justly without an understanding of mercy as seen in literature. Or could one play music without appreciating Fine Art, or an understanding of human nature? How would they appeal to the soul of the masses? On and on the illustrations go. One has only to travel to another country, to learn the U.S. isn’t the center of the world and they come home with a new appreciation for a once unknown race or culture.
The word enlighten presupposes we are in some darkness. Broadening our horizons, we know not how it can impact things we are busy doing.
Don’t you think?

Self-contradiction

Regardless of how old I grow, I will never forget the struggles of growing up and finding, or accepting, ones own identity. In addition, my son Eric works with youth and so when ever I read I am reminded of the struggle of youth. I ran across the following quote and wish each child could truly appreciate how unique and valuable they are. Adults too.

"In self-culture, by distinctly recognizing his own individual powers, as originally and specifically belonging to his mind, a man is less likely to waste his strength in cultivating those faculties which are dormant or feeble. He is taught also to be contented with the mental place assigned him among his fellows, and not to attempt to imitate those from which he differs essentially by natural constitutions. He thus avoids self-contradiction - the source of all false pretense and putting on artificial airs.
By reflecting on the harmony and beauty which spring in all nature from variety, he sees that his individuality is but a part of a wide and consummate plan.
A wood in which the gnarled oak, the delicate larch, the graceful birch, the wide-spreading beech, the old thorn, even the rough briar, and the fern in the foreground, are all varieties essential to the general effect of beauty or grandeur in the landscape; teaching him a lesson of content with the condition assigned to him here, by that Power which formed his soul as well as the trees he is gazing upon, and appointed him his place, as it has theirs, in this great whole.
To fill that place well, however humble it may be, he feels is his duty , the sole purpose for which he was placed here. He has no sure instincts to guide him to this end. He must accomplish this by labor in the right direction." --"Evening thoughts," by a Physician

Vice has little allurement....

"Onward to Fame and Fortune" by Wm. M. Thayer,1897,

Self-respect

"Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man may clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired. One of Pythagoras’ wisest maxims in his ‘Golden Verses,’ is that in which he enjoins the pupil to ‘reverence himself.’ Borne up by this high idea, he will not defile his body by sensuality, nor his mind by servile thoughts. This sentiment, carried into daily life, will be found at the root of all the virtues – cleanliness, sobriety, chastity, morality, and religion. To think meanly of one’s self is to sink in one’s own estimation, as well as in the estimation of others. And as the thoughts are, so will the acts be. A man cannot live a high life who grovels in a moral sewer of his own thoughts. He cannot aspire if he looks down; if he would rise he must look up. The very humblest may be sustained by the proper indulgence of this feeling, and poverty itself may be lifted and lighted up by self-respect.
Self-respect maintains a close alliance with virtue. So long as a youth of either sex has true self-respect, vice has little allurement for him or her.
It is when this sterling virtue is sacrificed and the thoughtless or reckless one ceases to care what is thought of him or her, that vice claims its victim.
He who cares not whether men think well or ill of him does not possess self-respect; and so he is easily lured into sin, becoming more and more indifferent to the good-will of others, and more abandoned and criminal in his daily life. With the loss of self-respect, he is likely to lose all that makes manhood true and ennobling."

When I read this piece, especially the last paragraph or so, it really hit a chord with me.
Helping children develop self-respect became more important. I believe that vice has far less allurement in people with self-respect. I won't ramble with my thoughts, I'm sure each of us has our own and I hope this piece encourages you.

Magnanimity ( greatness of mind; dignity of soul )

"When Abraham Lincoln was candidate for United States Senator in Illinois, Lyman Trumbull, a political opponent, was put forward as a candidate by Democrats opposed to forcing slavery upon Kansas and Nebraska, a scheme to which Lincoln was also opposed.
Govenor Matheson was the candidate of the Douglas party in favor of abandoning the above States to slavery, and on the third or fourth ballot, he lacked but four votes of an election.
"Withdraw my name at once," said Lincoln, "and support Trumbull."
"Never; we can never do it," replied one of his friends.
"But we cannot afford to risk another ballot; four more votes for Matheson, and our cause is lost," answered Lincoln, with much feeling.
"Nevertheless, we shall not withdraw your name, returned his friend.
Rising to his full height, and with an emphasis that could not be misinterpreted, Lincoln said,
"It must be done; my name is withdrawn."
Some of his political friends wept as they abandoned his candidacy, and voted for Trumbull, who was elected; but none of them were ever more in love with his magnanimity than they were then. He sacrificed all political ambition to the cause of freedom.

Growing in Grace

I was reading in Thomas Watson's "Body of Divinity" and ran across the following paragraph that made me stop and think. I hate to pull something out of a whole chapter of context, but this is considering the scripture- 2Peter 3:18 "But grow in grace"
The general point is that bearing much fruit is growing in grace. I have heard different ideas on the description of what fruit is in the believer's life, but his take is simply 'growing in grace'.
Here is the paragraph I found thought provoking--

"Growth in grace is the beauty of a Christian. The more a child grows, the more it comes to its favour and complexion, and looks more ruddy; so, the more a Christian grows in grace, the more he comes to his spiritual complexion, and looks fairer. Abraham's faith was beautiful when in its infancy, but at last it grew so vigorous and eminent, that God himself was in love with it, and crowned Abraham with this honor, to be the "father of the faithful."
The more we grow in grace, the more glory we bring to God. God's glory is more worth than the salvation of all men's souls. This should be our design, to raise the trophies of God's glory; and how can we do it more, than by growing in grace? " Hereby is my Father glorified, if ye bring forth much fruit." John 15:8
Though the least drachm of grace will bring salvation to us, yet it will not bring so much glory to God. "Filled with the fruits of his righteousness, which are to the praise of his glory." Phil. 1:11 It commends the skill of the husbandman when his plants grow and thrive; it is a praise and honor to God when we thrive in grace."

This last thought is interesting as well...

"The more we grow in grace, the more will God love us. Is it not that which we pray for? The more growth, the more God will love us. The husbandman loves his thriving plants; the thriving Christian is God's chief delight. Christ loves to see the vine flourishing, and the pomegranates budding. Song of Sol. 6:11 He accepts the truth of grace, but commends the growth of grace. " I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Matt. 7:10 Would you be as the beloved disciple that lay in Christ's bosom? Would you have much love from Christ? Labor for much growth let faith florish with good works, and love increase to zeal."

Victorious enemy?

Why the enemy seems victorious--

To understand this, we should remember, firstly, that God's children usually, in their troubles, overcome by suffering. Here lambs overcome lions, and doves eagles, by suffering, that herein they may be conformable to Christ, who conquered most when he suffered most.
Together with Christ's kingdom of patience there was a kingdom of power.
Secondly, this victory is by degrees, and therefore they are too hasty-spirited that would conquer as soon as they strike the first stroke, and be at the end of their race at the first setting forth. The Israelites were sure of their victory in the journey to Canaan, yet they must fight it out. God would not have us quickly forget what cruel enemies Christ has overcome for us.
"Slay them not, lest my people forget," says the Psalmist (Psa. 59:11 ), so that, by experience of that annoyance we have by them, we might be kept in fear to come under their power.
God often works by contraies: when he means to give victory, he will allow us to be foiled at first; when he means to comfort, her will terrify first; when he means to justify, he will condemn us first; when he means to make us glorious, he will abase us first. A Christian conquers, even when he is conquered. When he is conquered by some sins, he gets victory over others more dangerous, such as spiritual pride and security."
Richard Sibbes 1620

Ulcers, Sores and Dropsies

“ If there should spring up in any hospital a disposition of criticism, and men with fevers should gibe men with dropsies, and men with dropsies should revenge themselves by pointing to men with ulcers and sores, it would fitly represent the harsh judgment of men upon each other.” H.W.Beecher

When I read that...... well, you know.

Hawthorne, -- “As a general rule, Providence seldom vouchsafes to mortals any more than just that degree of encouragement which suffices to keep them at a reasonably full exertion of their powers.”

Sad but true..

Some good thing.

I've been enjoying the work of Richard Sibbes, one of the most influential figures in the Puritan movement during the seventeenth century.
This piece on continuing duty during weakness, is a section I like.

"It should encourage us to duty that Christ will not quench the smoking flax, but blow on it till it flames. Some are loathe to do good because they feel their hearts rebelling, and duties turn out badly. We should not avoid good actions because of the infirmities attending them.
Christ looks more at the good in them which he means to cherish than the ill in them which he means to abolish.
Let us not be cruel to ourselves when Christ is thus gracious. There is a certain meekness of spirit whereby we yield thanks to God for any ability at all, and rest quiet with the measure of grace received, seeing it is God's good pleasure it should be so, who gives the will and the deed, yet not so as to rest from further endeavors. But when, with faithful endeavour, we come short of what we would be, and short of what others are, then know for our comfort, Christ will not quench the smoking flax, and that sincerity and truth, as we said before, will endeavour of growth, is our perfection.
What God says of Jeroboam's son is comforting, 'He only shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel' ( 1 Kings 14:13) though only 'some good thing'.
'Lord I believe' Mark 9:24 with a weak faith, yet with faith; love thee with a faint love, yet with love; endeavour in a feeble manner, yet endeavour. A little fire is fire, though it smokes. Since thou hast taken me into thy covenant to be thine from being an enemy, wilt thou cast me off for these infirmities, which, as they displease thee, so are they the grief of my own heart?"