Regarding Earth Day and Life in General

"Guilt is gratitude gone rancid . . . mankind staggers on under the guilty weight of unexpressed thanksgiving . . . But as an enduring motivation to work, guilt is nothing to gratitude."

--Ben Merkle (Credenda Agenda 20:1, pp. 43-44)

Wisdom for Decision Making

" . . . God governs the world, not our abstract reasoning, and He structures it in such a way that when we avoid the company of fools--in our own village--and seek out the company of the wise in the same place, God connects us to the global issues rightly. We don't have to get a Ph.D. in international relations before we vote for candidate Smith or Murphy, or obtain an MA in economics before buying something on sale at Wal-Mart. We don't have to spend a month in the library trying to decide if it is all right to join the Navy. This protection from God doesn't happen because we have ensured a goodly outcome, it happens because God honors those who walk with Him, and who do their duty according to their light in the place where He has put them. The attempt to figure the big picture out beforehand (so that we can know the right thing to do) is to give way to the ancient temptation--ye shall be as God."

--Douglas Wilson (Credenda Agenda 20:1, p. 10)

Another Favorite Periodical

The latest Credenda Agenda recently arrived in our mailbox, and I have been enjoying it. I plan to post a few quotes soon but thought I'd go ahead and put up the link first: http://www.credenda.org/
They have a free subscription offer, too!

Snaggletooth

Anna (5) pulled one of her top front teeth yesterday. She's quite proud of her accomplishment and says, "It's an absolutely BIG hole!"

My Father's World

I have lots of favorite hymns, and this is one of them. Titus usually puts the kids to bed at night, but on the occasions when I do it, this is often what I choose to sing:

This is my Father's world,
And to my list'ning ears,
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world,
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world:
He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass I hear him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world,
O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
The battle is not done;
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and heaven be one.

---Maltbie Babcock, 1901

Katie Luther, Proverbs 31 Woman

Katie Luther's strong personality has already been alluded to, but I thought I would develop that a bit more. Rebecca Johnson (Leben 4:1) describes Katie as brewing beer, driving a wagon, buying cattle, loving her husband, and raising her six children with kindness. She had a quick wit, and Katie and Martin were known for their sarcastic exchanges.

Martin would often tease his wife by calling her names such as:"my lord Katy" (spellings of her name are abundantly various), "my empress Katy," "my lord and Moses Katy." And on at least one most flowery and regal occasion she was dubbed by her husband "My kind and dear lord and master Katy, Lutheress, doctress, and priestess at Wittenberg."

It's funny to note Luther's candidness in the progress of their relationship: "Had I desired to marry fourteen years ago, I would have chosen Eva von Schoenfeld, now Basilius' wife. At that time I did not love my Catherine at all." Yet he did choose to love her and found her to be a loving companion in return and a very capable manager of his household.

She was probably a much stronger personality than would be considered acceptable in most circles today that seek to teach and obey God's design for loving leadership on the part of the husband and respectful submission on the part of the wife. Yet, I think that Luther was a strong enough leader to fulfill his role in the family without forcing his wife to fit some caricature of submission. Some of us ladies might do well to tone down our Katie-ish tendencies in order to leave room for our husbands to grow strong in their leadership, but the key is being responsive to our own husband, wherever he is at--not matching ourselves to another lady (real or fictitious) who seems to fit some preconceived notion of what submission should look like.

Martin, for one, seemed quite satisfied with their relationship: "I would not want to exchange my Katie for France nor for Venice to boot; to begin with (1) because God has given her to me and me to her; (2) because I often find that there are more shortcomings in other women than in my Katie; and although she, of course, has some too, these are nonetheless offset by far greater virtues; (3) because she keeps faith and honor in our marriage relation."

"The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands." Proverbs 14:1

Martin and Katie

I love Martin and Katie Luther's story. I'll summarize it here with help from Rebecca Johnson's article in Leben, Volume 4 Issue 1:

Katherina von Bora and her sister nuns, after becoming familiar with Martin Luther's teaching and work, contacted the great Reformer requesting assistance in escaping their convent (a capital offense). Luther responded helpfully, and the story goes that the adventurous nuns were each placed in a herring barrell and carted off to freedom by Luther's associates.

Luther then played matchmaker, helping lonely ex-monks and former nuns find spouses. He was not interested in Katie initially, considering her somewhat arrogant. She developed a promising relationship with someone else, but alas, things did not work out.

Somewhere in the aftermath of that failed relationship, Katie decided Luther was the man for her. Luther began to feel hypocritical for exhorting men to embrace married life with its blessings, cares, and responsibilities while he remained single. So he promptly proposed to Katie--who thought it was a joke. After he was able to convince her of his sincerity, they were married the same day and went on to build one of the great godly households in church history with six children from their loving union, a busy farm, and legendary hospitality.