The Good Portion

I've finally begun reading another of the Harvard Classics my husband has been pressing me to read for months now: The Journal of John Woolman. Woolman was a Quaker living in colonial days in America. In his travels visiting Friends among the colonies he saw his share of slavery and was often housed by fellow Quakers who were slaveholders. His experiences and his faith convinced him that slavery was an evil which destroyed both slave and master: "Two things were remarkable to me in this journey: first, in regard to my entertainment. When I ate, drank, and lodged free-cost with people who lived in ease on the hard labor of their slaves I felt uneasy; and as my mind was inward to the Lord, I found this uneasiness return upon me, at times, through the whole visit. Where the masters bore a good share of the burden, and lived frugally, so that their servants were well provided for, and their labor moderate, I felt more easy; but where they lived in a costly way, and laid heavy bur...

Image via Vincentiens I am not a great woman. I am a woman damaged and scarred by a world and a lifetime of sin. A woman who finally, at the age of forty, became convinced of the goodness of God, as revealed in His Son Jesus Christ, and trusted in Him. That was over six years ago. Almost four years ago I married my husband, Paul. I was determined to be a good and godly wife. I'd studied and read books to teach me how. By the time of our engagement I'd worked up a hand-written list of rules I thought a good Christian wife should follow, things like: "I was made for him , to be his helper, not the other way around so I must not expect anything from him, because he is not my helper - God is....My role is only to help him glorify God in whatever he does....I must obey my husband....I must never attempt to direct my husband, but wait for him to move, and then follow....Never try to influence him in any way but prayer.....never disagree with him....etc, etc....

The Man Enthroned in Heaven   by Laurie Mathers Image via Wikimedia Commons Almighty God revealed from Heaven eternal wisdom in all that He made, Shaping man His own divine image, He endowed him with freedom, to will and obey. In ancient days Satan worshiped in Heaven. Gorgeous, directing the worship of all, until the sight of his lovely reflection, filled him with pride and led to his fall. Straight to mankind he took his deception: Sweetness is found in what God forbids; the command is meant to keep you from wisdom To rob you of glory and true godlikeness. From that moment forward man's discontent grew with all of creation and God's precious words. Through sin revelation was robbed of its blessing, God's beautiful voice had uttered its curse. Yet God's plan was firm. He made man a promise: a seed from the woman would crush Satan's head. Creation renewed would again sing God's glory and God's living Word would give life to the ...

http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/sir_thomas_browne.htm As you may have gathered from my last post, I've thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with Thomas Browne's Religio Medici . I wish I could adequately express what his little book had done for me. But I'll settle today for this:  I can thank Sir Thomas Browne for reminding me of the reason I ever loved theology in the first place, and why, too, in the same space and breath I adore science and never do find that it threatens my faith. Both are studies of the revelation of the Creator, both dedicated to beauty and complexity so rich that they require an eternity to comprehend. Both hold riches grand enough to inspire everlasting awe... And yet, sadly, until recently I've felt my own sense of delight in both God and His works fading. The loveliness of God, in every revelation of Himself, is clouded into obscurity by the slightest hint of human pride and ambition, and, I might add, cynicism. Both theology and science, i...

Image via Wikipedia My dear husband is a literary man to his core. As such he thinks it great fun to take on reading programs. He recently finished the 10 Essential Penguin Classics series as a reading group on his blog . Concurrently with this he has also dedicated himself to "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf", now more commonly known as the Harvard Classics . Dr. Eliot was known for claiming that anyone could have the equivalent of a Harvard education by spending fifteen minutes a day reading from a five foot shelf of books. Publisher P.F. Collier and Son thought they smelled a profit and challenged the man to select the books. And so, one hundred years later, my dear Paul, upon learning of this collection, and finding it all five feet of it available for free rent in our local library, decided it was time he got a no-cost Harvard education. I should mention here that my husband has a keen intellect and is a quick reader. He absorbs these writings and then wants to tal...