Hoskyns: substitute for faith

Tuesday, May 21, 2013
    Feast of Commemoration of Helena, Protector of the Faith, 330
Meditation:
A voice says, “Cry out.”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All men are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
    Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    but the word of our God stands forever.”
    —Isaiah 40:6-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To have heard the Bible speak is to be prepared not for maturity, balance, poise, riches, but for the poverty and distress and uncertainty of thought and action that are so desperately characteristic of human life. The Bible takes human mortality seriously, that mortality which the preacher does not hide from you even when you stand on the threshold of life. To wrestle with the theme of the Scriptures is your proper preparation for the rough things of human life, as we see it, and observe it, and are immersed in it. The Truth which is being spoken to you most clearly in the Scriptures is your only protection against cynicism and skepticism, just as it is your only protection against that false romanticism which is the modern cruel substitute for faith in God.
    ... Sir Edwyn C. Hoskyns (1884-1937), We are the Pharisees, London: SPCK, 1960, p. 8 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 40:6-8; Job 13:15; Ps. 90:5-6; 102:11-12; Matt. 24:35; 1 Cor. 1:20-21; Jas. 1:10-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word banishes the darkness of this world’s wisdom. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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