Sunday, October 25, 2009

Those who taste honey...

But amongst us you might find simple folk, artisans and old women, who, if they are unable to furnish in words the assistance they derive from our doctrine, yet show in their deeds the advantage to others that accrues from their resolution. They do not rehearse words but show forth good deeds; struck, they do not strike back, plundered, they do not prosecute; to them that ask they give, and they love their neighbors as themselves. Surely then, if we did not think that God was in charge of human affairs, we would not thus cleanse ourselves.
...
These thoughts are but few out of many and trivial rather than lofty, but we do not wish to trouble you with more. Those who taste honey and whey can tell if the whole be good by tasting even a small portion.

Athenagorus, Embassy for the Christians. Ancient Christian Writers. Joseph Hugh Crehan, trans. New York: Newman Press, 1955.

1 comment:

Amy Hatfield said...

Yeah, this is where it comes together for me. The woman at the sewing machine in the Brett D. video could be smiling if she were trusting God to take care of her. As a believer, she could be joyfully sharing Christ with the ladies next to her in the factory. Why does she need to be portrayed as sad? Because she doesn't have a washing machine like the American woman? Does she care? The American woman, without God, could be suicidal right now, while the foreign woman, with God, could be tasting and seeing that "the Lord is good."