Numbering our days - revisited

Last week I had a conversation with Michael in which I was telling him about seeing one of his old school friends who has just turned 21.  She had lamented to me that she was getting old and that in "just nine years she would be turning 30!"  Michael responded to this by telling me that each day he thinks he is one day closer to heaven and that he embraces growing older quite happily, with this reality set before him.
Yes, he had just been to a funeral for the father of a dear friend and yes, the reality of death was in his face, but I was struck by his mindset.
Is that how I think at the end of each day?  - "I am one day closer to heaven?"  Does this reality permeate to the core of my being?  It certainly permeated Richard Baxter's life, his thoughts and his speech.  He spent the second half of his life preparing for his death and he had a long wait, but he meditated upon the splendours awaiting him in heaven daily.
A few years ago, I wrote a devotion on "numbering our days" and I revisited it.  I wrote it after my health scare and I have to admit I did much soul searching.
It is challenging to think again about how I fill my days - there are many distractions and I easily get caught up in the details of life that in the scale of things really don't matter.  I have returned to this verse and my prayer - it was a timely conversation.  Thanks Michael!

It is finished!

Keith has handed in his PhD!  "The theory, practice, and reception of meditation in the thought of Richard Baxter" is finally completed.  It has been ten years since Ricky joined our family and we all feel like we know a little bit about this eccentric and extraordinary man.

Keith has done little else the last few weeks other than modify his thesis.  Anyone who knows him, will know that he is a perfectionist.  The week before he was to hand it in, I went up to Summer School for a night with a friend.  On my return, he announced that he had figured out what was wrong with his thesis, something that had been frustrating him immensely,which could be resolved by completely rewriting from scratch.

How is a loving wife to respond to this?   I really had no words to say.  When I told Michael on the phone that this was what he had said, even he was rendered speechless.  If anyone knows Michael, this is extremely unusual.


Fortunately, he did not take this step, but rather did some major "tweaking".  It was a sprint right up to the end, with little sleep.  But it is finished!  We have been in celebratory mode ever since.  I am proud of Keith for completing this work.  He really did most of it in tiny cracks of time and on top of a busy work schedule and on top of caring for a wife who has not had fantastic health. He has done more than his fair share of work on the domestic front.  There have been many times in the last few years when I have begged him to give up and abandon it unfinished, but he determinedly ploughed on.  Keith also managed to make time for me, our family, good friends and other commitments - he didn't withdraw from life simply to work on Ricky - this is a credit to him.


We celebrated as a family last week by eating at Ice and Slice up the road - pizza and gelato.  Each of us shared something of Ricky's impact on us - it was interesting to hear the children's thoughts.  Keith has frequently shared quirky stories about him and some of his habits and thoughts.  I suspect that this picture postcard of Ricky will remain on our fridge, as he has been a part of our family for the last ten years and it is not easy to discard this type of relationship.  Life has resumed normal routine of sorts this week - a new routine as we don't have to think about Ricky.  We might get to go to the movies this Friday night!

Reading and Kindles

My sister is gadget queen.  She takes after my father and any new gadget quickly becomes an indispensable part of her life.  Her latest gadget is a kindle.  As I spent Christmas with her, I was able to have a good look and ponder whether I would consider converting to reading books on a kindle.

In 2008 when Keith and I travelled to England, most of our luggage consisted of books.  They were heavy and took up considerable space, but the idea of not having a book to read was inconceivable.  Keith had a number of books with him, necessary for his work on Richard Baxter.  A kindle would have certainly saved space and weight.

What would Richard Baxter have thought about a kindle?  He was a keen reader and collector of books.  On his death he left one of the largest and most comprehensive libraries in England at that time.  Much can be gleaned about Ricky from this quote:

"I must confess, it is much more pleasing to my self, to be retired from the World, and to have very little to do with Men, and to converse with God and Conscience and good Books."

Ricky might well have purchased a kindle and then downloaded his core library to have at his fingertips. I think he would have embraced this technology with open arms.  This morning, I read an article by Stephanie Raethel "I kid you not, I'm a Kindle convert", in which she confesses that she is enjoying her kindle immensely.  I am not the only person wondering about kindles and reading.  Mark Pesce has also considered the future of books and kindles in an opinion piece "year will be more than just a page turner, it'll be a new era".  However, there is something about the look and feel of a book, that no kindle can replace.  Many of my friends ask me for suggestions of what to read and I freely lend books again and again.  Can I do this with a Kindle?

My ipod has transformed my music collection into a bite sized library that accompanies me everywhere, so I guess, a kindle will eventually become a part of my persona - catching buses, trains, even sitting in doctor's surgerys waiting could be transformed as I have on hand a magazine, a book or two, my bible, a devotional book ready to read - compactly stored in my handbag!

Whether by kindle or retro book, reading is here to stay.  I have a family of bookworms.  We read with a passion.  Our Christmas at the beach was spent with noses in books.  Well, my sister's and her husband's were in their kindles, but they were equally engrossed and content.  The inclement weather kept us indoors, but it was bliss.  Our children snuggled up immersed in books - each in their own world.  It was a delight to behold.

I have just read an article from the Age on the very topic of kindles v books and the author Gabriella Coslovich captures my thoughts perfectly in her article "E-Books lack the magic of the real thing".

George Herbert and Richard Baxter

George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633, originally uploaded by johnhanscom.

George herbert

This week I read Nicole's post about George Herbert in which she shares his poem titled "Christmas".  I was amazed, as I had been meaning to investigate his poetry. Why my interest?
Richard Baxter.  I have discovered that much of my musing leads me to back to good old Richard Baxter and this makes me laugh.  Why?  Because Keith is doing his PhD on this man and he has been a part of our family for the last ten years.  Seriously.  His picture sits on our fridge and I have talked further about what Keith's PhD is about in other posts about Ricky Baxter.  He is not always my favourite person.
Keith uncovered some correspondence between Ricky and a woman called Katherine Gell, a wealthy woman, a committed Christian who had lost a child in his early infancy.  It is a remarkable collection of fourteen letters of which Keith discovered three that were thought to be extant which adds to the dimension of their relationship and what solace and comfort he offered her. Keith speaks about these letters and what his PhD is about in a conversation between himself and Michael Jensen and David Hohne in  The Common Room.
Katherine is deeply ashamed of the doubts she has about her salvation and the salvation of her lost child. She has read Ricky's "Saint's Everlasting Rest" and not found it encouraging as it made her conclude that she was "not in a state of grace".  His letters are a remarkable insight into the work of a pastor minstering to a woman who is depressed and deeply troubled by her spiritual state.
After a period of correspondence, Ricky gives her a copy of George Herbert's Poems as he thinks she might find them helpful.    When thanking him for his gift, she quotes from his poem "Affliction".  Katherine says she was "much affected in the reading and especially at that place 'let me not love thee  if I love thee not.'"  This poem put her "into a very good praying frame which I seldom am in".
Katherine was a wife, mother and keen to love her husband, her children and faced many similar pressures that we face today, and in this season of life depressed, and that she was not doing a very good job coping.  She was also keen to conceal her struggles from the outside world.  Sound familiar?  Katherine's questions and struggles resonate and arouse my interest considerably.
 I am keen to explore the impact that Ricky's correspondence may have had on her after the letters ceased, but I will have to go to England to do this.  Her papers and correspondence are with the Derby Archives. Dream on Sarah.
Back to George Herbert and Richard Baxter.  Ricky turned to Herbert's poetry on the death of his wife Margaret.    He says "I must confess, after all that next to the Scripture Poems, there are none so savoury to me as Mr George Herbert's - he speaks to God like one that really believeth a God, and whose business in the world is most with God."  "Affliction" is a long poem and I need to read it again and ponder its words.  I am looking forward to what poem Nicole shares next and whether she continues with George Herbert.

Rowton and Half Way House

Ricky Baxter's birthplace. It was a long drive to reach this spot on the map - it was just that - a spot. Apparently, Ricky's parents lived in Half Way House. There was a village with this name a bit further down the road. We returned to the "spot" and found Rowton Castle, which has become a trendy place for the wealthy to stay.

I later discovered that my cousin Susannah has a very close friend who lives on a farm called "Half Way House" in Rowton! How amazing is that? I wish we had more time so we could return and explore properly.

I have been chatting to a friend of Michael's on facebook. He said he was exogitating - having no idea what that meant, I asked him and apparently it is a smart person word for thinking deeply on an issue. I think that Ricky did a bit of this during his life, and it might well have started right here in Rowton. He had a good education but never went to university. He must have had a good mind, as he had an excellent library and read widely. His collection of books at the end of his life was impressive.

Ricky Baxter at Kidderminster

We have visited Kidderminster - a significant landmark for anyone remotely interested in Ricky Baxter. We set off early and headed north west towards Kidderminster. This is where Ricky had his most significant pastoral ministry. He worked here for over twenty years and it was one of the happiest and most fruitful seasons of his life. Having visited Kidderminster briefly, I am glad that we were only passing through. It was market day and the town was packed and filled with market stalls, people, crowds and chaos. It was hard to find parking and then we had to find the right church linked with Ricky. After finding a place to park, we found a person who could direct us to the church we thought we wanted to visit. One delightful woman on hearing us ask for directions kindly said she would walk us to the church. She then told us that her cousin lived in Australia - in Adelaide and that they talked by phone, such a lovely chat each month.

We arrived at Baxter Church. It was covered in scaffolding and looked very locked and closed. Johnnie and I wandered around to the back and we tried a back door. We could see there were people inside, and fortunately, they saw us and came out, found a key to the church and let us in. They were very friendly, but a little bemused at our interest in Richard Baxter. We discovered the communion table from Ricky's days. It is a beautiful table, which at present is covered in renovation dust and pigeon droppings.



We then found this wonderful list on the wall of ministers of this church since Richard Baxter, which included Benjamin Fawcett who wrote one of the abridgments of "Saint's Everlasting Rest":



We then realised that there are three churches in Kidderminster with relics of Ricky's day. There is this church, which has the communion table, then there is the Unitarian church, which has the pulpit and a third church St Mary's, which has his chair and a statue of the man himself. Unfortunately, the Unitarian church was well and truly closed, so we went in search for the third church. There was a funeral in progress, so we headed into the town and discovered the public library - a treasure trove of local history books. Here they were very friendly and Keith spent some time looking at a few very old books - no gloves, supervision or anything while Johnnie and I just hung.

We decided that having come so far, we would see if the funeral was over and if we could get inside St Mary's - the church with Ricky's chair. This church has his statue outside surrounded by lavender bushes - in my opinion, they were worthy of being photographed.



A delightful couple were "on duty" in the church and welcomed us with open arms and took us straight to the chair.



We then had a good look around, and coincidently, the local "expert" on Ricky was in the church and he and Keith had a good chat about Keith's work and things to do with Ricky.

According to the man who welcomed us to the church, Richard Baxter grew this church and they had to increase the number of pews to fit the people into the church. He is obviously remembered with warmth and enthusiasm here and are proud to be associated with him.

"Saints Everlasting Rest" by Richard Baxter

One of our purposes of coming to England is to visit places of significance to Richard Baxter. My family have slowly become acquainted with him over the past decade. In fact his portrait sits on our fridge. He looks to be a rather severe and dour old man, but he did live to be a ripe old age. He lived in the 1600s and was an English Puritan. He was a prolific writer - he has probably put more thoughts down on paper than anyone else alive. He was an Church of England Minister who had a profound ministry in a town called Kidderminster. His church grew and thrived under his ministry and his church burst at the seams to fit the congregation. During this time, he got quite sick and thought he was going to die. He decided to write a book before his death to encourage himself and others about the the thoughts and meditations that we should fill our minds with. This book called "The Saint's Everlasting Rest" was the result ans had a profound influence on future generations.

Ricky recovered from his illness and lived a great many years longer. Keith is looking at what Ricky said about meditation and in particular this book. It is oddly curious, as many years ago, when Keith was a uni student, he used to garden for a number of little old ladies, who doted on him and made him cups of tea, which he drank (he never has since) while listening to them chatter about this and that. One of these women, was a tiny Godly woman called Dorothea Macindoe. When we got engaged, she was so excited that I was invited over for tea. A few years later, Keith told Miss Macindoe that he was planning to study theology at Moore College. She was absolutely delighted and gave him her copy of a very special book: "The Saints Everlasting Rest" by Richard Baxter. It looks well used and loved - and this was in 1984!

George Eliot in "Mill on the Floss" has a woman who is feeling a little down. She goes to get her bible and copy of "Saint's Everlasting Rest" and heads upstairs to her room to read both. This is what she does when feeling down and it makes her feel better. Ricky's book has been abridged at least three times and Keith's copy is one of these abridgments - so it is considerably shorter than the original. I have to confess, I have tried taking it to bed to ponder while feeling a little down, but I didn't get far with it - I almost fell asleep, which I am sure is not what Ricky had intended for his readers!