The Peculiarity of Human Greatness
“/ drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.”
Hosea xi. 4.
CORDS and bands — these suggest a state of limitation. A cord is something which confines, imprisons. Is it not strange that God should draw man by the thing which limits him! However, strange, it is true. Man is drawn to the sky by that side of his nature which depresses him. It is not my sense of infinitude that makes me crave for God; it is my sense of limit. I am distinguished from the beast of the field not by the things I have, but by the things I have not. The lower creatures have more liberty than I; they have fewer cords, fewer bands. There is no restriction imposed upon their acts; they roam at will through the forest, they flit unfettered through the air. But the moment my conscious being dawns T find myself in bands. I have not power (f free movement; I cannot do as I choose. There is a band of conscience round me — something which says, “Thou shalt not! “There is a band of duty round me — a thing which says, “You are bound — you ought!” Above all, there is a band of love round me. This is the most limiting of all the cords. It makes me feel that I am literally tied to my brother — that I am a part of his body, and cannot get away. Men speak of love as the spirit’s zimg. Yet truly it is rather the spirit’s cord. It keeps me chained to you. It refuses to let me soar without you. It bids me lift your weight, your pain. It holds me to the ground where you are lying. It compels me to bear your cross.
O Christ, I bless Thee for Thy cords! It is these, and not my wings, that have lifted me to Thee. It is my limits that have widened me; it is the bands of love that have enlarged me. I once thought I should reach Thee through the broad expanse. I thought I could soar to Thee on the wings of speculation, on the pinions of fancy; but I found they brought me no nearer to Thee. I have come nearer to Thee by the most unHkely road — the narrow way. Not on the path of the bird have I found Thee. Not on the track of the telescope have I traced Thy footsteps. Not where imagination transcends reality have I seen Thy face. I have met Thee amidst my bonds. I have met Thee when I wore creation’s extra chain — the chain of love. My house of bondage has been my Land of Canaan; my prison has become my palace. The tribes of the air have flown upon the wings of the wind, and have not reached the Promised Land; / have walked with the steps of weariness and have come to the shining river. My cord has emancipated me. My limit has liberated me. My fetter has freed me. My cross has crowned me. The burden of my love has burnished my life with gold. Thou hast drawn me upward by that which threatened to keep me down; I bless Thee, O Lord, for Thy restraining bands!