Bunyan, John, 1628-1688 -- Criticism and interpretation
Now, this Think-well old Mr. Meditation had by Mrs. Piety, and she was
the daughter of the old Recorder. 'I am Thy servant,' said Mrs. Piety's
son on occasion all his days--'I am Thy servant and the son of Thine
handmaid.' And at that so dutiful acknowledgment of his a long
procession of the servants of God pass up before our eyes with their
sainted mothers leaning on the arms of their great sons. The Psalmist
and his mother, the Baptist and his mother, our Lord and His mother, the
author of the Fourth Gospel and his mother, Paul's son and successor in
the gospel and his mother and grandmother, the author of _The
Confessions_ and his mother; and, in this noble connection, I always
think of Halyburton and his good mother. And in this ennobling
connection you will all think of your own mother also, and before we go
any further you will all say, I also, O Lord, am Thy servant and the son
of Thine handmaid. 'Fathers and mothers handle children differently,'
says Jeremy Taylor. And then that princely teacher of the Church of
Christ Catholic goes on to tell us how Mrs. Piety handled her little
Think-well which she had borne to Mr. Meditation. After other things,
she said this every night before she took sleep to her tired eyelids,
this: 'Oh give me grace to bring him up. Oh may I always instruct him
with diligence and meekness; govern him with prudence and holiness; lead
him in the paths of religion and justice; never provoking him to wrath,
never indulging him in folly, and never conniving at an unworthy action.
Oh sanctify him in his body, soul, and spirit. Let all his thoughts be
pure and holy to the Searcher of hearts; let his words be true and
prudent before men; and may he have the portion of the meek and the
humble in the world to come, and all through Jesus Christ our Lord!' How
could a son get past a father and a mother like that? Even if, for a
season, he had got past them, he would be sure to come back. Only, their
young Think-well never did get past his father and his mother.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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