Several years ago we met Abigail Fox, a sweet young lady, in San Antonio, Texas who had traveled with her brother Daniel all the way from England because she entered a film in the first San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. Their entry, about the life of Matthew Henry’s father Phillip, won first place in the documentary category. I was impressed with the closeness of the Fox family, who all contributed to Abigail’s film. They have continued to work together on films from their home in northwest England.

Now Abigail’s brother Joe is very ill. As I write he is headed to the hospital for surgery on a malignant tumor the size of a tennis ball, on his leg, and he will need a very large skin graft where it will be removed. This Christian family has a deep understanding of and trust in the sovereignty of God, but they would appreciate any prayers for a successful operation and for Joe’s healing, as well as strength as they make the daily difficult journey to the hospital during his recovery, and comfort for all while they deal with the sadness of missing a beloved brother while he’s “in hospital.”

When Abigail wrote to tell me of her brother’s illness and surgery, I immediately thought of a comforting passage I had just read in R.J. Rushdoony’s book The Cure of Souls. It was a quote from Bishop Thomas Wilson (1663-1755). This is what I sent her:

O God, who takest delight in helping the afflicted, help a soul too often distressed with an inward rebellion against Thy just appointments.

Who am I, that I should make exceptions against the Will of God, infinitely great, wise, and good?
My earnest desires, if granted, may prove my ruin.

The things I complain of and fear, may be the effects of the greatest mercy.

The disappointments I meet with, may be absolutely necessary for my eternal welfare. I do therefore protest against the sin and madness of desiring to have my will done, and not the will of God.

Grant, gracious Father, that I may never dispute the reasonableness of Thy will, but ever close with it, as the best that can happen.

Prepare me always for what Thy providence shall bring forth.

Let me never murmur, be dejected, or impatient, under any of the troubles of this life; but ever find rest and comfort in this, THIS IS THE WILL OF MY FATHER, AND OF MY GOD: this for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Those words were convicting to me and a strong comfort as I always both struggle with and marvel at God’s amazing and mysterious working in my life. I long to embrace both “good” and “bad” as His goodness and mercy toward me. It’s a lesson in which I have far to go. I know that the Fox family is a good example of trusting God in this way, and I knew that these words would be something that would be welcome to Abigail. What I didn’t know was the special providence of God in my sending them this encouragement from Bishop Wilson. Here is what Abigail wrote back to me:

We live just 2 miles from Burton where Bishop Wilson was born and where his ancestors lived for generations. We have passed “his” home for almost 20 years. When my Mum was very young and lived in this same area she went to “Bishop Wilson’s” school in Burton. Such a small coincidence, that you should send the words of this man, but a coincidence that really pleased our hearts tonight. I love walking to Burton - indeed, it is a hobby of we three siblings and will be the landmark of Joe’s recovery. I can now take those words with me. Thank you : )

Our Lord is so good and kind to us, that He reminds us of His presence with these precious gifts of letting us see His working in our lives. He is always there, He is always in control of each circumstance, and His will for us is always perfect. I praise God that the Foxes know Him as their Redeemer and Comforter, and I hope you will pray with me for them as they go through this trial together. It’s a very small world, and it’s a privilege to bear one another’s burdens as we are able.

This year is a very special anniversary, the 500th birthday of one of the greatest, most humble, most courageous, most influential Christian theologians since the early days of the church: John Calvin. A Frenchman who ended up in exile in Geneva, Switzerland because of the intense persecution of Christians in his native land, Calvin encouraged the faithful reading and application of God’s holy, inerrant Word for his generation — of which many were martyred for their fidelity to God and the five solas of the Reformation — and for generations to come.

Sadly, many in the church have maligned the memory of this great man, portraying him as a stern, proud, authoritarian religious zealot whose heavy-handed ways led to the persecution of his opponents, particularly “poor” Servetus, at whose feet Calvin is practically accused of igniting the wood that burned him for heresy. This most well-known bit of slander is handily dealt with by apologist James White here:

I’m currently reading a book of essays in honor of Calvin’s birthday, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology. The authors are a “Who’s Who” of outstanding Christian teachers of our day, including Jay Adams, Joel Beeke, Jerry Bridges, Sinclair Ferguson, Steven Lawson, John MacArthur, and Derek Thomas. John Piper, Joni Eareckson Tada, D.A. Carson, David Wells, and G.I. Williamson are among those who endorse this book. Such consensus of some of the most solid and godly thinkers of our day ought to give pause to those who would readily condemn the memory of a man whose contributions to the Reformation were pivotal in the battle for the truth, who gave us an inheritance of not only freedom of religion, but political freedom in our own nation, as well.

Our friends at Vision Forum have planned a big birthday bash in Boston, July 1-4, to honor the legacy of John Calvin, and with inimitable style, they will be giving irrefutable and compelling evidence from outstanding speakers that we owe a great debt to that great man. One of the best parts of the celebration is the teaching of our friend Pastor Joe Morecraft, whose knowledge of reformation history is unparalleled, as is his passion to convey a love for God’s Word and for our Christian heritage. Anna has been reading Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion because of this upcoming shindig, and I have been enjoying her enthusiasm as she delves deeply into those theological roots, blossoming with inspiration for applying the Word of God to her life. She is finding that the practical piety of Calvin is a spur toward greater intimacy with her Savior which leads to wanting to live out her faith in Him in every area of life.

In his essay about John Calvin, Sinclair Ferguson says this about the change that took place in the misunderstood reformer when God called him out of darkness into His glorious light:

In Calvin’s conversion, two things stand out: First, his pre-conversion condition was marked by a “hardened” and resistant (”unteachable”) mind, and, by implication, a distaste for true godliness (later reversed into an “inflamed…desire”). This, of course, was the informed biblical analysis of one who believed that the fallen human mind is “a perpetual factory of idols” and therefore deeply resistant to the iconoclasm of grace.

Second, for Calvin, conversion to Christ meant not only a transition from condemnation to justification but from ignorance to knowledge and from arrogant rebellion to a humbled heart. His mind was thus softened and brought “to a teachable frame.” From this flowed powerful new affections. He now was “inflamed” with “intense…desire” to make progress in “true godliness.” Thus, to have a heart for God meant to have a desire to grow in the “knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness” (Titus 1:1).

That humility, that teachableness, is evident in his life, seen both in his own writings and in the voluminous correspondence and writings of those who knew him. If you don’t know anything about this giant of the faith, other than some snide gossip from historical revisionists, I encourage you to emulate both his humility and teachableness and at least read some of the articles posted by Doug Phillips at his blog and this article by Bill Potter on the Puritans and how their Calvinist heritage led to blessing for us all. If you aren’t able to make it to the Reformation 500 celebration, you can still learn from Pastor Morecraft and Dan Ford through an online study course on the Reformation and its impact on the family, the church, and the state.

I saw part of this poem quoted in Eudora Welty’s book One Writer’s Beginnings, which I finally read after my friend Laura recommended it years ago, and my friend Becky recently mentioned it again. It is a lovely autobiography (I have never read any of her other books) about her simple Mississippi upbringing and how her family life enabled her to see the world in stories and fed her imagination. The snippet of the poem intrigued me, so I looked it up, and the only place where I found the entire poem was here, and I’m not sure if it’s formatted properly. It doesn’t rhyme, but its lyrical beauty makes sense, and I think it will speak to those who are weary of the whirling cultural chaos that intrudes upon peaceful reflection. (Poetry lesson: notice the alliteration in the first line which gives the metaphor and is repeated throughout the poem.)

HOME
by William Alexander Percy

I have a need of silence and of stars;
Too much is said too loudly; I am dazed.
The silken sound of whirled infinity
Is lost in voices shouting to be heard.
I once knew men as earnest and less shrill.
An undermeaning that I caught I miss
Among these ears that hear all sounds save silence,
These eyes that see so much but not the sky,
These minds that gain all knowledge but no calm.
If suddenly the desperate music ceased,
Could they return to life? or would they stand
In dancers’ attitudes, puzzled, polite,
And striking vaguely hand on tired hand
For an encore, to fill the ghastly pause?
I do not know. Some rhythm there may be
I cannot hear. But I oh, I must go
Back where the breakers of deep sunlight roll
Across flat fields that love and touch the sky;
Back to the more of earth, the less of man,
Where there is still a plain simplicity,
And friendship, poor in everything but love,
And faith, unwise, unquestioned, but a star,
Soon now the peace of summer will be there
With cloudy fire of myrtles in full bloom;
And, when the marvelous wide evenings come,
Across the molten river one can see
The misty willow-green of Arcady.
And then the summer stars … I will go home.

For two days now, the country has been a safer place for our children as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) has been in force since being passed and signed into law by President Bush last summer. This new law requires that all items sold to children twelve and under be tested for lead and phthalates, and if those items do not meet the limits of parts per million (limits which will be drastically increased within a few months), then the item may not be sold, or even donated to charity. Small businesses and charities must also comply with these restrictions or face stiff fines and even a prison sentence. The cost of testing each unique item is so onerous to those who deal in used children’s book selling and who have home businesses, and the cost of being prosecuted for not being in compliance with this law is so high, that many are closing shop and giving up. Even libraries and thrift stores have indicated they do not have the resources to meet these restrictions and thus will discontinue making children’s items available. This is a major blow to those who have relied on such resources for obtaining low-cost clothing, toys, and books for their families.

There have been many confusing and conflicting statements regarding the scope of this law and how it will be enforced. While there have been some assurances that small businesses which do not knowingly sell items with unacceptable amounts of lead and phthalates will not be prosecuted, such assurances from government bureaucrats, when those exemptions are not written into the law, do not encourage those who wonder if they might be the guinea pig for selective enforcement of this overreaching law. Sadly, even the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), whose experience with such selective enforcement in the realm of home education ought to cause them to know better, offered some hollow head-patting to those who have written them with concerns. While it’s nice to know that in their meeting with Commissioner Thomas Moore they were given some verbal assurance that the CPSC has no intention of going after cottage industries (”Historically, we haven’t gone after these kinds of businesses,” he told HSLDA, “not cottage industries”), many are not willing to stake their livelihood and freedom on such flimsy stuff.

As I write, precious and collectible children’s books are being dumped and destroyed because of this broad-brush nanny state intrusion. This is unacceptable at so many levels. During a time when families are suffering because of government bungling causing major economic disruption, a significant resource for providing income as well as necessary supplies to those families has now virtually disappeared. In addition, the arbitrary policy of this law to place specific restrictions on children’s books published prior to 1985 is appalling to those of us who know how insipid the content of most modern children’s literature is, and who prefer to provide older books, many of which are now out of print, for our children’s education and training. Who would have thought that overnight such material in our “free” country would become contraband and difficult to acquire? If I were into conspiracy theories (you can decide for yourself if I am), I might wonder if it was also a deliberate attempt to control the content of what we are able to teach our children as the noose tightens and the means to give them a quality, low-cost home education is now hampered? I would think that would be of grave concern to HSLDA.

Valerie Jacobsen, who more than anyone is responsible for my knowledge of good children’s books, and whose livelihood will be significantly affected by CPSIA, is writing extensively about this issue at Bookroom Blog. She wryly pays homage to George Orwell because of the “bright line” drawn for “acceptable” books published after 1985:

Dear Mr. Orwell,

Children’s books were invented after 1984.

Before 1985, there was no Dick. There was no Jane. There was no McGuffy. No boy named Tom painted a fence, ‘Anne’ didn’t end with an ‘e’, and no one had yet thought of putting ”pictures or conversation” on paper for children.

In fact, children didn’t learn to read in the old, old days before our Leaders saved us from our long, dark night. Back in 1984, there was only a dry wasteland of technical books, encyclopedias, service manuals, and other books for adults.

How thankful we are that times have changed so that children can learn to read and have their own books! We owe a great debt to the Great Change–and to Henry Waxman and Bobby Rush who accomplished it!

And we remember the Honorable Thomas Hill Moore, who worked for them….

Sincerely,

Valerie Jacobsen
Bookseller

She also notes that Commissioner Moore, whose verbal reassurances were passed on by HSLDA, stated that children’s books published before 1985 should be “sequestered” and kept from children. I’m sure we are all glad we live in a place where there is such concern for the health and safety of our little ones. I may have to put some yellow crime scene tape over the children’s section of my own home library in order to protect my at-risk children. Big Brother knows what they need.

Note: Valerie has helpfully given information about who to contact in Washington, D.C. to protest this craziness, and to exercise belligerently our right to say what we think about it. Let’s make some calls.

A Fence or An Ambulance
by Joseph Malins (1895)

Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,
Though to walk near its edge was so pleasant;
But over its terrible edge there had slipped
A duke and full many a peasant.
So the people said something would have to be done,
But their projects did not at all tally;
Some said, “Put a fence around the edge of the cliff,”
Some, “An ambulance down in the valley.”

But the cry for the ambulance carried the day,
For it spread through the neighboring city;
A fence may be useful or not, it is true,
But each heart became brimful of pity
For those who slipped over the dangerous cliff;
And the dwellers in highway and alley
Gave pounds or gave pence, not to put up a fence,
But an ambulance down in the valley.

“For the cliff is all right, if you’re careful,” they said,
“And if folks even slip and are dropping,
It isn’t the slipping that hurts them so much,
As the shock down below when they’re stopping.”
So day after day, as these mishaps occurred,
Quick forth would these rescuers sally
To pick up the victims who fell off of the cliff,
With the ambulance down in the valley.

Then an old sage remarked: “It’s a marvel to me
That people give far more attention
To repairing results than to stopping the cause,
When they’d much better aim at prevention.
Let us stop at its source all this mischief,” cried he,
“Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally;
If the cliff we will fence we might almost dispense
With the ambulance down in the valley.”

Oh, he’s a fanatic,” the others rejoined,
“Dispense with the ambulance? Never!
He’d dispense with all charities, too, if he could;
No! No! We’ll support them forever.
Aren’t we picking up folks just as fast as they fall?
And shall this man dictate to us? Shall he?
Why should people of sense stop to put up a fence,
While the ambulance works in the valley?”

But a sensible few, who are practical too,
Will not bear with such nonsense much longer;
They believe that prevention is better than cure,
And their party will soon be the stronger.
Encourage them then, with your purse, voice, and pen,
And while other philanthropists dally,
They will scorn all pretense and put up a stout fence
On the cliff that hangs over the valley.

Better guide well the young than reclaim them when old,
For the voice of true wisdom is calling,
“To rescue the fallen is good, but ‘tis best
To prevent other people from falling.”
Better close up the source of temptation and crime
Than deliver from dungeon or galley;
Better put a strong fence round the top of the cliff
Than an ambulance down in the valley.