Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

• Matthew 11:28-30

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

• Luke 9:23

“ ‘[Christian] ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending; and upon that place stood a cross and a little below in the bottom, a sepulchre. So l saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders and fell from off his back, and began to tumble and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in and I saw it no more..’ (Pilgrim’s Progress)”

• Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought

John Bunyan (1628-1688) was a minister and a non-conformist.  Under Cromwell, he was called to preach at a congregational church, but when Charles II comes to power, non-conformist churches are outlawed.  A preacher must be licensed and become subject to the Anglican bishops.  All Bunyan had to do was recant and promise to not preach unless licensed through a bishop, but Bunyan refused.  He spent 12 years in prison.  During his time in prison, he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress.  He also wrote a few other lesser known works.  I have also read his book, Journey to Hell.

Although he wrote these novels as a protest, Pilgrim’s Progress becomes one of the most read books of its type, and it heralds the start of the English Novel.  So, Bunyan uses a fictional story, really an allegory, to voice his protest against the king’s policies against any church other than the Church of England.

In the end, Bunyan is released at a time when the crackdown on non-conformity is not as severe.  He is called to a church and he is allowed to preach.  And at the same time, he develops a bit of celebrity, as his book(s) begin to reach more and more people.

In the quote from the book, Christian picks up the cross and the burden that he was unable to remove since the beginning of the book falls away.

Jesus commands us to pick up our cross and follow Him.  But then He says that under His yoke, our burden will be light.  Thus, the main character of the novel, Christian, loses his burden when he picks up the cross.  The cross is still a burden, but light compared to what he had once carried.

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.