Just read in the Daily (online) edition of The Christian Science Monitor: "That is a good book which is opened with expectation and closed with profit." (A. Bronson Alcott)
Can we say this about the book of Romans, which is of course a letter?
It seems to me that a good book, a really good book, steers thought in a new direction, lifting one's conceptions to a higher or broader view.
And so, browsing the pages of this deeply-reasoned letter, I find the famous Romans 8: 38 (The Living Bible):
"I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels won't, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God's love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are--high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean--nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us."
This rousing and comforting passage has surely inspired generations over hundreds of years, just as Winston Churchill encouraged the people of Britain in March 1941 with his message to US President Roosevelt, which was broadcast publicly:
"Give us your faith and your blessing, and, under Providence, all will be well.
"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle, nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down." (The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson, p. 370)
What we read, counts. What we listen to, counts. What we think, counts. Mary Baker Eddy once wrote:
"A patient under the influence of mortal mind is healed only be removing the influence on him of this mind, by emptying his thought of the false stimulus and reaction of will-power and filling it with the divine energies of Truth." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 185:32)
I'll opt for being energised by Truth's divine energies every time.
Happy reading!
Julie Swannell
1 comment:
To align Paul’s letter to the Romans with Winston Churchill’s powerful words is a most interesting and illuminating parallel. Churchill’s words were spoken at a time when a nation, and indeed a commonwealth, were in dire need of encouragement and fortitude. It was a make or break time for England.
One can imagine that Paul perceived a similar need in his audience. And you can hear the same brilliant use of language to inspire in both. And that sense of power and authority shines through both.
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