Thomas Wingfold: Chapters 46 - 63
Thomas Wingfold: Chapters 46 - 63
I know I speak for all fellow readers when I say each comment on prior posts has really been appreciated. Be sure to read them. They have really stimulated me to further thought, as I’m sure they effect all who read them similarly.
I cannot help wondering how many are reading and enjoying our novel. I’m confident that all who give their imaginations to it find it an insightful and provocative experience. So much of the value of what we are doing lies in sharing our responses with each other. We’d all like to hear a comment from you; don’t feel as though what you say must be profound. Share with us whatever thoughts come to mind, or questions you may have.
Our reading for this week begins with Wingfold delivering a strong sermon on Christ’s invitation: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. . . .” Again, people like Mrs Ramshorn and Bascombe react negatively according to their natures. But Helen’s reaction is quite different; she is deeply moved, even to tears. After being strongly chastised by Bascombe for being so affected by the sermon, she flees to Leopold and confesses to him that Wingfold’s sermon was the first that she ever really listened to.
They agonize together as to how the text could possibly really apply to their situation. Unless he is caught–which means the scaffold, Leopold must live not only with a crushing sense of guilt, but also with the terrible realization that the life he has taken cannot be restored. They attempt to pray together; then Helen decides to seek Wingfold’s help and advice,
Immediately after delivering his sermon, Wingfold hurries to his lodging, but, instead of having inner peace and being thankful for the truths he has communicated, he is vexed with himself. When he receives Helen’s request for an interview, he shrinks from seeing her himself, but bids her meet him at the Polwarth’s cottage. Somewhat later, when Helen finds him at Polwarth’s cottage
and asks him to come see her brother, “in his heart he trembled at the thought of being looked to for consolation and counsel.”
WHY DOES WINGFOLD FEEL THIS VEXATION, UNEASE AND UNCERTAINTY? IS HE GUILTY OF NOT PRACTICING WHAT HE PREACHES? WHAT IS GOING ON WITHIN WINGFOLD’S PERSON?
Helen finally decides to seek Wingfold to see if he could offer her some help without her revealing to him the awful truths of their situation. In answer to her plea, Wingfold, unsure of his own resources, asks her to meet him in the presence of the Polwarth’s. She does, makes bungling attempts to get help without telling the whole truth, and faints. Wingfold, suspecting a tortured conscience, advises her to do her “dreaded duty,” thereby easing her conscience.
Horrified at the thought of Leopold’s confessing the murder and thus facing the scaffold, and shocked by the advice of the clergyman who had talked so movingly about the tenderness of Jesus, she flees back to her brother. While they are agonizing over their situation, Leopold declares he wants to see Wingfold himself, and then he has a vision of the girl he murdered. Helen gets Wingfold and brings him to Leopold, pleading with him not to ask her brother to give himself up.
Wingfold visits Leopold and hears his confession, tenderly urges him to confess his sin to Jesus and receive his forgiveness, and then goes to Helen. When he tells her he wants to take Leopold to see Polwarth, she cringes, but goes to consult her brother. She finds him delighted with Wingfold’s visit and fully willing to follow his advice.
Wingfold also takes the draper to see Polwarth, and Rachael reads a vision that her uncle has had concerning commerce in heaven, a vision that shows a society in which people’s needs are freely met without any money or economic concerns. When the draper denies its validity in this world, Polwarth remarks: “To doubt that it could be, . . would be to doubt whether the kingdom of heaven is a chimera or a divine idea.”
WHAT ARE YOUR REACTIONS TO POLWARTH’S VISION? IS IT A VALID VIEW OF WHAT THE COMING KINGDOM ON EARTH MIGHT BE LIKE? OR DO YOU SEE ANY PROBLEMS WITH IT?
At Leopold’s consent, Polwarth and Wingfold visit him, and, Polwarth states simply that he needs to ask God to forgive him. In response to Leopold’s lamenting that there was no way in which he could make amends for taking the girl’s life, Polwarth responds that God is quite able to do what Leopold could not, thus referring to the afterlife and the reality that all wrongs will be right there. Suddenly Leopold determines to go to the law and confess his crime, but first he withdraws by himself to confess to God in private.. Horrified, Helen rails against the guests, then breaks down, and they leave. Bascombe comes the following day and determines to take things into his own hands.
I know I speak for all fellow readers when I say each comment on prior posts has really been appreciated. Be sure to read them. They have really stimulated me to further thought, as I’m sure they effect all who read them similarly.
I cannot help wondering how many are reading and enjoying our novel. I’m confident that all who give their imaginations to it find it an insightful and provocative experience. So much of the value of what we are doing lies in sharing our responses with each other. We’d all like to hear a comment from you; don’t feel as though what you say must be profound. Share with us whatever thoughts come to mind, or questions you may have.
Our reading for this week begins with Wingfold delivering a strong sermon on Christ’s invitation: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. . . .” Again, people like Mrs Ramshorn and Bascombe react negatively according to their natures. But Helen’s reaction is quite different; she is deeply moved, even to tears. After being strongly chastised by Bascombe for being so affected by the sermon, she flees to Leopold and confesses to him that Wingfold’s sermon was the first that she ever really listened to.
They agonize together as to how the text could possibly really apply to their situation. Unless he is caught–which means the scaffold, Leopold must live not only with a crushing sense of guilt, but also with the terrible realization that the life he has taken cannot be restored. They attempt to pray together; then Helen decides to seek Wingfold’s help and advice,
Immediately after delivering his sermon, Wingfold hurries to his lodging, but, instead of having inner peace and being thankful for the truths he has communicated, he is vexed with himself. When he receives Helen’s request for an interview, he shrinks from seeing her himself, but bids her meet him at the Polwarth’s cottage. Somewhat later, when Helen finds him at Polwarth’s cottage
and asks him to come see her brother, “in his heart he trembled at the thought of being looked to for consolation and counsel.”
WHY DOES WINGFOLD FEEL THIS VEXATION, UNEASE AND UNCERTAINTY? IS HE GUILTY OF NOT PRACTICING WHAT HE PREACHES? WHAT IS GOING ON WITHIN WINGFOLD’S PERSON?
Helen finally decides to seek Wingfold to see if he could offer her some help without her revealing to him the awful truths of their situation. In answer to her plea, Wingfold, unsure of his own resources, asks her to meet him in the presence of the Polwarth’s. She does, makes bungling attempts to get help without telling the whole truth, and faints. Wingfold, suspecting a tortured conscience, advises her to do her “dreaded duty,” thereby easing her conscience.
Horrified at the thought of Leopold’s confessing the murder and thus facing the scaffold, and shocked by the advice of the clergyman who had talked so movingly about the tenderness of Jesus, she flees back to her brother. While they are agonizing over their situation, Leopold declares he wants to see Wingfold himself, and then he has a vision of the girl he murdered. Helen gets Wingfold and brings him to Leopold, pleading with him not to ask her brother to give himself up.
Wingfold visits Leopold and hears his confession, tenderly urges him to confess his sin to Jesus and receive his forgiveness, and then goes to Helen. When he tells her he wants to take Leopold to see Polwarth, she cringes, but goes to consult her brother. She finds him delighted with Wingfold’s visit and fully willing to follow his advice.
Wingfold also takes the draper to see Polwarth, and Rachael reads a vision that her uncle has had concerning commerce in heaven, a vision that shows a society in which people’s needs are freely met without any money or economic concerns. When the draper denies its validity in this world, Polwarth remarks: “To doubt that it could be, . . would be to doubt whether the kingdom of heaven is a chimera or a divine idea.”
WHAT ARE YOUR REACTIONS TO POLWARTH’S VISION? IS IT A VALID VIEW OF WHAT THE COMING KINGDOM ON EARTH MIGHT BE LIKE? OR DO YOU SEE ANY PROBLEMS WITH IT?
At Leopold’s consent, Polwarth and Wingfold visit him, and, Polwarth states simply that he needs to ask God to forgive him. In response to Leopold’s lamenting that there was no way in which he could make amends for taking the girl’s life, Polwarth responds that God is quite able to do what Leopold could not, thus referring to the afterlife and the reality that all wrongs will be right there. Suddenly Leopold determines to go to the law and confess his crime, but first he withdraws by himself to confess to God in private.. Horrified, Helen rails against the guests, then breaks down, and they leave. Bascombe comes the following day and determines to take things into his own hands.
Comments
and it is genuinely fascinating.
I would agree that there will be no need for ATM's in heaven but I guess I have always thought our needs would be supplied thru Jesus rather than from others. I don't see the relevance to the discussion in the story. It would never work with our society subject to the fall and it seems a moot point for eternity so what is the purpose except a longing for that which cannot be here on earth?
I agree with Tim, that Jesus will supply all our needs. What I wonder about is, what means will he use? I think part of GMacDs point is that willing, childlike obedience is what God uses in this world to provide for people and to grow his family. So Polworth was obedient for years but was unable to share the riches that Holy Spirit put in him with anyone but Rachel because no one would receive from someone so deformed. When Wingfold is willing to receive from him, he taps a deep reservoir and there is great joy in both of them for the flow between them. Maybe part of Wingfold's hesitancy is that it takes time to digest, to truly make something your own: yet the riches had been poured into him and he was able to pour it back out, qualifying it with the idea that it was not yet his own (same theme as his first awakening to speaking that which was not his).
So if there is JOY for God's children in the flow of riches between them, might this not be Jesus provision in heaven, too?
I have long thought that GMacD's works need to be reworked into food that people of our day would be willing to eat. I know the risks and dangers of any translation, the spinning and reinterpretations can totally obscure what was being offered. But I have occasionally taken a whack at re-writing, and last week I rewrote an abridgment of the "Come Unto Me" sermon Wingfold preached for a friend who is in prison. He's been volunteering in the infirmery and they have CoVid cases. I am sharing it here because y'all are so thoughtful and you know GMacDs work; if anyone is willing to share whether I am obscuring or helping Brother George get through I would appreciate it (have to put it on yet another post because its too long. Sorry Sorry Sorry!):
COME UNTO ME, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST
The man Jesus seems to have suffered far more from sympathy with the inward sorrows of people than from pity for their bodily pains. Could he not have swept bodily pains from the earth with a word? and yet it seems to have been mostly, if not indeed always, in answer to prayer that he healed them, with the goal of some deeper, spiritual healing along with the bodily cure. It is not their bodily pains, but the weight of a person's “wrong-being” and “wrong-doing” that is the gravestone that needs to be rolled away before a man can rise to life. Call to mind how Jesus used to forgive men’s sins, lifting from their hearts the crushing load that paralyzed all their efforts. Recall the tenderness with which he received those rejected by “religious people” - the repentant women who wept sore-hearted, the publicans who knew they were despised (because they were despicable). With him they sought and found shelter. He was their savior from the storm of human judgment and the biting frost of public opinion, even when their own hearts agreed with that opinion and that judgment. He received them, and the life within them rose up, and the light shone - despite their own shame and self-reproach. If God be for us who can be against us? In his name they rose from the hell of their own hearts’ condemnation. They heard and believed and obeyed his words. He said,‘Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light’ If these words are true, they are the kindest and loveliest ever spoken; if they are false, they are the most arrogant and God-defying.
Is this good news for all people who hear and believe it? Is there anyone who will never find themselves among the weary and heavy-laden? If you call yourself Christian, then you claim to believe such rest is to be had. Do you walk around bowed to the very earth, and take no single step towards him who says Come? Do you lift your eyes to see whether a face of mercy is looking down upon you? Is it that, after all, you do not believe there ever was such a man as they call Jesus? Because if the man said the words, he must have at least believed that he could fulfill them. Can anyone who that knows anything of him at all say that this man spoke what he did not believe? Would this man lie for the privilege of being despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief? Could anything but the confidence of truth have sustained him when he knew that even those who loved him would deny him in his deepest trial?
Jesus came to give people peace - HIS peace, from the same source he himself gets it from. What does he mean by TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU, AND LEARN OF ME? He means, TAKE UPON YOU THE YOKE I WEAR; LEARN TO DO AS I DO: LIKE ME, REST IN DOING THE WILL OF MY FATHER. He had all the grief of humanity in his heart, and knew the death that awaited him; yet says, FOR MY YOKE, THE YOKE I WEAR, IS EASY, THE BURDEN I BEAR IS LIGHT. What made that yoke easy,—that burden light? That it was the doing the WILL of the FATHER, the very thing all people were created, in love, to do.
But what if the trouble in your heart is because of someone else, someone you love? I answer, if the peace be the peace of the Son of man, it must reach to every cause of un-rest. If you find rest, would it not also come closer to the one you love? How can your friend find rest unless someone who loves them brings it near? What if you finding rest is the very thing that leads them into peace as well?
(AGH, Still too long! Didn't count the cost, more apologies, too late to turn back now!)
Come then, sore heart, and see whether his heart cannot heal yours. He knows what darkness and distress are. Brothers, sisters, we MUST get rid of this misery of ours. It is slaying us. It is turning the fair earth into a hell, and our hearts into its fuel. Jesus is the man who says he knows the way to rest: take him at his word. Go to the one who is God and Man in one and says to you, COME UNTO ME, ALL YE THAT LABOUR AND ARE HEAVY-LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU, AND LEARN OF ME; FOR I AM MEEK AND LOWLY IN HEART: AND YE SHALL FIND REST UNTO YOUR SOULS. FOR MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT.
I am reminded of a book C.S. Lewis wrote about heaven and how all things would be shared as things were needed, not greedily as we see in our pandemic right now where people are hoarding items instead of realizing that there are others in need also -
Beautifully said Sarah.
I feel myself growing, yet again, in the Lord as I read this beautiful book again.
I tend to like how older authors (along with GMD, I'm thinking of Victor Hugo)thoroughly acquaint the reader with their characters. Polwarth's vision not only enabled me to enter into his thought more deeply, but also set the stage so to speak for the draper's conflicts over his business practices. I wonder if Isaiah 55:1 - Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. -was the inspiration for his vision. It is right in the middle of the description of the Lord's covenant of peace as an invitation to the abundant life. Those chapters in Isaiah give much scope to the imagination for life in heaven. How often do we only think of our own needs/wants when we shop and buy. Do we ever think of our brother/sister who are trying to make a living. Would spending more rather than get the best deal for ourselves, be the loving thing to do? Business as well as buying practices. :)
Food for thought.
I so love those verses from Matt.11:28-30. Wingfold's sermon on them was so good! We so long for perfect peace and rest. To keep our minds on Him is the challenge. As you say, Dr. Hein, in this broken world, with broken people, we all have many heavy loads and burdens. Christ comes to us through others to share our load and walk with us. I hope your friend, Sarah can receive your words as comfort.
Debbie, thanks for "buying habits". Yes, its both the giving and the reception, isn't it? The movement of the goods for mutual good. Hmmm.
Dr Hein, what a great thought about the books of the Bible being God mediated through other people. Of course! so helpful to get simple truths spelled out so that we understand what we are experiencing. Thank you. I wonder if the principle is shown in Matthew 3, when John questions whether he should baptize Jesus. He is questioning the need for his role with the Holy One. "you, come to me?!" Yes, Jesus says, for "thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Here is how the Holy One has chosen to allow His Children to participate in the family economy.