"Could I believe that such work... as mine could give delight to the mighty God"?
Three posts in one day: yikes! But writing has been my break in between chunks of homework and practicing, so I suppose that makes it a bit less mortifying.
God’s timing astounds me. I was reading some documents for History of England, and to my delight found several passages that spoke to me. One was from Aquinas’ Summa Contra Gentiles, talking about happiness as man’s final end and how in we cannot have it in this life, but the fact that we desire it so ardently indicates that it is what God intends for us. I read also from The Canterbury Tales the description of the Plowman, and how “First he loved God, with all his heart and will,/Always, and whether life went well or ill;/And next—and as himself—he loved his neighbor.” The keys to a good life summed up in three verses of poetry. Then I read the delightful “Tumbler of Our Lady,” the tale of a man who wants to forsake the world for a monastery yet grieves that he has no skill that might be useful within the monastery. So finally he resolves, “I will do that which I can, and honour with my craft the Mother of God in her monastery. Since others honor her with chant, then I will serve with tumblings. He tells Our Lady, “Lady, to your fair charge I give my body and my soul. Sweet Queen, sweet Lady, scorn not the thing I know, for with the help of God I will essay to serve you in good faith, even as I may. I cannot read your Hours nor chant your praise, but at the least I can set before you what art I have.” (emphasis mine) Our Lady demonstrates her pleasure with his service by coming to him, angels and archangels in attendance, in the presence of the Abbot (although he does not see her, the abbot does).
What can I, or anyone, really, learn from this? That what God wants is for us to give back to Him the gifts He has bestowed on us—not yearn to be blessed with other than what we have. He is most pleased with those who serve Him with what they have, no matter what that may be.
And with that, the authoress and musician can scurry back to her work with renewed spirits!
God’s timing astounds me. I was reading some documents for History of England, and to my delight found several passages that spoke to me. One was from Aquinas’ Summa Contra Gentiles, talking about happiness as man’s final end and how in we cannot have it in this life, but the fact that we desire it so ardently indicates that it is what God intends for us. I read also from The Canterbury Tales the description of the Plowman, and how “First he loved God, with all his heart and will,/Always, and whether life went well or ill;/And next—and as himself—he loved his neighbor.” The keys to a good life summed up in three verses of poetry. Then I read the delightful “Tumbler of Our Lady,” the tale of a man who wants to forsake the world for a monastery yet grieves that he has no skill that might be useful within the monastery. So finally he resolves, “I will do that which I can, and honour with my craft the Mother of God in her monastery. Since others honor her with chant, then I will serve with tumblings. He tells Our Lady, “Lady, to your fair charge I give my body and my soul. Sweet Queen, sweet Lady, scorn not the thing I know, for with the help of God I will essay to serve you in good faith, even as I may. I cannot read your Hours nor chant your praise, but at the least I can set before you what art I have.” (emphasis mine) Our Lady demonstrates her pleasure with his service by coming to him, angels and archangels in attendance, in the presence of the Abbot (although he does not see her, the abbot does).
What can I, or anyone, really, learn from this? That what God wants is for us to give back to Him the gifts He has bestowed on us—not yearn to be blessed with other than what we have. He is most pleased with those who serve Him with what they have, no matter what that may be.
And with that, the authoress and musician can scurry back to her work with renewed spirits!
posted by Anna Clare at 5:41 PM
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