a lament for Westminster
Lament
Weep, weep for those
Who do the work of the Lord
with a high look
And a proud heart.
Their voice is lifted up
In the streets, and their cry is heard.
The bruised reed they break
By their great strength, and the smoking flax
They trample.
Weep not for the quenched
(For their God will hear their cry
And the Lord will come to save them)
But weep, weep for the quenchers
For when the Day of the Lord
Is come, and the vales sing
And the hills clap their hands
And the light shines
Then their eyes shall be opened
On a waste place,
Smouldering,
The smoke of the flax bitter
In their nostrils,
Their feet pierced
By broken reed-stems...
Wood, hay, and stubble,
And no grass springing,
And all the birds flown.
Weep, weep for those
Who have made a desert
In the name of the Lord.
-Evangeline Patterson
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And when He drew near and saw the city He wept over it, saying, "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace!"
-Luke 19:41-42
posted by snubnosed in alpha | 8:39 AM
4 Comments:
Well, if you see WTS surrounded by armies, then those in Glenside must flee to the hills....
You know, it's funny. I didn't mean this post so much as a blast against anyone in particular but rather as a call to meekness for all of us in the polemically charged atmosphere of WTS of recent days. But I've received a few e-mails warning that this post might escalate tensions. I really didn't intend that to escalate the tensions as much as to be a call for all of us to beware of doing "the work of the Lord with a high look and a proud heart," and to reflect on who our Lord is, how He walked (Matthew 12:18-21), and to tremblingly prefer being quenched to being a quencher.
I have to agree with my roomie, MVG, that the fact that a poem like this might cause tension on the campus of a Christian seminary is a gauge of how horribly wrong things have gone.
wow Dave...I agree with you. Studying theology should make people more humble, but instead- for what I have seen, the opposite occurs. I hope tensions do not escalate. I hope you had a great thanksgiving!
Yeah, Taty, it's a sad fact of life that theological study tends to make certain folks very proud. It's tough. I've met plenty of people who try to justify all sorts of un-Christian behavior (especially in theological discussions) with their unshakable certainty that they have orthodoxy on their side. Thanks for posting.
ok, I would appreciate it if someone would please explain to me WHAT has been going on?? tell me WTS will still be there when I come back. =)
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