I was blessed to come out of “retirement” to speak to Central Valley Presbyterian’s Women’s Encouragement Day yesterday, and the theme for the event was “First We Have Coffee.” There were tables decorated with favorite books, and such creative ideas they used!

I spoke on the life of poet Anne Bradstreet before lunch, then I spoke about the importance of poetry after lunch. While re-reading about the life of my favorite Puritan poet, a truly godly woman, I was inspired to write a poem about her, using her common style of couplets throughout. Here is my tribute to Anne Bradstreet:

Of her time – not past – lived Anne,
Her intellect equal to any man.
She loved her books, but her family more,
And by men’s praise she set no store.
Her dear husband head, and heart’s delight;
In adversity she walked by faith, not sight.
Alone so oft, her life mundane,
Yet Anne so seldom did complain.
She poured her thoughts out late at night;
Resolved on God to wait – not fight
Against providence, His sovereign will –
Submitting to that, she was fulfilled.
Let’s emulate her sweet disposition,
Not rebel and view it an imposition
To be constrained, a woman born,
Nor rant and rail and be forlorn.
Think of Anne, make this your story –
To use your gifts for God’s own glory.

As people misguidedly worship the creation rather than the Creator on this “Earth Day,” centering their hearts on elephants (and various endangered species) rather than acknowledging the enormous elephant in the room—WHO created the mighty elephant and the miniscule ant?—it is easy to miss the mark ourselves and center our minds on mockery of such silliness. Some silliness does deserve mockery. But…let us be focused properly on the purpose of our existence, which is not to poke fun for our own amusement or self-aggrandizement, but to draw attention back to the One to whom we should all bow down and worship. We worship our Father God, Creator of Heaven and Earth; the Earth is not our mother. The Earth is the inheritance of the meek, the land promised to those who honor their father and mother in the way God has commanded (see Ephesians 6:1-3).

This sonnet is about the foolish way we look at the beauty of the Earth and neglect to see the mighty power of its Creator God. Pray for eyes to read this “fair volume” with the right perspective.

The Book of the World
by William Drummond of Hawthornden

Of this fair volume which we “world” do name,
If we the sheets and leaves could turn with care,
Of Him who it corrects, and did it frame,
We clear might read the art and wisdom rare;
Find out his power which wildest powers doth tame,
His providence extending everywhere,
His justice which proud rebels doth not spare.
In every page, no, period of the same:
But silly we (like foolish children) rest
Well pleased with colored vellum, leaves of gold,
Fair dangling ribbons, leaving what is best,
On the great Writer’s sense ne’er taking hold;
  Or if by chance our minds do muse on aught,
  It is some picture on the margin wrought.

This is a sonnet: how many lines does it contain?
What is the metaphor of this poem?
To think about: what are proper and improper uses of beauty?

This is the last of my presentation to the OPC ladies. Nancy Wilson recently wrote about the importance of serving those nearby, and Anne Steele’s life was a wonderful example of this.

In a little town called Broughton in southern England, not far from where some of Jane Austen’s novels are set, Anne Steele was born in 1717, during the reign of the first King George of England, and she died during the reign of the third King George, the one who declared war on the American colonies in 1775. Anne came from a family of Dissenters and belonged to a group called Particular Baptists.

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The next segment of my talk to the OPC ladies on October 3:

“If we had no Winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; If we did not sometimes taste the adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

Those words were written by Anne Bradstreet. We know of her today because she was the first published American poet. She was also a Puritan. The term “puritanical” is now used as nasty name hurled at anyone who dares to suggest that there is a cultural standard of righteousness that ought to observed. While the common use of this term shows a grave misunderstanding of who the Puritans were and how they lived, it is also accurate when not leveled as namecalling. The Puritans lived in a culture where everyone who bore that label agreed that there was a standard of righteousness that ought to be obeyed: God’s standard. It’s not a bad thing to be puritanical if that’s the sense in which the word is used. As Shakespeare said, “Why, the puritans hold no such points as you lay to their charge.”

One of the biggest misunderstandings about the Puritans is the view of how they viewed women. It is parroted that the poor females of the 16th and 17th century Puritan society were downtrodden doormats who existed solely for fulfilling the whims of the overbearing males who controlled every aspect of their pitiful existence. Thankfully, we have the example of Anne Bradstreet to dispel this foolish notion.

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This is part of a talk I presented to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s ladies’ retreat in Pleasanton, California on October 3, 2009:

Over the years I’ve talked to a lot of women. One of the complaints I have heard most often from younger women is that there are not any older women to encourage them or mentor them. On the other hand, the older women are frustrated that the younger women do not want their help or advice. What a conundrum!

There is a real problem with older women missing in action in the church. Life is so busy and stressful, it’s hard to make time for yet another project — counseling, discipling, and mentoring needy women! Besides, we older ladies have so far to go in our own walk with God, what do we have to offer to anybody else?

If there are older women in the church willing and able to offer help to their younger sisters in Christ, the younger women are often waiting for a spiritual heroine existing only in their own imaginations, to give them perfect solutions to their struggles. (more…)