30-Day Challenge, Day 3

A Favorite Book

The Wingfold Trilogy/The Curate of Glaston

There are times when read a book, set it down when you're done, and forget after a while what the story was even about, but the underlying message of the book remains with you forever.

This was the case with The Curate's Awakening; indeed, with the whole Thomas Wingfold trilogy.  After I read it, I remembered the basics of the story, but what remained foremost in my mind was the spiritual theme.  It is the story of a curate whose world is shaken by an atheist's question, regarding his preaching: "Tell me, do you really believe one word of all that?"  The curate, Thomas Wingfold, comes to realize that he doesn't even know what he believes; he only claims to believe what has always been taught him.  This question plunges him into the study to know, "Is Christianity true?  Was there really such a man as Jesus Christ?  What does he require of his followers?"  Through the help of a wise little dwarf named Polwarth, Wingfold digs into the Word of God to find the answers and finds what is it to know God-- to believe Him and obey.  He challenges his congregation to do the same, to ask themselves: "Do I obey His word?  Have I ever, have I once, sought to obey it?  Am I a pupil of Jesus?  Am I a Christian?"

The following two books in the series develop this topic through a wide variety of lives such as Thomas Wingfold the curate, Polwarth the dwarf, Leopold Lingard the murderer, Paul Faber the surgeon, Richard Tuke the bookbinder, and others.  In the events of their lives, they find themselves asking some of the most crucial questions in life:  Is there a God?  If there is, how are we to find Him?  How can we share with those who doubt it?  If we say we know God, does our life show it?  Is our Christianity real?   How does God relate to us?  Does He care when our hearts ache?  Can He forgive even the most heinous sins?  Can any person, however benelovent and good, earn God's favor by his own works?  Is God still good even when innocent people suffer?  This trilogy looks seriously at these questions and answers them with the Bible as its guide.  It has challenged me to think about these things and to look into God's Word to see what our Source and Creator has to say about them.  It has encouraged me to look at my own life and evaluate whether I am living out my Christianity and obeying what God has commanded me in His Word.

These books contain more plot than what I have just related, but this is the thread throughout which has stayed with me, making it one of my favorite series of books.

"My dear sir, no conviction can be got-- or if it could be got, would be of any lasting value-- through that dealer in secondhand goods, the intellect.  If by it we could prove there is a God, it would be of small avail indeed.  We must see Him and know Him.  And I know of no other way of knowing that there is a God but that which reveals what He is-- and that way is Jesus Christ as He revealed Himself on earth, and as He is revealed afresh to every heart that seeks to know the truth about Him. . . . Your business is to acquaint yourself with the man Jesus; He will be the one to reveal the Father.  Take your New Testament as if you had never seen it before, and read to find out.  The point is, there was a man who said He knew God and that if you would give heed to Him, you should know Him too."

~Joseph Polwarth in The Curate's Awakening, page 60

Living Christianity

"This church stands here in the name of Christianity.  But what is Christianity?  I know but one definition.  Christianity does not mean what you think or what I think concerning Christ, but who Christ is. . . . I tell you what I have learned only that I may stir you up to ask yourselves, as I ask myself, 'Do I then obey this word?  Have I ever, have I once, sought to obey it?  Am I a pupil of Jesus?  Am I a Christian?'  Hear then His words.  For me, they fill my heart with doubt and dismay.

"The Lord says, 'Love your enemies.'  Do you say, 'It is impossible'?  Do you say, 'Alas, I cannot'?  But have you tried to see whether He who made you will not increase your strength when you step out to obey Him?

"The Lord says, 'Be perfect.' Do you then aim for perfection, or do you excuse your shortcomings and say, 'To err is human'?  If so, then you must ask yourself what part you have in Him.

"The Lord says, 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth.' My part is not now to preach against the love of money, but to ask you, 'Are you laying up for yourselves treasures on earth?'  As to what the command means, the honest heart and the dishonest must each settle in his own way.  No doubt you can point to other men who are no better than you, and of whom yet no one would dare question the validity of their Christianity.  But all that matters not a hair.  All that does is confirm that you may all be pagans together.  Do not mistake me.  I am not judging you.  For my finger points at myself along with you.  But I ask you simply to judge yourselves by the words of Jesus.

"The Lord says, 'Take no thought for your life.  Take no thought for tomorrow.' Explain it as you may, but ask yourselves, 'Do I take no thought for my life?  Do I take no thought for tomorrow?'

"The Lord says, 'Judge not.'  Did you judge your neighbor yesterday?  Will you judge him again tomorrow?  Are you judging him now in the very heart that sits hearing the words, 'Judge not'?  Or do you side-step the command by asking, 'Who is my neighbor?'  Does not your own profession of Christianity counsel you to fall upon your face, and cry to him, 'I am a sinful man, O Lord'?

"The Lord said, 'All things you would that men should do to you, do also to them.' You that buy and sell, do you obey this law?  Examine yourselves and see.  You would want men to deal fairly to you: do you deal just as fairly to them as you would count fairness in them toward you?  If conscience makes you hang your head inwardly, however you sit with it erect in the pew, can you dare to add to your crime against the law and the prophets the insult to Christ of calling yourselves His disciples?

" 'Not everyone that says unto me, "Lord, Lord", shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven.' "

-from a sermon by fictional character Thomas Wingfold in The Curate's Awakening by George MacDonald pages 104-106

( My apologies for any typos :-)  )

I am re-reading one of my favorite fictional books and my favorite book by my favorite author George MacDonald. ;-)  And once again I am being challenged and convicted.  Is my Christianity real?  Am  I really living, thinking, breathing, in a way that glorifies my Lord?  Do my life patterns reflect Christ in me, or do I act as anyone else in the world would act? 


To read my review on the book I quoted from, The Curate's Awakening, click here.  And if you can, get a copy.  It's one of the best books I've read!! (I'm sure all the self-sufficient, got-it-all-together editors of today would have a hard attack how MacDonald "tells" rather than "shows" and breaks off into what they'd call "lectures" (rather musings on Biblical truth and encouragements to the reader), but if you are interested in growing in your life in Christ and knowing Jesus better, you'll love this book!)

The Highlander's Last Song / What's Mine's Mine

What's Mine's Mine. The original title of George MacDonald's unique and compelling novel paints, in those three word, an accurate picture of both the spiritual and historical context of its story. Originally published in 1886, it was then edited by Michael Phillips and reprinted in 1986 by Bethany House Publishers under the title of The Highlander's Last Song.

Set in the rugged Scottish highlands in the mid-19th century, The Highlander's Last Song captures in print a crucial and life-changing era in the history of Scotland. For centuries, the hardy Scotsmen had clung to their land, working at the stubborn soil and keeping in close-knit clans. Then rich landowners from the south took notice of the region and of the wealth it could bring them. Impoverished clansmen and farmers were often expelled from their homes as the rich Southerners sought to use the land for their own gain, thus scattering the clans and changing the course of the highlanders' history.

Among those men seeking gain from the land in George MacDonald's novel is Peregrine Palmer, a selfish and mercenary man with two grown sons and four daughters. They have just moved to the region of Strathruadh and they find a culture and a people very unlike that which they are used to. Perhaps the most unusual people in their new acquaintance are the brothers Alistair and Ian-- Alistair in particular, because he is not only a Highlander, but he is also the chief of his clan. Alistair's great love for his land, his people, and his God manifests itself in his dealings with his clan as well as with the money-loving Palmer.

The two oldest Palmer girls, Christina and Mercy, take an interest in the brothers at first because they find them handsome and interesting to be around, and the girls are used to flirting. However, they soon find that the young men are not to be swayed by good looks or playful flirtation; they have something the girls do not have and can hardly even imagine-- a living relationship with God. Together, the brothers share their heart for God, and slowly, the girls' eyes begin to open to the spiritual realities around them. At the same time, their hearts also begin to open to the stirrings of true love.

Mr. Palmer, however, is not interested in spiritual realities or love-- only in the land that can bring him wealth and prosperity. This selfish desire and inner pride kindles within him until an unexpected and pure-hearted move of Alistair's, coupled with conscience, cause it to burst into full flame. Palmer will stop at no ends to get what he wants, even if it means casting people out of their own homes and disrupting the clan life; he is fueled by the thought,"What's mine's mine!". As financial and personal troubles close in around Alistair, he comes to learn to depend not on earthly things but on God alone, who provides all good things and never loses sight of his children, and he must learn to say submissively to God, "What's mine is Yours."


Knowing little of the story, I let this book sit on our shelf for a couple years without picking it up, sitting down, and reading it. Once I did, however, I quickly found it not only to be a fantastic read, but also to rise among The Fisherman's Lady and The Curate's Awakening in the ranks of my absolute favorite MacDonald novels.

I found it one of the best-crafted plots I have read of George MacDonald's. While the spiritual message is very similar to The Laird's Inheritance, the whole storyline, as well as the characters' journeys, was much stronger and much more endearing to me. Unlike some of his books that peter out towards the end with no climax and leave the reader feeling somewhat depressed, this book built throughout to a sensational climax in both the outward circumstances and inner lives of the characters. Also, the spiritual journey and the actual plot ran alongside each other beautifully, rather than running like two separate streams which cross paths every so often (which I felt was the case in The Laird's Inheritance.) That made it seem much more real to me.


Another superior quality I found in this book was the character development. Sometimes MacDonald's protagonists end up being too much like each other, and sometimes the characters are either too good or too simple to seem real. In The Highlander's Last Song, the characters live. Alistair has a sincere and inspiring passion for God, but at the same time he is very human, and struggles with pride, anger, and dependence on material things. Through seeking God and through trials, he learns to turn things over to God, and his spiritual growth is evident throughout. Likewise, Christina and Mercy are very real, and their growth from spiritual "deadness" to a consciousness of and desire for God could be true for any person. Mr. Palmer is perhaps one of the most alarmingly realistic of all the characters: his apathy towards God, his resentment towards God-fearers, and the gangrene-like effect of selfishness in his life are a very true, but sad, reality in so many people today. All of these characters I grew to know and feel for; the good characters I came to love and cheer for, and the bad characters I felt, with the Highlanders, like charging and pummeling down and at least attempting to knock some sense into their heads.

Of course, rising above all these things, is the excellence of MacDonald's use of the pen to bring the message of true Christianity to the hearts of his readers. Throughout his writing, he frequently takes a pause to speak directly to the reader about their own spiritual need, or about some Biblical truth-- a practice which would cause many editors today to shake their head, the spiritually dead to sneer in disgust, and the seekers of God to bow their hearts and say "Amen". Treasure chests of spiritual wealth lie within the pages of this book, ready to be discovered, ready to change lives. MacDonald had not that painted-glass-window view of religion. His Christianity was real, and his protagonist's Christianity is real; he came as close as humans on earth can get to grasping the truth of knowing Christ-- as Alistair says to Mercy, "What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."


MacDonald does not use theological arguments to try to convince his readers or his characters of things. He realized that no end of talk cannot change the life of a person not willing to be changed. One character speaking to another, says, "I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him." The same can be true for you.

I definitely encourage you to take the time to read this book. It is no longer in print, but it can be found on Amazon.com and at used bookstores and thrift stores. You will find not only a gripping story and sweet, clean romance, but also a message that could change your life-- a soul-searching question: "Is my heart fully surrendered to whatever God has for me? Am I willing to let what is mine be His?"

Um... Okay... You Tell Me! :-)

An excerpt from Warlock o' Glenwarlock, the original version of The Laird's Inheritance:


"Cosmo, as sune's ye're hame, ye'll sen' yer manstrauchtawa'upo'the horse to lat my lady's fowk ken. She better write them a bit letter, an' tell them she's fa'en in wi' an auld acquaintance, a lass ca'd Agnes Gracie, a dacent yoong wuman, an' haein' lost her ro'd an' bein' unco tired, she's gaein' hame wi' her to sleep; an' the laird o' Glenwarlock was sae kin' 's to sen' his man upo' his horse to cairry the letter. That w'y there'll be nae lees tellt, an' no ower muckle o' the trowth."


That's why I read the edited versions! ;-) (Thanks, Michael Phillips!!)

Desired Europe Trip--First Stop: Scottish Highlands! :-D

The Laird's Inheritance

Everyone who knows me well knows that I love George MacDonald. MacDonald, the Beloved Storyteller of Scotland, has been, for many years, a model for me in my writing and an encouragement and challenge in my walk with God. However, it had been some time since I had read one of his novels, and when I picked one up again last summer, I made little headway and put it down for over half a year! Last week, however, I picked it up again and found, as usual, a gem.

The Laird's Inheritance, written by George MacDonald, was originally entitled Warlock o' Glenwarlock, and soon after changed to Castle Warlock. It was first published in 1881, and was one of MacDonald's longest novels, at 714 pages! In the 1987, it was edited by Michael Phillips and reprinted by Bethany House Publishers.

The description on the back of the book reads:

-------------------------------

A MYSTERIOUS DEATH IN THE FAMILY,

LEGENDS SURROUND THE CASTLE, A

MYSTERIOUS OLD POEM, AND UNEXPECTED

ROMANCE--WELL-CRAFTED FICTION

COMBINED WITH SPIRITUAL TRUTH TO

MAKE AN UNFORGETTABLE STORY!

Beautifully set in the proud culture of the Scottish Highlands, The Laird's Inheritance introduced the readers to a young boy, Cosmo Warlock, the last in a long line of landowning "lairds" of the Castle Warlock. His family once wealthy, Cosmo now grows up in poverty as piece after piece of the Laird's land is sold or mortgaged away to keep the creditors at bay.

This moving account of the loss of an earthly inheritance has become a vivid word portrait from the pen of Scotland's master storyteller to display the eternal inheritance of a heavenly kingdom.

-------------------------------

As is the case with all MacDonald's books, The Laird's Inheritance served as more than mere entertainment for me, though the story is indeed compelling and enjoyable. More than that, however, it etched its way deep into my heart, shining light upon the areas of my life that needed to change, and encouraging me on to a deeper walk with the Lord. It challenged me, in particular, to not allow any earthly thing to come in between me and God, but to allow Him to be the most important treasure in my life. The laird's conversations with his son were especially convicting and challenging, as he encourages Cosmo to set his heart upon God and his mind on things above, to "do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with his God."

I had a very few quibbles with the book. Cosmo's character at the beginning was, to me, a little bit annoying, as it was very much like several of George MacDonald's other heroes, and as the story went on and he grew older, his personality began to grow on me and I liked him a lot better. The storywriter in me also could see ways that the story might have come together a little better so that the storylines ran more parallel and built on each other more. This is just a petty little opinion of mine though. :-) The Scottish dialogue has been slightly "toned down" to make it easier to read, though in some places I had to slow down and glance back at the introduction a couple times to get the right sense of what was being said.

Overall, it was a wonderful book, though. The story was engaging, the spiritual message was convicting, and I was reminded of why I love George MacDonald so much! I highly encourage you to get a copy of this book from your library or from Amazon.com. You can also read the original, unabridged version at Gutenberg.org.

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."

-George MacDonald, The Curate's Awakening

Discourse in the Churchyard

The next day, after services and a lazy Sabbath afternoon, Malcolm again made his way in the evening to the Alton to visit Mr. Graham. Malcolm found his friend seated on a stone in the churchyard.

"See," said the schoolmaster, "how the shadow from one grave stretches like an arm to embrace another. In this light the churchyard seems the very birthplace of shadows." A brief silence followed. "Does the morning or the evening light suit such a place best, Malcolm?"

The pupil thought for a while.

"The evning light, sir," he answered at length, "for you see the sun's dying like, and death's like falling asleep, and the grave's the bed and the sod is the bedclothes, and there's a long night ahead."

"Are you sure of that, Malcolm?"

"That's the way most folk sees it, sir."

"Come here, Malcolm," said Mr. Graham, and took him by the arm toward the east end of the yard.

"Read that," he said, pointing to a flat gravestone covered with moss but on the inscription nevertheless stood out clearly: "He is not here: he is risen."

While Malcolm gazed, trying to think what his master would have him think, Mr. Graham resumed: "If he is risen-- if the sun is up, Malcolm-- then the morning and not the evening is the season for the place of the tombs; the morning when the shadows are shortening and separating, not the evening when they are growing all into one. I used to love the churchyard best in the evening, when the past was more to me than the future. But now I visit it almost every bright summer morning and only occasionally at night."

"But, sir, isn't death a dreadful thing?" asked Malcolm.

"That depends on whether a man regards it as his fate or as the will of a perfect God. Its obscurity is its dread. But if God be light, then death itself must be full of splendor-- a splendor probably too keen for our eyes to receive."

"But there's the dying itself; isn't that fearsome? It's that I would be afraid of."

"I don't see why it should be. It's the lack of a God that makes it dreadful, and you would be greatly to blame for that, Malcolm, if you hadn't found your God by the time you had to die."

....They walked about the churchyard until the sun went down in what Mr. Graham called the grave of his endless resurrection-- the clouds on the one side bearing all the pomp of his funeral, the clouds on the other all the glory of his uprising. After the twilight was gone they once more seated themselves and talked and dreamed together of the life to come. There were also long periods of silence. For the master believed in solitude and silence. Say rather, he believed in God and he believe that when the human is still, the Divine speaks to it, because it is its own.

-from The Fisherman's Lady, by George MacDonald, pages 55-58

Poll and Other Thoughts

First, the Poll:
The question was
"What book begins with the following line: 'There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.'"
There were five votes for Jane Eyre and two votes for Christy. The answer was Jane Eyre. Good job everyone! :-D
The next poll should be fun. The first sentence of the book is so long though, that I cannot include it all on the sidebar so I will here. Do not answer in the "Comments"; answer on the poll on the sidebar.

What book begins with the following line:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hpoe, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way-- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

Long line, eh? No wonder I'm shortening it on the side.

On another subject, we will be gone until next Thursday, in Indiana, so I do not know when I will have time to post, but I will try to.

Meanwhile, here's a quote for you to think on:

"TO FOLLOW JESUS is to be learning of him, to think his thoughts, to use his judgments, to see things as he sees them, to feel things as he feels them, to be of the same heart, soul, and mind, as he is."

-George MacDonald

Adios, Amigos! (for a week)

This next week (Saturday through next Sunday) we Anderson ladies will be out of town. Lord willing, however, I may be able to post sometime during the week, if I can get to the internet. Until then, here is something to chew on:

~*~*~*~*~

"[God's] work from the very beginning has been revelation-- a throwing aside of veil after veil, a showing to men of truth after deeper truth. On and on, from fact to fact, He advances, until at length in His Son Jesus He unveils His very face and character. When he is fully known, we shall know the Father also. The whole of creation, its growth, its history, the gathering of all human existence, is an unveiling of the Father.

He loves light and not darkness. Therefore He shines, reveals. There are infinite gulfs in Him into which our small vision cannot see. But they are gulfs of light, and the truths there are only invisible through excess o their own clarity."

-Thomas Wingfold's sermon, The Lady's Confession, George MacDonald, Chapter 24, page 141

Wingfold Trilogy ~ Three Books in One

As far as I can find, the three books The Curate's Awakening, The Lady's Confession, and The Baron's Apprenticeship are no longer in print as separate novels but can now be bought here as a three-in-one volume entitled The Curate of Glaston.

Find out more about George MacDonald and his various works at http://www.macdonaldphillips.com/!

The Baron's Apprenticeship

The Baron's Apprenticeship is the third and final book in the Thomas Wingfold trilogy. It was originally titled There and Back, published in 1891, and was edited by Michael Phillips and republished by Bethany House Publishers in 1986.

In The Baron's Apprenticeship, we again meet Thomas Wingfold, the former curate of Glaston. It is now twelve years after the end of The Lady's Confession, and Thomas, Helen, and their young child are living and serving in a parish not too far from London. While not as prominent in this book as they were in the first two, they still play a quiet yet important role as spiritual mentors to others as Polwarth was once to them.

The story centers around a young man called Richard Tuke. He has grown up near London learning bookbinding from his father. Growing up, Richard came to reject the form of God that his mother seemed to believe in-- a harsh, uncaring God whose goal must be to make men miserable. Instead, he tries to find answers in books, reason, and science. When he is around eighteen years of age, he is hired by the son of the baron of Mortgrange to repair old books in the libary, unwittingly finding himself uncovering the shrouded mysteries of his past-- which could change his life forever!

While at Mortgrange, Richard meets a sweet young lady named Barbara, called by editor Michael Phillips "one of MacDonald's strongest fictional women." Barbara grew up in a difficult family situation in the colony of New Zealand. Now back in England, she spends her days tearing across the countryside on her horse, Miss Brown, or talking with Richard as he works in the library. The death of a pigeon prompts her to search for God and for truth, as she is not able to believe Richard's statements about "no life beyond death". In her honest, open nature, she challenges Richard with the question, "Tell me honestly... are you sure there is no God? Have you gone through all the universe looking for Him and failed to find him? Is there no possible chance that there may be a God?" Her budding friendship with the Wingfolds continues to foster her growing faith and her simple love for truth and life.

Richard's incredible journey to both spiritual understanding and to a knowledge of his own history is wrapped up in a fast-paced, intriguing plot. Who is Richard's real family? Can the wrong in his past be righted? Will he bring himself to see the truth of Jesus Christ, not as a domineering, hard-hearted ruler but as a wise, loving, and caring Creator?

The Baron's Apprenticeship is an excellent sequel to the trilogy of the curate, Thomas Wingfold. Targeted to people who consider themselves to be moral and good, it reveals the truth of God's nature and our own need to respond to Him. MacDonald writes, "One of four gates stands open to us: to deny the existence of God; to acknowledge His existence but say He is not good; to say, 'I wish there was a God,' and be miserable because there is none; or to say 'There is a God, and He must be perfect in goodness or he could not be,' and thus give ourselves to Him heart and soul" (page 69). While the characters of the story must each make this choice for themselves, so are we called to do, as the readers. Adventure, romance, mystery, and deep, thought-provoking truth, come packed together in an excellent novel you won't soon forget...

The Lady's Confession

Originally titled Paul Faber, Surgeon, and published in 1879, The Lady's Confession is the second book in the heart-searching trilogy about Thomas Wingfold, the Curate of Glaston (see post for Wednesday, September 17, 2008). It was edited by Michael Phillips and republished by Bethany House Publishers in 1986.

The Lady's Confession follows The Curate's Awakening with a theme of "awakening", salvation. We again meet Thomas and Helen Wingfold and the warm-hearted midgets, Joseph and Rachel Polworth, continuing to serve God in the places He has put them and to reach out to poor and needy hearts that are searching for a God to trust in. People throughout Glaston are being touched by the honest and humble ministry of Thomas Wingfold, curate. Out of a colorful array of characters step the hero and heroine that make the story: Paul Faber and Juliet Meredith.

Paul Faber, briefly introduced in The Curate's Awakening, is the likable town doctor of Glaston. He considers himself an athiest and prides himself on his "goodness" and "honor". He scoffs at the idea of an eternal God and holds to the idea that this life is all there is, and beyond is darkness. He goes about helping people in a kind and compassionate way, and feels secure in his own professed goodness--hardly realizing that it is just a cover for the dirt and darkness deep inside.

Then he meets the Lady Juliet Meredith, recently moved to the area of Glaston. She is rapturously beautiful, and yet no one knows anything about her. She originally claims belief in a God, yet her vague ideas cannot stand before Faber's seemingly reasonable ideas, and she soon comes to the point of doubting whether there really is a God at all. After Faber saves her life in a dramatic moment, he falls deeply in love with her. For a time she shuns him, but under his drawing influence and the continual breakdown of her theology, she comes to return his love, and they look forward to a life wrapped up in each other. But hidden deep in the recesses of Juliet's past is a secret that threatens to destroy this hope of happiness and ruin their future together.

In a cleverly interwoven plot, we again see the work of the Lord upon doubting or self-sufficient lives, drawing them to Himself. There is no man who is sinless, and God often has to draw away our guise of "goodness" through events in our lives to reveal to us our dire need for Him and our destitution in ourselves. We see in Drake, Bevis, Dorothy, Faber, and Juliet, people not entirely unlike ourselves and are forced to consider with them what we really believe and where we really stand before God. We see, to use the words of the editor, Michael Phillips, that "in the end every person must make his own choice. Each man and woman stand before God in the silence and emptiness of their own heart and must choose whether they will say yes or no to Him."

I have to confess that I found this somewhat different reading than The Curate's Awakening. At first the plot seemed almost disjointed, but it comes together as it goes along. One has to take time to stop and think about what the author is saying throughout, and I suppose I will have to read it several times over again to get the full truth that is hidden in its pages. If you are desiring to grow in your walk with Christ and to learn to see Him as He really is, I would highly recommend The Lady's Confession. Curl up in a corner on a rainy day, turn on your brain, and be ready to enjoy and glean from another one of George MacDonald's masterful novels...

"A man may look another in the face for a hundred years and not know him. Men have looked Jesus Christ in the face, and not known either Him or His Father. It was necessary that He should appear, to begin the knowing of Him, but His visible presence was quickly taken away so that it would not become a veil to hide men from the Father of their spirits. Many long for some sensible sign or intellectual proof. But such would only delay and impair that better ,that best, vision-- a contact with the heart of God Himself, a perception of His being imparted by His spirit. For the sake of the vision God longs to give you, you are denied the vision you want. The Father of our spirits is not content that we should know Him as we now know each other. There is a better, closer, and nearer way than any human way of knowing, and He is guiding us to that across all the swamps of our unteachableness, the seas of our faithlessness, the deserts of our ignorance.

Is it so very hard to wait for that which we cannot yet receive? Shall we complain of the shadows cast upon the mirrors of our souls by the hand and the polishing cloth, to receive more excellent glory? Have patience, children of the Father. Pray always, and do not faint. The mists and the storms and the cold will pass; the sun and the sky are forever. The most loving of you cannot imagine how one day the love of the Father will make you love. Even your own."

-George MacDonald, The Lady's Confession, page 150

The Curate's Awakening

It was in 1876, at the height of George MacDonald's writing career, that he released the profound, incredible story of Thomas Wingfold, Curate. In 1985, Bethany House Publishers released a new edition, revised by Michael R. Phillips and renamed The Curate's Awakening. Of all of George MacDonald's books (and I've read about ten!) this is one of the most powerful, soul-searching, and eye-opening of them!

It is a story of awakening. As the title indicates, the story centers around the new curate of Glaston, a young man named Thomas Wingfold. Wingfold entered the clergy viewing it as a "profession" rather than as a heart-felt service to God. He plagiarizes other's sermons and has never preached something God had shown him personally through His Word. He never really thought about what he believed; he rather took it for granted that there was a God--until the day he was challenged with a question by a self-sufficient, scoffing athiest: "Tell me, do you really believe one word of all that?" This question sends Wingfold into a host of questions of his own: "How am I to know that there is a God?" "Was there ever such a man as Jesus Christ?" Through the help of a saintly dwarf named Polwarth, Wingfold turns to the Scriptures to see Christ as He really is.

But Wingfold is not the only soul to be awakened in this stirring novel. We are given another profound character in the young woman Helen Lingard. At the beginning of the story, we find her as asleep as a soul could be, and easily swayed by the athiest talk of her cousin Bascombe. But when circumstances in her life take a drastic turn, and her beloved younger brother turns up a murderer, she too must find answers to the piercing questions of life: "Is there a God?" and "Does He really care?" Helen's search for life and hope, spurned by trials in life and Christ's invitation to "Come", but hindered by doubts and fears and selfishness, will inspire you.

George MacDonald's writings are phenomenal-- he has such an incredible way of mixing such deep, soul-searching truths in with an riveting plot! The Curate's Awakening digs deep into the reader's soul. The reader is challenged, as Thomas Wingfold was, to examine whether they are in the faith-- Do I say I believe in God, and in His teachings, just because I have always been taught so, and because it is expected of me? Or do I really know Jesus for myself-- have I sought for Him in His Word and found Him to be true? Is my faith merely head knowledge? Or is it complete dependence, accompanied by the fruit of works? Thomas Wingfold challenges his congregation to ask themselves, as he had too asked himself, "Do I then obey His Word? Have I ever, have I once, sought to obey it? Am I a pupil of Jesus Christ? Am I a Christian?" The book also illustrates beautifully the tender love of our God and His power to wash away any sin, however black-- whether it be dishonesty in business, plagiarism in the pulpit, or even murder. A devotional with a fiction twist, The Curate's Awakening strikes deep in the reader's heart and leaves a lasting imprint there. A repentant murderer, a pondering draper, a vengeful mother, a mocking athiest, a struggling woman, and an open-hearted curate all play a part in the development of a powerful and unforgettable novel that you are sure to enjoy!