Thursday, May 27, 2010

Shakespeare II

Hey friends. Sorry it's been so long. Life has been hectic, and it's not slowing down for at least two weeks. I'm leaving for Texas, and then for Washington D.C. So you will probably have to be brave and live without my blog for a few days (if you can).

So I'll leave you with a parting thought. When I went to go see that play I was struck by a powerful line. King "Whats-his-face" feels guilty for the death of his wife. Some-one tells him to forgive himself and move on. He says this.

Whilst I remember
Her and her virtues, I cannot forget
My blemishes in them, and so still think of
The wrong I did myself


He finds the remembering his wife and her virtues is intertwined with him remembering his own transgressions.

So what if he forgets his sin? Will he forget his wife? Maybe this is why after 16 years he hasn't let go. I don't think that this means we should live in constant guilt, but I think that we SHOULD link our sins to God's forgiveness.

David says in Psalm 51:3
"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me"

The difference between us and king "what's his face" is that even though both of us always have our sins before us, our sins are forgiven by the one we would remember. The haunting memory of his wife condemns him, but the memory of our god liberates us.

So keep your sins before you. Forget ye not the virtues of your Lord and remember your blemishes in them.

Oh by the way, in the end of the play the guys wife comes back, and he is totally redeemed, but the experiences he has had teach him a lesson and he lives the rest of his life as a changed man. Maybe there is a point in that too.

Have fun pondering Shakespeare and the Bible for a few days. And congratulations to Ben Blake, owner of Nevin Street Coffee. He got married last weekend!

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