Tuesday, October 10, 2006
William Bradford
Katja
ENGL 48A
Journal #2, William Bradford
October 10, 2006
"In a word, did all the homely and necessary offices for them [...] and all this willingly and cheerfully, without any grudging in the least, showing herein their true love unto their friends and brethren [...]" (William Bradford, 175)
The above quote refers to the Puritans’ first winter in Massachusetts, when they endured serious bouts of illness and starvation; a situation far removed from the illusions they had been harboring of the New World. Of the original one hundred or so pilgrims, only seven were well enough to care for their stricken fellows, a number so startlingly small it can only serve to emphasize the scope of their strife.
What strikes me in this particular section of Bradford’s work, is how much value he places on the efforts of those few human beings whom helped keep the group alive through the winter. The reader can easily appreciate the pure and humble gratitude conveyed in the quote. The handful of Samaritans fell back on the underpinnings of their faith—kindness, service, selflessness, and humility—in order to help keep people alive, in a sense they were in fact living the very values of Christian ideology, a true testament to the efficacy of their teacher; Bradford himself.
In addition, this quote relays the depth not only of Bradford’s own personal faith, but also his immense power to convince his people of the values he esteemed most. To see a real-life application of his teachings must have been tremendously gratifying for Bradford and lent him hope for the future of his little colony. For someone as ardent as him, this display of true Christians carrying out true Christian values would have had to have offered him reason to rouse the remaining few towards a rebirth of sorts. Bradford and his followers may have seen this winter as a baptism by fire, a divine test of their will to endure and carry their message forward, and to fulfill their purposes of undertaking the journey in the first place.
ENGL 48A
Journal #2, William Bradford
October 10, 2006
"In a word, did all the homely and necessary offices for them [...] and all this willingly and cheerfully, without any grudging in the least, showing herein their true love unto their friends and brethren [...]" (William Bradford, 175)
The above quote refers to the Puritans’ first winter in Massachusetts, when they endured serious bouts of illness and starvation; a situation far removed from the illusions they had been harboring of the New World. Of the original one hundred or so pilgrims, only seven were well enough to care for their stricken fellows, a number so startlingly small it can only serve to emphasize the scope of their strife.
What strikes me in this particular section of Bradford’s work, is how much value he places on the efforts of those few human beings whom helped keep the group alive through the winter. The reader can easily appreciate the pure and humble gratitude conveyed in the quote. The handful of Samaritans fell back on the underpinnings of their faith—kindness, service, selflessness, and humility—in order to help keep people alive, in a sense they were in fact living the very values of Christian ideology, a true testament to the efficacy of their teacher; Bradford himself.
In addition, this quote relays the depth not only of Bradford’s own personal faith, but also his immense power to convince his people of the values he esteemed most. To see a real-life application of his teachings must have been tremendously gratifying for Bradford and lent him hope for the future of his little colony. For someone as ardent as him, this display of true Christians carrying out true Christian values would have had to have offered him reason to rouse the remaining few towards a rebirth of sorts. Bradford and his followers may have seen this winter as a baptism by fire, a divine test of their will to endure and carry their message forward, and to fulfill their purposes of undertaking the journey in the first place.
# posted by Katja @ 8:57 AM 
