History as Foil to the Present

"We need intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has any magic about it, but because we cannot study the future, and yet need something to set against the present, to remind us that the basic assumptions have been quite different in different periods and that much which seems certain to the uneducated is merely temporary fashion" (C. S. Lewis, "Learning in Wartime" in Weight of Glory, Kindle, 58–59).

Seeking God's Face, Finding His Ear

"A Christian perhaps may think, because he does not see God's smiling face, God will not hear him. This is a mistake. 'I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications' (Psa. 31:22). If we pour out sighs to heaven, God will hear every groan; and though he does not show us his face, he will lend us his ear" (Watson, Body of Divinity, 257).

Submission

But that thou art my wisdome, Lord,
              And both mine eyes are thine,
My minde would be extreamly stirr'd
              For missing my designe.

Were it not better to bestow
              Some place and power on me?
Then should thy praises with me grow,
              And share in my degree.

But when I thus dispute and grieve,
              I do resume my sight,
And pilfring what I once did give,
              Disseize thee of thy right.

How know I, if thou shouldst me raise,
              That I should then raise thee?
Perhaps great places and thy praise
              Do not so well agree.

Wherefore unto my gift I stand,
              I will no more advise:
Only do thou lend me a hand,
              Since thou has both mine eyes.

—George Herbert, The English Poems of George Herbert (ed. Helen Wilcox; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 47.

The Love of God and the Love of Our Neighbor in God

"All God's commandments, one of which is, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' and all those precepts which are not commandments but special counsels, one of which is, 'It is good for a man not to touch a woman,' are rightly carried out only when the motive principle of action is the love of God, and the love of our neighbor in God" (Augustine, Enchiridion, 139–140).

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Is The Hand That Rules The World

BLESSINGS on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace.
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Infancy's the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mothers first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls unresting grow—
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Woman, how divine your mission,
Here upon our natal sod;
Keep—oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky—
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled; 

For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

 —William Ross Wallace (1819–1891)

Dangerous Business Going Outdoors

These days of Covid-19 we are prohibited from leaving our homes without sufficient warrant. A couple of texts come to mind. I shall not comment on how I think they relate to our present state of affairs (or whether they do at all!). I shall leave that up to the reader. For now, I simply note them and find the associations (and differing contexts and meanings) stimulating.

Here are two famous texts to ponder.

Bilbo used to say: "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door" (J. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, 74).

And then there's Proverbs 26:13 (ESV): "There's a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!"

Solid Logic Amid Trials

One of the great needs during trials of various sorts that God sends us is to keep one's head and remain cool and calm. To put it another way, we need to remain poised in the Spirit. This needs to be done, of course, according to wisdom.

So I offer up a spiritual syllogism of sorts during our crises surrounding our condition face-to-face with COVID-19. This condition includes our country's response to the virus (which may actually be far more damaging to life than the virus itself).

Premise 1: Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.

Premise 2: A brother is born for adversity.

Conclusion: Brothers are born for this moment of man's trouble.

Wild Creatures

"Though St. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creatures so wild as one of his own commentators" (G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy).