4 Save us from weak resignation
to the evils we deplore;
let the gift of your salvation
be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
serving you whom we adore,
serving you whom we adore.
to the evils we deplore;
let the gift of your salvation
be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
serving you whom we adore,
serving you whom we adore.
A word came to mind, one that I had heard, and even used, many times in the past,
WHATEVER..
WHATEVER..
The first line from the fourth stanza of that hymn talks about weak resignation. That seems to me like a shrug of the shoulders with an admission that either I don't know, or I don't care, or I can't do anything about it, so why worry?
I remembered, and then reread, a line from a book we are reading , The Right Attitude to Rain, by Alexander McCall Smith, where this conversation takes place:
Mimi says to Isabel, "There's an expression that people use these days--have you noticed it?--which is actually quite useful. They just say 'whatever'. It sounds very insouciant (I looked it up and it means nonchalant)--and it is--but there are occasions…"
"And you feel you want to say it now?"
"Yes", said Mimi. "Whatever. There you are. Whatever. It more or less sums things up. Things will sort themselves out. That is what it means. Things will sort themselves out and we don't really need to do anything."
"Whatever", said Isabel. (all from p. 262)
But that is not the attitude that I want to take when it is a matter of morality or faith.
As an example, taken from the world of current events:
When I state that I deplore the practice of abortion, and have lived with the fact of it for all these years, it is easy to bemoan it's use, especially for convenience sake, but leave it there. Living in a culture that says 'this is right' serves to inoculate one's self from the evil that we claim it to be.
It is easy to just shrug and say, 'Whatever'.
As the hymn's verse continues:
"Grant us wisdom, grant us courage"..
I need both in huge quantities.
Without those 2, I may just be temped to mouth the word..
"WHATEVER"
I remembered, and then reread, a line from a book we are reading , The Right Attitude to Rain, by Alexander McCall Smith, where this conversation takes place:
Mimi says to Isabel, "There's an expression that people use these days--have you noticed it?--which is actually quite useful. They just say 'whatever'. It sounds very insouciant (I looked it up and it means nonchalant)--and it is--but there are occasions…"
"And you feel you want to say it now?"
"Yes", said Mimi. "Whatever. There you are. Whatever. It more or less sums things up. Things will sort themselves out. That is what it means. Things will sort themselves out and we don't really need to do anything."
"Whatever", said Isabel. (all from p. 262)
But that is not the attitude that I want to take when it is a matter of morality or faith.
As an example, taken from the world of current events:
When I state that I deplore the practice of abortion, and have lived with the fact of it for all these years, it is easy to bemoan it's use, especially for convenience sake, but leave it there. Living in a culture that says 'this is right' serves to inoculate one's self from the evil that we claim it to be.
It is easy to just shrug and say, 'Whatever'.
As the hymn's verse continues:
"Grant us wisdom, grant us courage"..
I need both in huge quantities.
Without those 2, I may just be temped to mouth the word..
"WHATEVER"
And Shrug..
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