‘How does she do it?’
Have you ever thought that about someone?
Perhaps they are running a marathon while accepting a promotion and organising
a charity event all at the same time. Perhaps you’re convinced they have one of
those devices which
Hermione had in Harry Potter. It seems they simply have more hours in the day,
or just more energy in their tank.
This is the overall impression I was left
with after reading Pilgrim & Poet chapters 5-8. Anne Bradstreet – How does
she do it?
Imagine yourself - a pilgrim in the New
World. No electricity. No running water. Imagine moving house with a toddler,
whilst heavily pregnant – when moving house means a two day journey to a
‘house’ which then has to be built by hand, log by log. Imagine then raising 8
children often on your own – your husband is frequently away for weeks on end
on colony business. You’re partially lame because of an earlier illness. You’re
scared a tree is going to fall on your house. You’re scared (rightly or
wrongly) that you’ll get killed by Amerindians. You have to farm your own food,
make your own bread, repair your own house, keep yourself sane. Meanwhile you
decide to write thousands and thousands of lines of rhyming couplets describing
the current political situation, and dabbling in classical philosophy and
ancient history…. How does she do it?!
Thankfully our author doesn’t fall into complete
hagiography here. Anne does have weaknesses. The solitude eats away at her. At
times she’s swamped by anxious thoughts, self-pity and resentment. She doubts
God, pleads with her husband to come home and runs her tear ducts dry. And the
beautiful thing is we know this because she wrote about it. Cook includes
numerous excerpts of Anne’s poetry and prose. I’m frequently struck by how
often her personal poems feel like psalms. Not because they mention Zion or lyres
or anything like that. But because they have that thematic rhythm, the rhythm
that echoes the plod of the Christian life – that rhythm that starts with the
hardships, but ends with turning to God in trust and praise.
You can picture Anne lying alone in bed at
night, hearing the creaks of her log-house, eyes wide with fears and doubts and
slowly letting the Lordship of Christ umpire her heart and calm her anxieties:
By
night when others soundly slept
And
had at once both ease and rest,
My
waking eyes were open kept,
And
so to lie I found it best.
I
sought him whom my soul did love,
With
tears I sought him earnestly;
He
bowed his ear down from above;
In
vain I did not seek or cry.
My
hungry soul he filled with good,
He in
his bottle put my tears,
My
smarting wounds washed in his blood
And
banished thence my doubt and fears.
What
to my Saviour shall I give,
Who
freely hath done this for me?
I’ll
serve him here whilst I shall live
And
love him to eternity.
So whether you’re someone who ‘does it all’
or doesn’t, who ‘has it all’ or hasn’t, may we do or not do, have or not have,
all to the glory of God. I’m so thankful that whether I’m a
somewhat-super-woman on the frontier or a run-of-the-mill suburbanite, God in
his grace gives us the same fuel to keep running– the never-let-go love and
never-fail forgiveness of Christ.
P.S. On a totally different note - if
you’re interested in hearing a bit more about Anne Hutchison (who we mentioned
in the first post), Kevin Vanhoozer mentioned her in his opening Moore
College Lecture, given just last week. Gives another reason to listen if
you’re keen. Vanhoozer has some great reflections on how the whole controversy
exemplifies the tension the Massachusetts puritans felt between the authority
of scripture and the priesthood of all believers.
About this month's contributor, Annabel Nixey
I'm a Sydney-bred, Canberra-newbie who's still getting used to the idea of four distinct seasons (yes, in winter it is chilly!). My favourite genres are… for movies - period dramas, for books - biographies and for coffee - tea. American history was my least favourite subject at uni but this month's book (set amongst the puritan pilgrims to the new world) has helped flip that impression.