Great Orators | 9. George Herbert

Lundi, 30 Mars, 2015

Verse of the Day: «Il était méprisé, abandonné des hommes, un homme de douleur habitué à la souffrance. Oui, il était semblable à ceux devant lesquels on détourne les yeux. Il était méprisé, et nous n'avons fait aucun cas de sa valeur. Pourtant, en vérité, c'est de nos maladies qu'il s'est chargé, et ce sont nos souffrances qu'il a prises sur lui, alors que nous pensions que Dieu l'avait puni, frappé et humilié.» Ésaïe 53.3-4

Quote of the Day: “Man is born to please Him: he feels Him, there need be no other proof.”—Blaise Pascal

«L'homme est né pour Le plaisir : il Le sent, il n'en faut point d'autre preuve.»—Blaise Pascal

French Fun Fact: The French have one of the highest life expectancies in the EU. (confessedtravelholic.com)

What’s Really Happening Over Here:

Weather – Partly Cloudy, Precip. 10%

Temperature – 59⁰F, high of  59⁰

News – French local elections: Who won and who lost (thelocal.fr)

More News – http://sports.orange.fr/

A Day In the Life:

Yesterday, Palm Sunday, was a very important day for us as Christians for many reasons. First, it of course speaks to the majesty of our King, Jesus, who was rightfully hailed as the Messiah as He entered His beloved capital city. When the crowd was told to stop, Christ responded that “If they are quiet, even the rocks will cry out!”

I think we often read over that statement all too quickly, treating it as a simple metaphor of some kind. But I think He was being literal. In fact, although we continue to quiet our praise for Him and turn our praise toward our desires and feelings and ourselves, the planets are literally crying out: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/features/halloween_sounds.html).

In the service we read from Matthew 27, and we looked at both Judas’ and Peter’s betrayals. What was the difference between the two? Yes, they had specific destinies, but that does not infringe upon choice, it is simply (as in Oedipus Rex) foreknowledge of what choices we will make, and the consequences that will result. So why did Judas end up hanging from a tree and Peter end up forgiven. Among other reasons of course, a core reason was that although Judas definitely felt really bad about what he did, Peter actually repented. Repentance turns sin into a building block rather than an obstacle.

George Herbert

George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was a Welsh-born English poet, orator and Anglican priest. Herbert's poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognized as "a pivotal figure: enormously popular, deeply and broadly influential, and arguably the most skillful and important British devotional lyricist."

Born into an artistic and wealthy family, Herbert received a good education that led to his admission in 1609 as a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, where Herbert excelled in languages, rhetoric and

music. He went to university with the intention of becoming a priest, but when eventually he became the University's Public Orator he attracted the attention of King James I and may well have seen himself as a future Secretary of State. In 1624 and briefly in 1625 he served in Parliament. After the death of King James, Herbert's interest in ordained ministry was renewed. In his mid-thirties he gave up his secular ambitions and took holy orders in the Church of England, spending the rest of his life as the rector of the little parish of Fugglestone St Peter with Bemerton, near Salisbury. He was noted for unfailing care for his parishioners, bringing the sacraments to them when they were ill, and providing food and clothing for those in need. Henry Vaughan called him "a most glorious saint and seer". Never a healthy man, he died of consumption at the early age of 39.

Throughout his life, he wrote religious poems characterized by a precision of language, a metrical versatility, and an ingenious use of imagery or conceits that was favoured by the metaphysical school of poets. Charles Cotton described him as a "soul composed of harmonies". Some of Herbert's poems have endured as popular hymns, including "King of Glory, King of Peace" (Praise): "Let All the World in Every Corner Sing" (Antiphon) and "Teach me, my God and King" (The Elixir). Herbert's first biographer, Izaak Walton, wrote that he composed "such hymns and anthems as he and the angels now sing in heaven".

(The above is a direct quotation from the Wikipedia.com article on George Herbert.)