Thursday, March 27, 2008

I've been reading Diary of an Old Soul by George Macdonald lately, and I've found it very encouraging. It is a collection of 366 sonnets, but as they are so short, I have a feeling I'll be finishing the book in less than a year.


Sonnet #1

Lord, what I once had done with youthful might,
Had I been from the first true to the truth,
Grant me, now old, to do - with better sight,
And humbler heart, if not the brain of youth;
So wilt thou, in thy gentleness and ruth,
Lead back thy old soul, by the path of pain,
Round to his best - young eyes and heart and brain.


Sonnet #2

A dim aurora rises in my east,
Beyond the line of jagged questions hoar,
As if the head of our intombed High Priest
Began to glow behind the unopened door:
Sure the gold wings will soon rise from the gray!
THey rise not. Up I rise, press on the more,
To meet the slow coming of the Master's day.

Sonnet #3

Sometimes I wake, and, lo, I have forgot,
And drifted out upon an ebbing sea!
My soul that was at rest now resteth not,
For I am with myself and not with thee;
Truth seems a blind moon in a glaring morn,
Where nothing is but sick-heart vanity:
Oh, thou who knowest, save thy child forlorn.




The honesty in these sonnets, particulary the ones which subject is of knowledge and emotions less agreeable, remind me so much of the Psalms. It is a good reminder of the necessity of being honest with oneself. This is something very hard to do I know, as we don't like being faced with our faults. However, if one can keep in mind how much our Father loves us, and remember that we are completely accepted in Him, this honest perusal within His comforting arms is much easier to bear. He is our God, and He knows all of our faults, they are no secret to Him. However He is also our Father, and because of how much He loves us our faults do nothing to change His opinion of us or of how He views us. When He looks at us, He sees Christ! And Christ's provision of eternal life has made it possible for the Spirit to come and live in us, giving us HIS power, so that we might actually become more like the Son, as we moment by moment trust His love.

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