Our Torment

@Barb: Excerpt from a poem by George MacDonald, reprinted in 'Wingfold' Spring 2006, not used in his 'Poetical Works': "Lord 'tis a mystery known unto TheeHow pride so oft can our torment be;Oh! it is strange to think of these,Pride in our hearts and Thou on Thy knees." ~George MacDonald

Being Good

Even the best Christian that ever lived is not acting on his own steam—he is only nourishing or protecting a life he could never have acquired by his own efforts. And that has practical consequences. As long as the natural life is in your body, it will do a lot towards repairing that body. Cut …

Not Forsaken

As cold as everything looks in winter, the sun has not forsaken us. He has only drawn away for a little for good reasons, one of which is that we may learn that we cannot do without him. ~George MacDonald, Ranald Bannerman

Religion & its Shadow

@Barb; from a report of George MacDonald's lecture on Burns in Cullen, reprinted in "Wingfold" Fall 2012, speaking about the poem "Holy Willie's Prayer": "One cannot but quarrel with phrases here and there as being irreverent, but it is against hypocrisy that the whole scope of his writing is directed. It is a poor sign …

The Real Meeting

“A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered. You are speaking as if the pleasure were one thing and the memory another. It is all one thing…When you and I met, the meeting was over very shortly, it was nothing. Now it is growing something as we remember it. But still we know …

The Hollow Crown

No matter where – of comfort no man speak.Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs,Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyesWrite sorrow on the bosom of the earth.Let’s choose executors and talk of wills.And yet not so – for what can we bequeathSave our deposed bodies to the ground?Our lands, our lives, and …

The Instrument

When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others—not because He has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to …

On the True Way

"There is but one true way, however, of getting out of any position we may be in; and that is, to do the work of it so well that we grow fit for a better." – George MacDonald, The Wise Woman.

Father of Lights

“It's a richt bonny nicht, laird," said Malcolm. The poor fellow looked hurriedly behind him, then stared again, then made gestures backward, and next pointed at Malcolm with rapid pokes of his forefinger. Bewilderment had brought on the impediment in his speech, and all Malcolm could distinguish in the babbling efforts at utterance which followed, …

Every Faintest Glimmer

“Below Lady Florimel's oriel window, under the tall bridge, the burn lay dark in a deep pool, with a slow revolving eddy, in which one leaf, attended by a streak of white froth, was performing solemn gyrations; away to the north the great sea was merry with waves and spotted with their broken crests; heaped …