Thomas Wingfold: Chapters 29 - 45
Much of the fascination in this week’s reading lies in the subtle yet persistent ways in which God is shown to be working in the characters’ lives in a variety of situations.
Helen’s spiritual awakening is begun by her selflessly ministering to her brother Leopold. “. . . without any thought, not to say knowledge of him, she had yet been doing the will of the Heart of the world.” This is the beginning of her way to God.
When Leopold expresses a desire to talk to Bascombe, Helen is reluctant to bring the two together. In riding with Bascombe and hearing his opinions, something within her takes exception to them: “She thought her cousin very clever, but could not enjoy what he said. . . .” As one reads, the text continues to give evidence of God’s subtle working in her thought life.
When Wingfold visits Polwarth, the latter shares a poem he wrote describing the mystery of God’s working within his own experience. He goes so far as to say his very thoughts come to him from God:
I cannot say I think--
* * *
Thou only thinkest–I am thought;
Me and my thought thou thinkest. Nought
Am I but as a fountain spout
From which thy water welleth out. . . .
DOES GMD’S ANALYSIS SEEM PLAUSIBLE AND REALISTIC? WHAT KEEPS HIS THINKING FROM REDUCING PERSONS TO MERE ROBOTS, WHOM GOD THOROUGHLY CONTROLS?
Wingfold poses a question to Polwarth that is on the minds of many people who become curious about Christianity: how can one know whether the Bible is really inspired by God? The answer Polwarth give’s stresses human experience as over against the merely rational: read Scripture, study the man Christ Jesus, give yourself to him in obedience, and you will be confident that it has come from God: “. . . the Word of God liveth and abideth for ever, not in the volume of the book, but in the heart of the man that in love obeyeth him.”
If the miracles attributed to Christ could possibly have happened, he is told that he cannot receive the answer to that question until he comes to understand the person of Christ Jesus himself. As he sets out to obey, Wingfold is startled as the words of Christ come to his mind: “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?’ and he is aware he has never once undertaken to know and obey Christ’s commands. With sterling honesty he confesses from his pulpit his realization and his determination to know what Christ asks of us and do it. His congregation reacts again according to their own spiritual states; Polwarth leaves delighted.
In his next sermon Wingfold succinctly defines what Christianity is: It “does not mean what you think or what I think concerning Christ, but what is of Christ. My Christianity, if ever I come to have any, will be what of Christ is in me; your Christianity now is what of Christ is in you.” Again, the emphasis is solidly placed upon individual experience, rather than upon mere rational assent. The various reactions of the people of his congregation reveal where each one is at on a scale of becoming.
Wingfold, however, still longs for a sign from God to strengthen his faith. But the consciousness comes to him that the ideal is to have one’s mind entirely possessed with Christ, and any sign would take the place of that goal, a goal that, like Polwarth said, will be achieved only when one’s obedience is complete. He writes a poem in his regard.
Among those whose conscience is aroused by Wingfold’s sermons is the local linen-draper. He shares with Wingfold his dawning awareness that, although his business practices have not been out of line with that of other practitioners in the business, he has not been practicing complete honesty, as Christ would have done, had he been a draper and not a carpenter. But, he is beset with the puzzling issue: how, indeed, would Christ have acted in the complex aspects of this or that specific situation? Wingfold refuses to give specific advice beyond that all important one of praying, committing each puzzling situation to God, confident that God will answer him.
Visiting the Polwarth home, Wingfold finds Rachael ill in bed, yet in spite of her suffering she has a joyous spirit, and Wingfold says he is glad to know that suffering does not necessarily mean unhappiness. God does not remove the suffering, but the sufferer’s right relation to him can not only make it endurable, but can as well make it a source of spiritual welfare. Wingfold observes, “If there is a God, etc.”
WHY DOES GMD CONTINUE TO SHOW WINGFOLD AS POSING THIS QUESTION, SUGGESTING THAT HIS DOUBT PERSISTS?
In passing the draper’s shop, Wingfold obser ves the draper doing a kindly deed to a needy woman, enabling her to have a piece of cloth for which she longed, and Wingfold’s musing captures a very basic principle for Christian service: “I begin to suspect . . . that the common transactions of life are the most sacred channels for the spread of the heavenly leaven.”
Helen’s spiritual awakening is begun by her selflessly ministering to her brother Leopold. “. . . without any thought, not to say knowledge of him, she had yet been doing the will of the Heart of the world.” This is the beginning of her way to God.
When Leopold expresses a desire to talk to Bascombe, Helen is reluctant to bring the two together. In riding with Bascombe and hearing his opinions, something within her takes exception to them: “She thought her cousin very clever, but could not enjoy what he said. . . .” As one reads, the text continues to give evidence of God’s subtle working in her thought life.
When Wingfold visits Polwarth, the latter shares a poem he wrote describing the mystery of God’s working within his own experience. He goes so far as to say his very thoughts come to him from God:
I cannot say I think--
* * *
Thou only thinkest–I am thought;
Me and my thought thou thinkest. Nought
Am I but as a fountain spout
From which thy water welleth out. . . .
DOES GMD’S ANALYSIS SEEM PLAUSIBLE AND REALISTIC? WHAT KEEPS HIS THINKING FROM REDUCING PERSONS TO MERE ROBOTS, WHOM GOD THOROUGHLY CONTROLS?
Wingfold poses a question to Polwarth that is on the minds of many people who become curious about Christianity: how can one know whether the Bible is really inspired by God? The answer Polwarth give’s stresses human experience as over against the merely rational: read Scripture, study the man Christ Jesus, give yourself to him in obedience, and you will be confident that it has come from God: “. . . the Word of God liveth and abideth for ever, not in the volume of the book, but in the heart of the man that in love obeyeth him.”
If the miracles attributed to Christ could possibly have happened, he is told that he cannot receive the answer to that question until he comes to understand the person of Christ Jesus himself. As he sets out to obey, Wingfold is startled as the words of Christ come to his mind: “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?’ and he is aware he has never once undertaken to know and obey Christ’s commands. With sterling honesty he confesses from his pulpit his realization and his determination to know what Christ asks of us and do it. His congregation reacts again according to their own spiritual states; Polwarth leaves delighted.
In his next sermon Wingfold succinctly defines what Christianity is: It “does not mean what you think or what I think concerning Christ, but what is of Christ. My Christianity, if ever I come to have any, will be what of Christ is in me; your Christianity now is what of Christ is in you.” Again, the emphasis is solidly placed upon individual experience, rather than upon mere rational assent. The various reactions of the people of his congregation reveal where each one is at on a scale of becoming.
Wingfold, however, still longs for a sign from God to strengthen his faith. But the consciousness comes to him that the ideal is to have one’s mind entirely possessed with Christ, and any sign would take the place of that goal, a goal that, like Polwarth said, will be achieved only when one’s obedience is complete. He writes a poem in his regard.
Among those whose conscience is aroused by Wingfold’s sermons is the local linen-draper. He shares with Wingfold his dawning awareness that, although his business practices have not been out of line with that of other practitioners in the business, he has not been practicing complete honesty, as Christ would have done, had he been a draper and not a carpenter. But, he is beset with the puzzling issue: how, indeed, would Christ have acted in the complex aspects of this or that specific situation? Wingfold refuses to give specific advice beyond that all important one of praying, committing each puzzling situation to God, confident that God will answer him.
Visiting the Polwarth home, Wingfold finds Rachael ill in bed, yet in spite of her suffering she has a joyous spirit, and Wingfold says he is glad to know that suffering does not necessarily mean unhappiness. God does not remove the suffering, but the sufferer’s right relation to him can not only make it endurable, but can as well make it a source of spiritual welfare. Wingfold observes, “If there is a God, etc.”
WHY DOES GMD CONTINUE TO SHOW WINGFOLD AS POSING THIS QUESTION, SUGGESTING THAT HIS DOUBT PERSISTS?
In passing the draper’s shop, Wingfold obser ves the draper doing a kindly deed to a needy woman, enabling her to have a piece of cloth for which she longed, and Wingfold’s musing captures a very basic principle for Christian service: “I begin to suspect . . . that the common transactions of life are the most sacred channels for the spread of the heavenly leaven.”
Comments
If GMacD's "analysis" has to do with God's working in the lives of the characters who do not yet know Him, then yes, I agree with the analysis (at times I find the characters themselves odd and dramatic. . . not sure how much of this is just a different cultural moment and how much is his style). I believe it partly because of God's testimony about Himself and us: we are His workmanship; He's working all things together for good; He testifies about "purposes" for particular people - creating one for honor, another for dishonor - etc etc. I also believe it because I see it all around me - in my own testimony and in the lives of the people I meet. God is actively working in and through the beings that bear His image.
WHAT KEEPS HIS THINKING FROM REDUCING PERSONS TO MERE ROBOTS, WHOM GOD THOROUGHLY CONTROLS?"
I like to say: at the moment of God's greatest power in human history, His hands were nailed. God does not force our WILL. He does speak, He does work in circumstances, but I believe His very nature - which is LOVE - will never use force. We are always free to decide how we will receive His workings. So even as Helen begins to forget herself in ministering to her brother and so becoming like Christ, both she and Leopold are identifying HER as SAVIOR, and so becoming more demonic. The circumstances begin to call forth selflessness; the thinking they bring to it is "what is right in their own eyes". This very tension begins to crucify the "old man" in Helen. It is unbearable suffering to follow the two directions at once; Christ came that God's Holy Spirit could be freely chosen as the governor of our material beings.
I don't know if I am making sense here, but Wingfold's parishioners had become somewhat dead, and it seems that God is using him to reshape and retune people in the congregation through his own suffering of coming to life in Christ.
Will we see that in the midst of his and Helen's suffering that perseverance will produce character and character hope?
If I am blattering please forgive me, as I am thinking this out as I am writing it down.
Spiritual Growth has three elements: Conflict, Resolution, and Fulfillment.This in the context of maturing, of "Growing Up" spiritually. Think of a seed, lets say an acorn: in a sense you could say it is very self-satisfied. It has no notion of change that is purely internally driven. I may have an acorn in a shoebox somewhere that I picked up 50 years ago, and it would look much the same now as it did then. It takes an outside force or forces to facilitate the change, something that conflicts with its self-satisfaction; in this case lets say water and soil and time. The conflict begins, the acorn no longer is able to be what it has always been because its circumstances have changed.
The word "Resolution" originally was used to describe the process of reducing or separating something into its components, but then through the mathematical world came to mean the end product of something. I love this because I, at least, would never imagine an oak tree if I didn't know what an acorn was for. But water and soil somehow break down the acorn-ness and allow the reforming of the seed into what it was created to be. It "resolves" into its true self and others can now see the new creation.
Fulfillment is then it maturing into fruitfulness, something that can identify the acorn with the oak because they are seen together, one growing from the other. . . my metaphor is breaking down in my curly head, but maybe there is something here. Its probably my turn to apologize!
It must be insisted upon that God honors and does not violate the human will, nor force himself upon anyone. People make their own decisions and thus shape their eternal destinies. Polwarth is a person who has given himself completely to God; therefore he is confident that every thought of which his conscience approves has come from a divine source. He has the peace Christ promised his disciples.
As to Wingfold’s persistent doubting, he has not yet arrived at Polwarth’s state. As you read, note how many times the text stresses the importance of complete and earnest honesty. Wingfold is being honest with himself, and GMD is striving for a completely honest portrayal of the inner experience of an earnest seeker.
Wow..I can't even imagine have that much confidence! Do you think GMD really believed that one could be THAT certain? I'm looking at Jeremiah 17 and wondering what God is saying...can we really be confident all the time? Or does our deceitful heart keep that from happening? I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this!
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
9
The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10
“I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
What will Helen do with complete and earnest honesty?
Hmmm. What exactly is confidence? I think the answer is found somewhere in the tree rooted near the water, or the house built on the rock: we can be sure that they will stand for their allotted time; but troubles are going to come and they will be battered and uncomfortable. Polworth had pretty well battled down the storm of his own physical woes; he could go through the discomfort of asthma or judgment without being shaken. But he was troubled by his encounter in the old house. The tree or the house can sustain real damage in the storm. A storm can be costly, and the damage can take time to repair. I think it is easy to get caught up in the storm damage and forget the foundation. Polworth's confidence would have been that it was no accident that he was out walking that night and that he came to that place at that time. The next day he sets out to see if he could be of service to whomever was in distress and finds the people gone and a sheath, possibly left behind. His behavior at this point, I think, shows his confidence in God: he waits. He doesn't fuss or go to the authorities, but trusts that the God who led him into this adventure would continue to lead him if he had a further role. Yet he still held some trouble in his heart - the cost of coming up against the brokenness of this world - which is shown here:
“Do you think,” (Wingfold) said, “we are in any way bound to inquire further into the affair?”
“If I had thought so, I should not have left it unmentioned till now,” answered Polwarth. “But without being busybodies, we might be prepared in case the thing should unfold itself, and put it in our power to be useful. Meantime I have the relief of the confessional.”
Isn't it beautiful how GMacD illustrates the way in which the Body of Christ functions, the bearing of one-another's burdens? Polwarth unburdened his heart to Wingfold, and the cost to Wingfold was more insight - and thus more wrestling - with the mystery which had been put before him.
As to Polworth's confidence - Both he and Rachael's relationship with God have been long in the ripening. It has been said that obedience is loving listening. They have been in that mode for many years now. As they have listened and obeyed, God has revealed more of himself and they have been able to trust him more. It can be the same for us. We do have the Holy Spirit to help and guide us. As with any relationship, it takes time to deepen but if we tend to it, it does happen.
I, too, love the way GMD has all these characters at different places in their spiritual life interacting with each other, helping each other and God being in it all. Just like it happens in real life. :)