The Legacy of George MacDonald

 

Our Lead Pastor Steve McMillan quoted George MacDonald this past Sunday. This reminded me of a few other MacDonald quotes. If we look past the male oriented language of the day, there are some good insights here.

"To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved."
— George MacDonald, Author of The Princess and the Goblin.

“Ere long, I learned that it was not myself, but only my shadow, that I had lost. I learned that it is better, a thousand-fold, for a proud man to fall and be humbled, than to hold up his head in his pride and fancied innocence. I learned that he that will be a hero, will barely be a man; that he that will be nothing but a doer of his work, is sure of his manhood.”
― George MacDonald in Phantastes.

“Foolish is the man, and there are many such men, who would rid himself or his fellows of discomfort by setting the world right, by waging war on the evils around him, while he neglects that integral part of the world where lies his business, his first business, namely, his own character and conduct.”

- George MacDonald in The Hope of the Gospel.

Love and Selfishness

For so the goblin Selfishness would reward the angel Love.
George MacDonald, Phantastes, p. 124, 1981 edition, 1851 original.

George MacDonald, a contemporary of Lewis Carroll, was a masterful writer who poetically described human nature. His books have not been widely read in the last few years but are certainly worthy of consideration. In Phantastes, he wrestles with the concepts of love, lust, pride, and disobedience in ways which challenge every reader to consider their own motives. In this quote, he is asking us to consider what it is that constitutes love and what constitutes self-interest.

George MacDonald on Reflections

Why are all reflections lovelier than what we call the reality? — not so grand or so strong, it may be, but always lovelier?...There is no cheating in nature and the simple unsought feelings of the soul. There must be a truth involved in it, though we may but in part lay hold of the meaning.

George MacDonald, Phantastes, 1858, 1981 printing, p. 66, 67.

God at the Door

Lately, I have had the same conversation with two different groups of friends. The conversation revolves around whether or not, and how, God might discipline people. If we remain resistant to the love of God, will he ever try to get our attention with difficulty? Will he ever "correct" our ignorance and entice us to be receptive to his love. I do not yet know the complete answer to this question but it seems that George MacDonald must have also wrestled with such questions. Perhaps the answer is even in these words of his.

Nor will God force any door to enter in. He may send a tempest about the house; the wind of His admonishment may burst doors and open windows, yea, shake the house to its foundations; but not then, not so, will He enter. The door must be opened by the willing hand, ere the foot of Love will cross the threshold. He watches to see the door move from within. Every tempest is but an assault in the siege of Love. The tenor of God is but the other side of His love; it is love outside, that would be inside - love that knows the house is no house, only a place until it enter.*

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

*Unspoken Sermons, Second Series, The Cause of Spiritual Stupidity. George MacDonald.

Scotland

Tonight I am in Scotland, the land of my genetic ancestors, the land of my literary ancestors, and the land of my spiritual ancestors. My grandfather’s grandparents farmed in the Aberdeenshire region of Scotland. Driving through that area yesterday I was impressed with how similar it is to portions of Central Alberta where I grew up. If you substitute sheep for cattle, stone fences for barbed wire, and big hills for slightly smaller hills, Great Bend could be a New Aberdeenshire. I guess others thought so too because Alberta is filled with Scottish place names like Nevis, Erskine, Craigellachie, and Banff. We drove through “Keith,” the place, and the clan, from which I received my name.

We drove through Huntly where George MacDonald lived and wrote such literary classics as Phantastes, Lilith, and The Princess and the Goblin. I could see how his great imagination was stirred by the wonder of these hills, valleys, deer, and springs. It was MacDonald’s writing that would inspire writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. This is the land of Robert Burns, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

It is also the land of Eric Henry Liddell, the Flying Scotsman, upon whom I meditated as I went for a run in the hills near Dufftown. Liddell was the winner of the men's 400 metre race at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris but it was his faith in God and convictions about right and wrong that are most strongly depicted in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.

And it is the land of Columba and the Celtic Monks. They brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to the fierce Pict people and the murdering clans that lived in this area. They spoke much about the Trinity of God and used simple descriptions of how God was at once both Three and One. Columba came in the sixth century AD and he and his followers had great influence over the land for more than two centuries. Evidence of this influence can be seen in the architecture and art that survives to this day in Scotland.

Today we made it to the windswept North Sea and the Firth of Moray where Bottle-nose Dolphins swim and play. Tomorrow we head on to Inverness. What wonders lie in the highlands beyond?