“Why Does The Abolition of Man Begin With a Waterfall?" - Michael Ward

Comments · 4

• BA

  @barbararey-constantin5679 · 2 years ago

  I send my thanks to all who made this talk possible. So many beautiful images, among them that the jar of perfumed ointment is a symbol for her heart which she breaks open for Christ. It has transformed how I will relate to my own tears. To love at all is to be vulnerable.

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• DN

  @dnbeckmann · 2 years ago (edited)

  Excellent as usual, Michael. Thank you and thank you Christopher for doing this.<br>Lewis wept reading a portion of Tolkien&apos;s writing - can&apos;t remember if it was a narrative poem or the &quot;new Hobbit.&quot;

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• ED

  @edithcrowther9604 · 1 year ago

  I really enjoyed this talk by Rev Dr Ward [recently sent to me by youtube&apos;s algorithm] - and have found further food for thought in the wiki list of his works. &nbsp;His use of language is (like Lewis&apos;s) a fine blend of the heavenly and the earthly - like a Waterfall, I guess. &nbsp;Indeed I am now comparing the Word of the Lord itself to a Waterfall or a Cloudburst, in many parts of the Bible (not just the obvious ones that relate Water and the Word). &nbsp;Isaiah has always been a favourite of mine - and I was excited to be reminded today of the connection between Water and the Word in Isaiah 55 vv 8 to 13 [during Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3]. <br>“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. &nbsp;9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater 11 so is my Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. &nbsp;12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. &nbsp;This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.” <br>I am not a scholar and I am not going to trawl through the BIble looking for metaphors of Water as the Word of God - it is thrilling enough for me to have the connection made once by Revd Ward and then just remember it daily whenever I hear or read luminous words that are like water for the parched soul. &nbsp;I suppose they won&apos;t always be Christian words - but the Bible does seem to have something of a monopoly on &quot;Streams of Living Water&quot; coupled with &quot;Food Celestial&quot; imagery to quote from an exuberant Welsh translation of Psalm 23. &nbsp;<br>And it is not because the Fertile Crescent was an arid place in Old Testament times - far from it. &nbsp;It is just that ancient humans prized Water above all else, all over the world - and we don&apos;t now because it is &quot;on tap&quot; and can even be sucked out of ancient Aquifers if you have the right equipment.

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• ME

  @melanieboyer9240 · 2 years ago

  Thanks for sharing awesome content!!! I’m inspired

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