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Is it possible for God to overcome our shame? In this episode of the Things Above podcast, James Bryan Smith tells the story of how the great Christian writer, Simone Weil, came to faith simply by reading a poem written by George Herbert, entitled “Love III.” This is what Herbert wrote:
Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lacked any thing.
A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:
Love said, You shall be he.
I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
Who made the eyes but I?
Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:
So I did sit and eat.
So what did Herbert really say in this poem that was literally life-changing for Simone Weil? Jim explains that there are certain ideas that we, as humans, believe about yourselves. Yet there are certain things God says that refute those ideas. For instance, we feel guilty because of sin, yet God still loves us. We feel unworthy before God, yet God determines and affirms our worth. We feel our shame is deserved, yet God’s Son bore our shame on the cross and invites us to experience and enjoy His goodness. So yes, it is possible for God to overcome our shame – when we embrace God’s love, affirmation and goodness.
Related episodes:
1. Eternal Life Now
2. Hope
3. Living Godward
4. The Mystery of the Incarnation
5. God’s Love
Unfortunately, the last two episodes are not showing up on my Android podcast application. Any idea why? No problems before 2 weeks ago.
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I have the same issue on Android using Podcast Player
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LOVE this.
I’d never heard of George Herbert until this episode.
I’m giving volumes of Herbert’s poems as Christmas gifts to my bride of almost 40 years and our two grown children. Thank you!
Are transcripts of your podcasts available? This episode touched me tremendously. Thank you so much.
We are currently creating transcripts for all episodes, they will be available on the website in the near future. We will notify you when they are completed, thank you for listening! 🙂