John Henry Newman
AM Psalm 26, 28 • PM Psalm 36, 39
Deut. 6:16-25 • Heb 2:1-10 • John 1:19-28
What is man that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man, that you visit him?
You crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of thy hand. (Hebrews 2:6-7)
The American Episcopal Church deserves credit for its inclusivity in honoring today John Henry Newman, who converted away from the Episcopal Church of England to Roman Catholicism in 1845, was named a Catholic cardinal in 1879, and was canonized a Saint by Pope Francis three years ago. Newman himself had very inclusive attitudes and was always eager to give credit to thoughtful theologians whatever their church preference; for instance, he admired the Evangelical English priest Thomas Scott for his “unworldliness and vigorous independence of mind. He followed truth wherever it led him” – words which fit Newman himself. Newman wrote volumes about all sorts of subjects. My favorite essay of his is “The Idea of a University,” where he writes persuasively that the search for human knowledge that a liberal arts education affords is not only useful, but a good in itself. I'm sure he agreed with the author of Hebrews that the human mind is a crowning glory.
Today he is known at least as well for his poetry as for his essays. One my favorite poems is this:
Lead, Kindly Light
Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home, –
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene, – one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed
That thou shouldst lead me on:
I loved to choose and see my path, but now
Lead thou me on!
I loved the garish days, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.
So long thy power has blessed me, sure it still
Will lead me on;
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent till
The night is gone;
And with the morn, those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.
I thank the Light of Christ for the glory and honor that crown our human, inquiring minds and pray not to fall into foolish pride, but rather that the Kindly Light lead us through our various wonderful, terrifying paths always to God.
Written by John DuVal
John first read essays by John Henry Newman in a Victorian Literature class taught by Robert Russell, author of To Catch an Angel: Adventures in a World I Cannot See, a classic in the literature of blindness.