G.K. Chesterton on Family and the Romance of Being Born

I was reminded again today of why Chesterton is one of my favourite writers. The quoted text below is from Heretics, his 1905 collection of essays which analyzed and deconstructed social views of prominent writers in his day such as H.G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling, George Bernard Shaw, etc. It is the forerunner to the much more famous Orthodoxy and is well worth reading. This passage, written in criticism of modern writers' distaste for the institution of the family, rings so true for me as a member of a large family who has married into another large family. I have 8 very unique siblings and 9 unique sibling-in-laws; as a married man now, the possibility of becoming a father to more unique individuals is exciting, and as Chesterton puts it, romantic.

"The institution of the family is to be commended for precisely the same reasons that the institution of the nation, or the institution of the city, are in this matter to be commended. It is a good thing for a man to live in a family for the same reason that it is a good thing for a man to be besieged in a city. It is a good thing for a man to live in a family in the same sense that it is a beautiful and delightful thing for a man to be snowed up in a street. They all force him to realize that life is not a thing from outside, but a thing from inside. Above all, they all insist upon the fact that life, if it be a truly stimulating and fascinating life, is a thing which, of its nature, exists in spite of ourselves. The modern writers who have suggested, in a more or less open manner, that the family is a bad institution, have generally confined themselves to suggesting, with much sharpness, bitterness, or pathos, that perhaps the family is not always very congenial. Of course the family is a good institution because it is uncongenial. It is wholesome precisely because it contains so many divergencies and varieties. It is, as the sentimentalists say, like a little kingdom, and, like most other little kingdoms, is generally in a state of something resembling anarchy. It is exactly because our brother George is not interested in our religious difficulties, but is interested in the Trocadero Restaurant, that the family has some of the bracing qualities of the commonwealth. It is precisely because our uncle Henry does not approve of the theatrical ambitions of our sister Sarah that the family is like humanity. The men and women who, for good reasons and bad, revolt against the family, are, for good reasons and bad, simply revolting against mankind. Aunt Elizabeth is unreasonable, like mankind. Papa is excitable, like mankind Our youngest brother is mischievous, like mankind. Grandpapa is stupid, like the world; he is old, like the world. Those who wish, rightly or wrongly, to step out of all this, do definitely wish to step into a narrower world. They are dismayed and terrified by the largeness and variety of the family. Sarah wishes to find a world wholly consisting of private theatricals; George wishes to think the Trocadero a cosmos. I do not say, for a moment, that the flight to this narrower life may not be the right thing for the individual, any more than I say the same thing about flight into a monastery. But I do say that anything is bad and artificial which tends to make these people succumb to the strange delusion that they are stepping into a world which is actually larger and more varied than their own. The best way that a man could test his readiness to encounter the common variety of mankind would be to climb down a chimney into any house at random, and get on as well as possible with the people inside. And that is essentially what each one of us did on the day that he was born. This is, indeed, the sublime and special romance of the family. It is romantic because it is a toss-up. It is romantic because it is everything that its enemies call it. It is romantic because it is arbitrary. It is romantic because it is there. So long as you have groups of men chosen rationally, you have some special or sectarian atmosphere. It is when you have groups of men chosen irrationally that you have men. The element of adventure begins to exist; for an adventure is, by its nature, a thing that comes to us. It is a thing that chooses us, not a thing that we choose. Falling in love has been often regarded as the supreme adventure, the supreme romantic accident. In so much as there is in it something outside ourselves, something of a sort of merry fatalism, this is very true. Love does take us and transfigure and torture us. It does break our hearts with an unbearable beauty, like the unbearable beauty of music. But in so far as we have certainly something to do with the matter; in so far as we are in some sense prepared to fall in love and in some sense jump into it; in so far as we do to some extent choose and to some extent even judge—in all this falling in love is not truly romantic, is not truly adventurous at all. In this degree the supreme adventure is not falling in love. The supreme adventure is being born. There we do walk suddenly into a splendid and startling trap. There we do see something of which we have not dreamed before. Our father and mother do lie in wait for us and leap out on us, like brigands from a bush. Our uncle is a surprise. Our aunt is, in the beautiful common expression, a bolt from the blue. When we step into the family, by the act of being born, we do step into a world which is incalculable, into a world which has its own strange laws, into a world which could do without us, into a world that we have not made. In other words, when we step into the family we step into a fairy-tale."

Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith) (2011-03-30). Heretics (pp. 81-82). Kindle Edition.

Patrick's Perseverance

With St. Patrick's Day coming up, it is neat to read from his own words in his Confession:

"Even if I wished to leave [Ireland] and go to Britain---and how I would have loved to go to my country and my parents, and also to Gaul in order to visit the brethren and to see the face of the saints of my Lord! God knows it! that I much desired it; but I am bound by the Spirit, who gives evidence against me if I do this, telling me that I shall be guilty; and I am afraid of losing the labour which I have begun---nay, not I, but Christ the Lord who bade me come here and stay with them for the rest of my life, if the Lord will, and will guard me from every evil way that I may not sin before Him.

This, I presume, I ought to do, but I do not trust myself as long as I am in this body of death, for strong is he who daily strives to turn me away from the faith and the purity of true religion to which I have devoted myself to the end of my life to Christ my Lord. But the hostile flesh is ever dragging us unto death, that I is, towards the forbidden satisfaction of one's desires; and I know that in part I did not lead a perfect life as did the other faithful; but I acknowledge it to my Lord, and do not blush before Him, because I lie not: from the time I came to know Him in my youth, the love of God and the fear of Him have grown in me, and up to now, thanks to the grace of God, I have kept the faith.

Hence I ought unceasingly to give thanks to God who often pardoned my folly and my carelessness, and on more than one occasion spared His great wrath on me, who was chosen to be His helper and who was slow to do as was shown me and as the Spirit suggested. And the Lord had mercy on me thousands and thousands of times because He saw that I was ready, but that I did not know what to do in the circumstances. For many tried to prevent this my mission; they would even talk to each other behind my back and say: `Why does this fellow throw himself into danger among enemies who have no knowledge of God?' It was not malice, but it did not appeal to them because---and to this I own myself---of my rusticity. And I did not realize at once the grace that was then in me; now I understand that I should have done so before.

Now I have given a simple account to my brethren and fellow servants who have believed me because of what I said and still say in order to strengthen and confirm your faith. Would that you, too, would strive for greater things and do better! This will be my glory, for a wise son is the glory of his father."

  I find these words both incredibly encouraging and challenging. Wherever God has brought us, and whatever we have been called to leave behind, let us keep on striving!

Sorry God, I Am Too ____!

William Blake, Zacharias and the Angel - c. 1799

An excerpt from a sermon I preached last year on Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:5-25,52-66)

"God can use even the most unlikely people to accomplish his purposes and build his kingdom. God loves to use us against all odds, no matter what our weaknesses are, and no matter what the world may think of us. But sometimes, even when we have prayed to be used and prepared ourselves for service, we doubt God’s ability to use us. Don’t be that way.

Do you continue to trust him when you have to wait for an answer?
Are you truly prepared to be used by God?
Do you feel too weak, emotionally, spiritually, or physically to be used by God?
Do you feel too old to be used by God?
Too young?
Or maybe you feel like you have sinned far too much in the past to be used by Him in the future?
Do you feel like you are too disorganized for God to use you?

In the eyes of the world, we are way too weak and incapable to do anything to build a Kingdom, but remember,  this is God we are talking about. He can and will use each one of us, if we are willing. With or without our co-operation, His promises and purposes will be carried out, but he offers us all the chance to be part of it!"

A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night

When joys surround and pleasures stay

And every piece falls into place

Although I'm on my well-lit way

You guide me Lord, a cloud by day

But other times, I'm filled with fright

For all the world seems full of hate;

When sorrows seem to quench the light

Your Spirit burns, a fire by night

Freedom from the Fear of Death

 

 Days of Darkness

We are in a unique time of the year. The trees have shed their dead leaves, a shroud of snow covers the hard frozen ground, and festivals of death are celebrated around the world. The pagans called this time Samhain and it is still celebrated by some to this day as an optimal time to commune with the spirit world; in Mexico it is Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Right here in North America, the stores devote the whole month of October to Hallowe'en merchandise. From the devils, skeletons and witches marching our streets, to the fake corpses hanging from trees, thoughts of death, doom and the devil dominate our world with darkness (an appropriately amusing alliteration). Pages and pages have been written about the different origins of these holidays, but one thing is for certain. They are quite a difference from the light, life and joy offered by the Only God! I believe that at the heart of these celebrations, there is that common human fear of death!

 

Out of Our Control

King Solomon, one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived, wrote in Ecclesiastes 8:7-8 ‘Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come? No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.’ This is one reason for the fear of death! Our lives on this earth are incredibly fragile. None of us knows for certain what will happen in the future, even five minutes from now. We have as much power over the day of our death as we have over the wind! That’s not a very comforting thought if we are afraid of death.

A singer/songwriter named Ethan talked about this fear to God in Psalm 89:47-48 ‘Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all men! What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave?’ Life is so short and Death impacts us all. We don’t have to live very long before we lose loved ones in our own families or members of our communities. Though some may live like they are immortal, we often receive wake-up calls when even young children and youth that we love are taken from us. Each one of us is born with an expiration date that none of us knows! No one on this planet will be able to design a cure from death. No matter how many intense surgeries we put our bodies through, we will not be able to escape the grave; you could receive a transplant of all your organs one day and the next day be diagnosed with a terminal, incurable virus.  

 The Hope Offered by God

There is a neat prophecy in Hosea 13:14. This is God’s promise of what he would do for His people: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?’

The Apostle Paul quotes this verse in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’  If death was just a long warm sleep, giving us permanent rest at the end of our hard days, we wouldn’t be afraid of it (apart from the pain that might accompany the experience). The real sting of death is sin! The reason that death is a fearful thing is the guilt of the sin that we have committed. ‘But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ 

Victory Through Christ!

How is the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ? It is through what He has done on our behalf. Hebrews 2:14-15 “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” This of course is speaking of the Lord Jesus. He became fully human and experienced death for us so that he could destroy the devil’s hold on mankind; so that he could set us free from slavery to the fear of death! Through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, much was accomplished. First of all, He proved that there was hope beyond the grave. He had hung bleeding and broken upon the cross, suffering a form of execution that left the body damaged beyond repair. When He died, a soldier thrust a spear into His side to make sure the deed was done. Even in our day of CPR, defibrillators and blood transfusions, He could not have been revived, and yet three days later, He came back to life again! Through this, He conquered death once for all time. He stands mightily as the one who died and yet lives!

Read the words of assurance given by our Lord in John 11:25-26:“Jesus said…  “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Now that is something worth celebrating.