Friday, November 23

Something to Think About

I've been reading in Ellen White's Education for one of my classes and I've enjoyed it a lot. Although, sometimes it's hard to enjoy it when I have to read so much of it in one sitting and I feel like I have to rush through it. In any case, I've read quite a bit of it while I've been home and there was one paragraph that really stood out to me that I wanted to share. Oh, and if any of you happen to have this book, or if you have some time to look it up on whiteestate.org, I would really recommend reading the chapter called "Bible Biographies; that has been one of my favorite chapters yet.

"Every nation that has come upon the stage of action has been permitted to occupy its place on the earth, that it might be seen whether it would fulfill the purpose of 'the Watcher and the Holy One.' Prophecy has traced the rise and fall of the world's great empires- Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. With each of these, as with nations of less power, history repeated itself. Each had its period of test, each failed, its glory faded, its power departed, and its place was occupied by another." ~pp. 176-177, Education

When I read this, I couldn't help but think of the powerful nation that we live in. When it was founded, it was founded by mostly God-fearing men and its foundation was built mostly upon Christian principles and belief in a loving God. In general, it would have been considered a Christian nation. As time has gone on, Americans have tried desperately to push God out of the picture. It seems like history is repeating itself yet again as this nation is going through its test and failing, and I wonder to myself how much longer it will be until its glory fades, its power departs, and its place will be occupied by a greater nation- one that will last forever, ruled by a just and loving God.

5 comments:

Anh Pham said...

THE SECOND COMING
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come at last,
Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?

Christen said...

Uh-oh. We studied that poem in British lit. It actually has a bad connotation...

Edward Georgeson said...

Hello Kristin! Thank you for the blog comments! Sorry for not replying sooner, I've been pretty busy lately. I hope Ancient Classics and Advanced Grammar turned out well for you.

Anyway, in relation to your blog and Ancient Classics, it is interesting to note that while empires rise and fall, humanity remains largely the same. Satryicon,anyone? If you thought that one was bad, check out an ancient Greek play called "The Frogs." It's written quite like a modern R rated gross out comedy.

Anyway, good luck with classes next semester! My future is still very uncertain, so I'll just be playing it all by ear. God bless!

-Edward

P.S. Since I won't have the privilege of seeing around next semester, I was wondering if you use Skype or MSN or some other variety of fun internet communicator thing.

Edward said...

Oh, uh, since I wasn't signed in when I posted the previous comment it seems to be showing up as a guest. Rest assured, I am me.

-Edward

Brian said...

Even so, Come, Lord Jesus!!