the victorian age in literature
Here on the east coast, it's 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning. I've got about eleven hours yet to go until I emerge from the black hole that is my Monday to Thursday every week, in which I am swallowed by a back-to-back schedule of classes, meetings, and work. I sleep very little. I am also about twenty-nine hours from heading back to the Bay for the weekend... to not watch the Saints play in the Super Bowl. :P
But for now, at 1:32 a.m. on a Thursday morning, from one of my lit. books, check this out--
"Religion in most countries, more or less in every country, is no longer what it was, and should be--a thousand-voiced psalm from the heart of Man to his invisible Father, the fountain of all Goodness, Beauty, Truth, and revealed in every revelation of these; but for the most part, a wise prudential feeling grounded on mere calculation; a matter, as all others are now, of Expediency and Utility."
That's Thomas Carlyle writing in 1829, in an essay called "Signs of the Times." Look at how he compares religion as we've made it--a "prudential feeling," calculated, based on expediency and utility--to what it could, should, and is meant to be--
"... a thousand-voiced psalm
from the heart of Man to
his invisible Father, the fountain
of all Goodness, Beauty, Truth, and
revealed
in every revelation of these..."
But for now, at 1:32 a.m. on a Thursday morning, from one of my lit. books, check this out--
"Religion in most countries, more or less in every country, is no longer what it was, and should be--a thousand-voiced psalm from the heart of Man to his invisible Father, the fountain of all Goodness, Beauty, Truth, and revealed in every revelation of these; but for the most part, a wise prudential feeling grounded on mere calculation; a matter, as all others are now, of Expediency and Utility."
That's Thomas Carlyle writing in 1829, in an essay called "Signs of the Times." Look at how he compares religion as we've made it--a "prudential feeling," calculated, based on expediency and utility--to what it could, should, and is meant to be--
"... a thousand-voiced psalm
from the heart of Man to
his invisible Father, the fountain
of all Goodness, Beauty, Truth, and
revealed
in every revelation of these..."
posted by jersey ryn at 10:34 PM
1 Comments:
Ryn:
I was just thinking that I worship best when I sing...at home...in the car...delivering flowers...at high volume and under my breath.. asking God to forgive when I don't pray so much but praise lots... and then I drop in to see how you all are doing and find "A thousand voices" .
As Solomon said...nothing new under the sun.
From Steven James "Becoming Real"
far more recently written
[Most people today can identify well with these unsettlingly honest words of Tim Hansel "I'd like to buy $3 worth of God, please. Please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine...I want ecstasy, not transformation, I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth."
In other words, I want a nice, safe Jesus, and a nice, safe faith.
But it doesn't work that way.]
How many days do we start, just wanting to have a bit of warmth, a cup of coffee to hold, and moments, only, in prayer....the brevity can be measured in heartbeats.
I will be singing today in Gainesville, FL...if you sing, that's 2...
Let's breath in the Lord today.
Cradled gently in His hands,
Post a Comment
<< Home