Things are looking up!

This famous story from the boyhood of William Ellery Channing taken from William Henry Channing's Memoir:

"The most significant anecdote to illustrate the religious impressions made upon his mind in childhood is one thus related by himself. His father, with the view of giving him a ride, took William in his chaise one day, as he was going to hear a famous preacher in the neighbourhood. Impressed with the notion that he might learn great tidings from the unseen world, he listened attentively to the sermon. With very glowing rhetoric, the lost state of man was described, his abandonment to evil, helplessness, dependence upon sovereign grace, and the need of earnest prayer as the condition of receiving this divine aid. In the view of the speaker, a curse seemed to rest upon the earth, and darkness and horror to veil the face of nature. William, for his part, supposed that henceforth those who believed would abandon all other things to seek this salvation, and that amusement and earthly business would no longer occupy a moment. The service over, they went out of the church, and his father, in answer to the remark of some person, said, with a decisive tone, — " Sound doctrine, Sir." " It is all true," then, was his inward reflection. A heavy weight fell on his heart. He wanted to speak to his father ; he expected his father would speak to him in relation to this tremendous crisis of things. They got into the chaise and rode along, but, absorbed in awful thoughts, he could not raise his voice. Presently his father began to whistle ! At length they reached home ; but instead of calling the family together, and telling them of the appalling intelligence which the preacher had given, his father took off his boots, put his feet toward the fireplace, and quietly read a newspaper. All things went on as usual. At first, he was surprised ; but not being given to talking, he asked no explanations. Soon, however, the question rose, — "Could what he had heard be true ? No ! his father did not believe it ; people did not believe it ! It was not true ! "

Blessings

Save us from a thankless heart. (Ephraim Peabody, RIP)

Ephraim Peabody (see posts Nov. 16th, 17th and 19th) has been my devotional companion for the past couple of weeks or so and this morning I note that it was on this day in 1856 that he passed. Samuel Eliot said of Peabody:

"His life was his best preaching. His sermons were but the explanation and enforcing to others of the rules exemplified in his daily intercourse with those around him. It was plain he thought that a sermon should not be merely a dissertation to instruct, nor an oration to surprise and excite, but an earnest, thoughtful, and moving exhortation, addressed to those who, by self-examination, as well as by observation of others, were capable of being stimulated to improvement."

So has he been such a stimulation for me and I am grateful. An excerpt from Peabody's sermon "Confidence in God"

"When I look back over the past, I am compelled to acknowledge, however little I may feel it, that my life has been loaded with undeserved blessings. From the time that the child is laid in the cradle, till the aged man is borne on the bier to his grave, the sunshine and the air are not more constant than those blessings which come, not through casual, but fixed arrangements of Providence,...A mercy most patient and most pitiful, which would reclaim all who go astray, which blesses man on the earth almost in spite of himself, and reveals a higher and holier world, which, little as the best may deserve to enter it, is promised to the weakest and the humblest who strive in their place to walk in the paths of duty...for this, what shall we render unto God? We can render nothing; and all that he asks is, that we shall not be insensible to it. Let our morning and our nightly prayer then be. 'Save us, O God, from the sin of the thankless heart; save us from the guilt of remembering everything else and forgetting thee.' We can return nothing to Him who giveth all. May we at last, when life draws to a close, be able to feel that in the midst of our blessings we were mindful of their magnitude and of their source; and may we be able also to remember that these blessings were not all used for selfish ends, but were the source of happiness and of good to those who knew more of the deprivations and less of the enjoyments of life that we."

A fitting benediction for Rev. Peabody and a timely reminder this "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving, to maintain a thankful heart each and all of our days. Blessings

May Our Thanksgiving Be Worthy...

A prayer by Theodore Parker given on Thanksgiving 1856...They don't pray em like this anymore. Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving.

NOVEMBER 1856. THANKSGIVING DAY.

"O THOU Infinite Spirit, who art everywhere that the light of day sheds down its glorious lustre, and in the caverns of the earth where the light of day cometh not, we would draw near to thee and worship thy spirit, which at all times is near to us. O Thou Infinite One, who art amidst all the silences of nature, and forsakest us not with thy spirit where the noisy feet of men are continually heard, we pray thee that the spirit of prayer may be in us while we lift up our hearts unto thee. Thou askest not even our gratitude, but when our cup is filled with blessings to the brim and runneth over with bounties, we would remember thee who fillest it, and givest every good and precious gift. Father, we thank thee for the special material blessings which we enjoy ; for the prosperity which has attended the labors of thy children in the months that are past, for the harvest of corn and of grass which the hand of man, obedient to his toilsome thought, has gathered up from the surface of the ground. We bless thee that when our toil has spoken to the earth, the furrows of the field have answered with sufficient, yea, with abundant returns of harvest to our hand. We thank thee for the blessings of the deep, and treasures hid in the sands, which thy children have gathered. We bless thee for the success which has come to those who go down to the sea in ships and do business in great waters. We thank thee for the treasures which our mining hand has gathered from the foldings of the earth, the wealth which we have quarried from the mountain, or digged out from the bosom of the ground. And we bless thee for the other harvests which from these rude things the toilsome hand and the laborious thought of men have created, turning use into beauty also, and so adorning and gladdening the world. We thank thee for the special blessings that come near to us this day. We bless thee for the health of our bodies, and we thank thee for those who are near and dear to us; and for all the gladsome gatherings together which this day will bring to pass, of parents and their children, long severed, or of the lover and his beloved, who so gladly would become one. We bless thee for all those who this day shall break their bread in common, lifting up their hearts unto thee, and blessing the hand which lengthens out our days and keeps the golden bowl from breaking at the fountain ; and we thank thee for those who in many a distant place are still of us, — - severed in the body, but with us yet in soul. We remember before thee not only our families and our homes, but likewise the great country in which thou our homes, but likewise the great country in which thou hast cast the lines of our lot. We thank thee for its wide extent, for the great riches which the toil of man has here gathered together and stored up. We bless thee for the multitudes of people, an exceeding great company of men and women, who here have sprung into existence under thy care. We bless thee that in this land the exile from so many a clime can find a home, with none to molest nor to make him afraid. We thank thee for every good institution which has here been established, for all the truth that is taught in the church, for what of justice has become the common law of the people, and for all of righteousness and of benevolence which goes forth in the midst of our land. We bless thee for our fathers who in centuries past, in the name of thy holy spirit, and for the sake of rights dearest to mankind, went from one country to another people, and in their day of small things came here. Yea, we thank thee for those whose only communion was an exile, and we bless thee for the bravery of their spirit which would not hang the harp on the willow, but sung songs of thanksgiving in a strange land, and in the midst of their wilderness builded a new Zion up, full of thanksgiving and song and praise. We bless thee for our fathers of a nearer kin, who in a day of peril strove valiantly that they might be free, and bequeathed a noble heritage to their sons and daughters who were to come after them. Yea, we thank thee for those whose sacrament was only a revolution, and the cup of blessing was of blood drawn from their own manly veins ; and we bless thee for the hardy valor which drew their sword, and sheathed it not till they had a large place, and their inalienable rights secured to them by their own right hand, toiling and striving under the benediction of thy precious providence. Now, Lord, we thank thee that the few have become a multitude, and the little vine which our fathers planted with their tears and watered with their blood, reaches from sea to sea, great clusters of riches hanging on every bough, and its root strong in the land. But we remember before thee the great sins which this nation has wrought, and while we thank thee for the noblest heritage which man ever inherited from man, we must mourn also that we have blackened the ground with crimes such as seldom a nation has committed against thee. Yea, Lord, even our thanksgiving prayer must be stained with our tears of mourning, and our psalm of thanksgiving must be mingled with the wail of those who lament that they have no hope left for them in the earth. Father, we remember our brothers of our own kin and complexion whom wickedness has smitten down in another land, whose houses are burned and their wives given up to outrage. We remember those who walk only in chains this day, and are persecuted for their righteousness' sake. And still more in our prayer we remember the millions of our brothers whom our fathers chained, and whose fetters our wicked hands have riveted upon their limbs. O Lord, we pray thee that we may suffer from these our transgressions, till we learn to eschew evil, to break the rod of the oppressor, and to let the oppressed go free ; yea, till we make our rulers righteousness, and those chief amongst us whose glory it is to serve mankind by justice, by fidelity, and by truth. We pray thee, on this day of our gratitude, that we may rouse up everything that is humanest in our heart, pledging ourselves anew to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly before thee, O Thou our Father and our Mother on earth and in the heavens too. Thus, Lord, may our thanksgiving be worthy of the nature thou hast given us and the heritage thou hast bequeathed. Thus may our psalm of gratitude be a hymn of thanksgiving for millions who have broken off their chains, and for a great country full of joy, of blessedness, of freedom and of peace. So may thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

BU on TP

Peacebang (http://www.peacebang.com/) asks for more on why I think Parker had such a negative impact on Unitarian Christianity and why "reading his entire corpus messed with my mind" (see yesterday's post.)

Answering the first question requires a little personal background. I grew up a Lutheran in the Midwest and later became an Episcopalian in the Southwest and now am Unitarian in the Northeast. The first I ever heard of Unitarianism was in discovering Ralph Waldo Emerson in college (an alarming 25 plus years ago.) I was immediately drawn to Emerson and in reading more about him kept coming across unflattering references to a people called "Unitarian."

As time went on, I started to track down and read some of these "corpse cold" personages and found that they (at least a few of them) spoke to my need in a profound way. I became fascinated with the short life of Unitarian Christianity (I should say of Christian "dominance" within Unitarianism as Unitarian Christianity is still very much alive)

So, to speak to your first question...Unitarianism was often seen by its detractors as a "negative" religion in that it came out of congregational orthodoxy. This is inevitable in reform movements and the hope is that with maturity, the "negative" expressions are replaced, or at least balanced, by positive expressions of the "new" faith. Part of the problem with Unitarian Christianity is that it did not have time to ripen into maturity. Parker must take a large part of the blame for this.

Emerson undoubtedly had the more original mind and the greater impact on the larger American culture. Denominationally, however, it was Parker who had the greatest impact. Because he stayed in the church, was so intemperate in his attacks, and, not least, because his church was so large and popular (the first and only Unitarian mega-church) he forced discussions that drove the denomination into a constant defend mode and didn't allow it to settle into a calm and positive maturity.

Well I could go on and on (I haven't even mentioned slavery or politics, both of which were crucial to this discussion) but will stop there for now.

As to the second question...Much of the Parker corpus is occasional and not systematic. It is, therefore, fairly topical and often deeply intense (see the photo above for his intensity.) A little Parker goes a long way and a lot of Parker goes a little too far (and all 14 volumes in one summer-well you see my point!)

Thanks for the questions Peacebang and...

Blessings

Brother Parker

My Bible reading this morning was in 2 Corinthians 4:18 (For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal) and my mind went to the famous and very divisive "Transient and Permanent" sermon of Theodore Parker. Now I must admit a deep

ambivalence towards Brother Parker. On the one hand, his personal piety and deep and passionate commitment to abolition are much to be admired. On the other, his lack of temperance in advancing his theology wedded to a deep personal sensitivity to like criticism from others are less attractive. I also believe that Parker, even more than Emerson, contributed to the too early demise of Unitarian Christianity. Finally, three years or so ago, I read Parker's Works during a summer reading frenzy and my mental state has never been the same! A bit of Transient and Permanent:

"Real Christianity gives men new life. It is the growth and perfect action of the Holy Spirit God puts into the sons of men. It makes us outgrow any form, or any system of doctrines we have devised, and approach still closer to the truth. It would lead us to take what help we can find. It would make the Bible our servant, not our master. It would teach us to profit by the wisdom and piety of David and Solomon; but not to sin their sins, nor bow to their idols. It would make us revere the holy words spoken by "godly men of old," but revere still more the word of God spoken through Conscience, Reason, and Faith, as the holiest of all. It would not make Christ the despot of the soul, but the brother of all men. It would not tell us, that even he had exhausted the fullness of God, so that He could create none greater; for with Him "all things are possible," and neither Old Testament or New Testament ever hints that creation exhausts the creator. Still less would it tell us, the wisdom, the piety the love, the manly excellence of Jesus, was the result of miraculous agency alone, but, that it was won, like the excellence of humbler men, by faithful obedience to Him who gave his Son such ample heritage. It would point to him as our brother, who went before, like the good shepherd, to charm us with the music of his words, and with the beauty of his life to tempt us up the steeps of mortal toil, within the gate of Heaven. It would have us make the kingdom of God on earth, and enter more fittingly the kingdom on high. It would lead us to form Christ in the heart, on which Paul laid such stress, and work out our salvation by this. For it is not so much by the Christ who lived so blameless and beautiful eighteen centuries ago, that we are saved directly, but by the Christ we form in our hearts and live out in our daily life,that we save ourselves, God working with us, both to will and to do."

Parker's piety, more than his disdain, are much on display here and the Boston Unitarians who were often so vexed by Parker could easily embrace the vision of life that Parker here puts forward. Form Christ in our hearts and live it out in daily life. So may it be. Blessings

Sweet thoughts and hopes sublime

For this Sabbath Day, a hymn from the 1865 "Hymns of the Spirit" by my favorite hymn writer, Anonymous:

My God! in morning's radiant hour
To Thee will I lift up my heart;
The shades of night obey Thy power,
And at Thy sun's bright beams depart.

Father and Guardian! to Thy shrine
The life Thou shieldest will I bring;
All, great Creator! all is Thine;
The heart my noblest offering.

The morning light shall see my prayer,
The noonday calm shall know my praise;
And evening's still and fragrant air
My grateful hymn to Thee shall raise.

So shall sweet thoughts and hopes sublime
My constant inspirations be;
And every shifting scene of time
Reflect, my God, a light from thee.

Have a wonderful Sabbath. Blessings

WarePrayer

For much of my childhood, the above image was prayer to me. It hung in my Lutheran Church-not in a prominant place-but I have memories of often pausing before it. I don't remember having any particularly profound thoughts in relation to it exept maybe that the praying man looked alone yet not lonely. I grew up a midwestern Lutheran and, as the novelist John Cheever once wrote, that is a "sober" way of worshipping God. So it is. And yet it is a beautiful way and not unlike the way of the Boston Unitarians in its lack of ostentation, its simplicity, and its focus on doing the next right thing-living a decent life.
So it was with Henry Ware (see all posts Ware Jr.) We left Brother Ware Meditating as the second (after reading) of his "Means of Religious Improvement." Meditation is followed in turn by Prayer. Some exerpts:

"III. PRAVER"
As there is no duty more frequently enjoined in the New Testament by our Saviour and the Apostles, so there is none which is a more indispensable and efficacious means of religious improvement, than Prayer... He who truly prays, feels, during the act, a sense of God's presence, authority, and love; of his own obligations and unworthiness ; of his need of being better. He feels grateful, humble, resigned, anxious for improvement. He who prays often, often has these feelings, and by frequent repetition they become customary and constant. And thus prayer operates as an active, steady, powerful means of Christian progress. Indeed nothing effectual is to be done without it That it is a chief duty, even natural reason would persuade us. That it is a condition on which divine blessings are bestowed, Christianity assures us. That it is a high gratification and enjoyment, every one knows who has rightly engaged in it. And that it is of all means of moral restraint and spiritual advancement the most effective, no one can doubt, who understands how powerfully it stirs and agitates the strongest and most active principles of man, and how complete is the dominion which those principles have over his character and conduct. All this is clear and sufficient, without adding the assurance of the Saviour, that it is effectual to draw down spiritual aid from heaven. Add this, and the subject is complete. It is, both naturally and by appointment, a chief duty of man ; from the nature of the soul and the intercourse it opens with God, it is the first enjoyment; and through its own intrinsic power and the promise of Jesus, it is the most effectual instrument of moral and spiritual culture."

Blessings