Children’s work a hundred years ago

Been an unsatisfying but sanctifying day. Spent most of it doing lots of cosmetic fiddly stuff with a massive 250 page document getting it ready for printing. Whoever formatted the template built in various safeguards that kept making the blessed document ( I use the word beatitudinally) do all the wrong things. This incrementally increased the longsuffering aspect in my overall sanctification portfolio.

Then I spent a while writing a brilliant post for this blog – vintage rant, ascerbic wit, politically subversive, carefully crafted with minimal semantic infelicities. Went to save it and the blessed Web page expired message came up. Again I use the word beatitudinally. This tragic loss to the literary archives tested the resilience of that other slow ripening fruit of the Spirit which is likely to become an area for ongoing self development in any spiritual audit I do, self control. Indeed it probably becomes one of the learning outcomes in my lifelong learning programme.

So here I am. And I’ve scanned in a wee card I found in a second hand book. The date written in neat fountain pen on the back is March 18th 1903. As you can see it’s an invite to a children’s meeting in one of Glasgow’s biggest public halls. Changed days, eh? The speaker was the renowned R A Torrey, who knew a few things about sanctification. Wrote books on holiness, Bible study, prayer, the work of the Holy Spirit. The singer was Mr Alexander. Not sure if he was an Edwardian Stephen Fischbacher, but apparently the weans were going to be ministered to by a big name preacher and a soloist. Eat your heart out Lynn from ‘help I work with Children’ (By the way, where are you Lynn – haven’t had your wisdom / wit / wistfulness / for a wee while?

Book_2 

Comments

4 responses to “Children’s work a hundred years ago”

  1. lynn avatar

    Awww, thanks for the mention Jim, I’m still here but you may be pleased to know I am deep in the Reformation, getting my head round Luther’s view of children and preparing to submit an assignment on the persecution of the early anabaptists!!
    Good to know I’m missed LOL, I may see you in March!?!
    Actually, I couldn’t believe what you had posted when I dropped by today – 1. because I have just been looking at a Torrey book and 2 because I have been teaching on sanctification to 8s to 11s (posted briefly on it in my blog) – such a fundamental topic in my mind. And done using lots of messy substances 🙂
    I find lots of adults who don’t find it difficult to accept that they are justified and in the process of sanctification** and yet these kids are drinking it in – “that’s how God sees me, yep, got it….yes, I do things wrong even as a Christ follower, sin gets in the way, I need God’s help to be cleansed….got it, yep, he still thinks I am wonderful and worth it and powerful and effective, I can be a witness at school; I can show that I’m different on the inside out, got it, yeah…..”
    as opposed to “I can’t be clean, I’ve made so many mistakes, I’m so dirty, how can God possibly use me? are you sure? Don’t I have to be like him/her/them? They’re SO gifted. It doesn’t FEEL like God can see me as justified and cleansed. Oh I’ve fouled up again, I’m such a weak Christian”
    (I’d better pause there!!! But I have heard all those words!)
    ** I know some may disagree with this.

  2. lynn avatar

    Awww, thanks for the mention Jim, I’m still here but you may be pleased to know I am deep in the Reformation, getting my head round Luther’s view of children and preparing to submit an assignment on the persecution of the early anabaptists!!
    Good to know I’m missed LOL, I may see you in March!?!
    Actually, I couldn’t believe what you had posted when I dropped by today – 1. because I have just been looking at a Torrey book and 2 because I have been teaching on sanctification to 8s to 11s (posted briefly on it in my blog) – such a fundamental topic in my mind. And done using lots of messy substances 🙂
    I find lots of adults who don’t find it difficult to accept that they are justified and in the process of sanctification** and yet these kids are drinking it in – “that’s how God sees me, yep, got it….yes, I do things wrong even as a Christ follower, sin gets in the way, I need God’s help to be cleansed….got it, yep, he still thinks I am wonderful and worth it and powerful and effective, I can be a witness at school; I can show that I’m different on the inside out, got it, yeah…..”
    as opposed to “I can’t be clean, I’ve made so many mistakes, I’m so dirty, how can God possibly use me? are you sure? Don’t I have to be like him/her/them? They’re SO gifted. It doesn’t FEEL like God can see me as justified and cleansed. Oh I’ve fouled up again, I’m such a weak Christian”
    (I’d better pause there!!! But I have heard all those words!)
    ** I know some may disagree with this.

  3. lynn avatar

    see comment – the “don’t” in the first line of fourth paragraph should be “do”.
    ooops

  4. lynn avatar

    see comment – the “don’t” in the first line of fourth paragraph should be “do”.
    ooops

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