Along the Journey (2)—03-08-07
Maltbie Davenport Babcock was a Presbyterian clergyman and moralistic writer from the latter half of the 19th century (1858-1901). He wrote the lyrics to a hymn that became one of my favorites as a boy: This Is My Father’s World. I recently came across a profound thought from Babcock that spoke to me in the midst of my journey. He wrote:
Maltbie Davenport Babcock was a Presbyterian clergyman and moralistic writer from the latter half of the 19th century (1858-1901). He wrote the lyrics to a hymn that became one of my favorites as a boy: This Is My Father’s World. I recently came across a profound thought from Babcock that spoke to me in the midst of my journey. He wrote:
“Life is what we are alive to. It is not length, but breadth. To be alive only to appetite, pleasure, pride, money-making, and not to goodness and kindness, purity and love, history, poetry, music, flowers, stars, God and eternal hopes, it is to be all but dead.”
And so the question for each of us is, “To what are you alive?”
And so the question for each of us is, “To what are you alive?”
The world would convince us that we need to be alive to the appetites of the flesh—possessions, fame, fortune, pleasure. But Jesus reminds us that these are temporal and ultimately not satisfying, that one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
In the words of Babcock, the things that really bring life to our living are “…goodness and kindness, purity and love, history, poetry, music, flowers, stars, God and eternal life.”
I’ve asked myself, during these past few weeks, “To what am I alive?” I should have been asking this question throughout the years, and in some ways, I suppose I have. The Scripture tells us that we were dead in our old life of sin, but God, through His Son, has made us alive! Alive to what? To the life of the Spirit, to love and kindness, to gentleness and peace, to the beauty of “My Father’s world,” to joy and hope, to grace and forgiveness, to all that is good and gracious, to trust and relationships. In short, we are made alive to the very life of God.
So many of us sleep-walk through life, unaware of the richness of God’s world, of the gifts given to us by God, of the transforming power of relationships. I’m claiming afresh my desire to embrace the breadth of life, not just its length, to be alive to each moment, each gift, each relationship, and to the eternal hope instilled by God.
So many of us sleep-walk through life, unaware of the richness of God’s world, of the gifts given to us by God, of the transforming power of relationships. I’m claiming afresh my desire to embrace the breadth of life, not just its length, to be alive to each moment, each gift, each relationship, and to the eternal hope instilled by God.
Join me in this quest to be alive!
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1 comment:
Hi Jack,
After I read your blog update this morning, I later put a Don Marsh Orchestra CD on to enjoy my morning, and the first song is "This Is My Father's World", which immediately brought you and your words to mind again. Thank you for sharing your journey and reminding of us where our hearts should be!Hope the surgery went well.
Brenda (listening to the strains of "This is My Father's World" at home in Hong Kong)
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