we're stuck on eric metaxas, now reading his bio on william wilberforce, after finishing bonhoeffer.
these biographies are perfectly timed with writing our book, because they inspire and spur on a fight through laziness or fear or doubt.
"wilberforce alone knew how constitutionally weak he was with regard to self-discipline. and he knew that his years at pocklington and cambridge had powerfully reinforced his worst tendencies, feeding them when they should have been starved. while his friend Pitt had been at the very elbow of his brilliant and accomplished father, who had taken it upon himself to train his son rigorously from earliest youth to be a great orator and politician, wilberforce had been fatherless and had been encouraged by his friends and his mother, and even by his tutors, to do exactly as he pleased. so where pitt was now reaping ample rewards of all those years of paternal sternness, wilberforce was an undisciplined mess who had gotten where he was precisely and only because of the raw talent that he possessed but had never cultivated one whit. for the rest of his life, he would pay a price for those idle years...all of this was shown to him now in these months; he saw, so to speak, the full horror of himself. God, in his mercy, had allowed wilberforce to see himself as he truly was, and it was crushing. but wilberforce knew God didn't mean to end there. on the other side of the worst of who he was, if he dared face that worst, was a God who would help him overcome his faults and do great things, the very things for which he had created him. It was not too late."
6 comments:
We read a William Wilberforce biography in our homeschool. He truly is an amazing example of a heart transformed by God's grace.
Love and prayers as you record a God-written grace story of your own!
Wow, what a powerful snippet! Makes me want to read this book asap (it's been on my wishlist for ages!)
I've been following your story silently for a while. Can't wait to see the outcome!
Loved Bonahffer- read it in three days. I'll have to check this one out. A surprisingly well made movie about Wilberforece is Amazing Grace, and it contains my favorite quote ever by him!
"We are too young to know certain things are impossible, so we do them anyway."
Love your blog!
:)
R
Powerful! thanks for sharing!
It's an everyday small miracle I saw this post! I first heard of you about a year ago. Then I started reading your blog from the beginning but eventually got tired of it. I did get through enough that I became aware of all your family's films and watched the one about you.
My reason for attempting to read your blog from the beginning was because I wanted to hear your whole story. So it's so cool to hear that you are in fact writing a book. I'm in a bioethics course during this month of January and in my head I kept getting reminded of you.
So today I looked you up after more than a year and what did I find? (1) That you're writing a book and (2) A POST ABOUT WILLIAM WILBERFORCE! <3 With a quote that captures the way his story most closely informs my life and encourages me personally right now. I am a senior at a liberal arts college and am writing resumes and thinking about careers. I have a general knowledge of the desires that God has put on my heart and that He will fulfill them if I abide with Him and stay connected for the long term. But it's always been a challenge for me to put my nose to the grindstone and get things done.
Love you both and your family, keep it up, I will be checking back and looking for when I can get a copy of your book.
Just catching up on your blog here and recognized the author of the book. I'm reading the Bonhoeffer right now, love it! Thanks for the recommendation.
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