strangely dim (or amazingly clear) in the light of His glorious grace
In the most recent issue of CT, Philip Yancey has a nice essay on the potential of (and problems with) Christian isolation. I recommend the entire thing, but want to reproduce his report of this observation:
Church historian Mark Noll remarks that the song "Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus" plainly errs when it says, "And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace." No, he says, the rest of the world grows clearer, not dimmer, in the light of Christ. God created matter; in Jesus, God joined it.
I love that line in that classic hymn-- and there is a profound sense in which it is true.
But Noll makes a good point here. Along the lines of the world painted by C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce, the world never seems more real and alive-- than when we see it in and through Christ.
posted by Eric Schansberg @ 6:03 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
I understand the Yancey/Noll point, however I find it annoying.
I think most people rightly comprehend the meaning of this lyric to be that Earthly cares which could consume/overwhelm us seem strangely "dim" (not as huge or important) when considered in the light of His great glory and grace.
Hopefully, the rest of the essay does a better job.
It was obnoxious for Noll to see it as an error-- and I should have clarified what I was thinking!
In a word, I don't see it as an either/or but a both/and.
The hymn-writer was referring to a comparison between "the things of this World" and "the light of His glory and grace".
Noll's point is one of perspective: if one knows/sees "the light...", then "the things" are much clearer.
PM, thanks for giving me the op to clarify!
If you research this hymn you'll find that the very inspiration for it came from a pamphlet by Lilias Trotter who, upon observing the radiance of dew on a daisy in the mountains of Swizerland, understood that the believer who focuses on God becomes radiant, too. She wrote a pamphlet entitled 'focused' and it was read by the hymn writer Helen H. Lemmel who was immediately inspired with the text and music for the chorus 'Turn your eyes upon Jesus' and to whom the verses came later. So, it was God's very creation, intensely observed and reflected upon by--as it happens--one of the most accomplished aquarellists of her time (Lilias Trotter) that eventually led to this very good hymn. It is asinine to pretend that the hymn writer was so mistaken as to suggest that focusing on Jesus would lead to isolationism or a deprecation of or disinterest in Christ's creation. This suggestion is ludicrous, except that it doesn't actually make me want to laugh. In this case, both Noll and Yancey should have done more research on Lemmel and Trotter before commenting.
Hey Toad, it's been a decade since I read this. But I wonder if I encouraged the wrong inference by putting the first two sentences in the same paragraph. My guess is that the Noll quote was not some sort of evidence for the overall concern about isolation. Instead, I think I was just commenting on a snippet I found interesting and wanted to connect to Lewis. But if not, I concur with what you're saying! Either way, thanks for commenting.
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