August 2010 Message

Dear Friends at All Saints',

At one time, only the Bible was more widely read than The Pilgrim's Progress, translated into 147 languages, printed in millions of copies, legal and pirated. The unlikely author: a tinker from Bedford in England, a maker and repairer of kettles, from the lowest stratum of English society. John Bunyan's life ended on August 31, 1688. It began in 1628 as son of a tinker, in humble poverty. He learned how to read and write in school but was mostly busy in his father's workshop. After his mother's death-when he was sixteen-his dad took only two months to remarry. Unable to cope, he joined the army. Those were turbulent times. After his discharge, he married and settled down. Four children. The wife dies. He joins the Baptists, begins to preach, secretly, since the Church of England forbade lay preaching. He is arrested, spends some twelve years in prison from 1660-1672, then again, in 1675, for six months during which time his masterpiece takes shape.

The Pilgrim's Progress is not written by an intellectual for a brainy readership. It is a kind of personal story, told as an allegory:all names, places, events point to something else, either in his own life or in the narrative of the Bible. The language is simple, touching, yet masterful (so beautiful indeed that contemporary and later critics doubted that a tinker could have written it without plagiarizing. It is from this book that we get so many of our expressions today: Vanity Fair, Slough of Despond, The Enchanted Ground. There is a Madame Bubble, a Mr. Feeble-Mind, the Giant Despair, Lord Hate-good and many others. They all play a role in Bunyan's pilgrimage: they are simple symbols, easily understood by everyone, pointing to the challenge of discipleship the goal of which is the salvation of our souls. The “pilgrim” is valiant, determined, focused, but there are so many distractions, so many obstacles, so much backsliding, it's a marvel that his journey continues. Bunyan calls his main character “Christian&rdqou;, his wife is “Christiana”, they encounter residents of the City of Destruction, the Valley of Humiliation, of Plain Ease and Hill Lucre (you catch the gist).

Bunyan's book has been turned into movies, Ralph Vaughn Williams, the great English composer, made it into an opera in 1951. It is one great affirmation of Grace: no matter how hard we try (Mr. Standfast) we are prone to fail (Pliable and Timorous) were it not for God's free gift. Those who make progress on their pilgrimage towards the “prize” will always know: this was not my doing, this happened in spite of me, it is God working out His wonderful purpose in my life. We celebrate John Bunyan's contribution to Christianity every time we sing hymn 565, one of the most stirring lyrics and tunes in our Hymnal.

An English tinker, long ago, had a vision, after many years in jail, of progress, of Christian folk not resting on their laurels but moving on, reaching out, yearning for more, aware of distractions and dangers, but determined to be blessed by Grace. A hymn, a book, a life, a man for all ages. Thanks be to God for His humble tinker John Bunyan.

Fr. Georg Retzlaff+