Happy birthday, G.K.Chesterton!
He was born on this day, May 29th, 140 years ago. Chesterton was a great English journalist, art critic, dramatist, poet, and Christian thinker and apologist. He not only possessed a brilliant mind but an incredible sense of humor--a truly marvelous combination!--and it is said that even those who radically disagreed with him still loved and admired him. Chesterton truly knew how to "speak the truth with love."
Chesterton's biography on Charles Dickens (another reason to adore Chesterton--he loved Dickens!) is widely considered to have spurred on the Dickens revival in the London in the early 20th century. And Chesterton wrote about everything under the sun--from detective novels to biographies to essays to Christian apologetics to copious journalism pieces. Amazing.
Chesterton was apparently a man possessed not only of a giant intellect but also of a giant size. He stood 6 feet 4 inches and weighed 286 pounds. He once quipped to George Bernard Shaw, "To look at you, anyone would think a famine had struck England." To which Shaw retorted, "To look at you, anyone would think you have caused it."
And this is great--he apparently often wore a cape, a crumpled hat, and held a cigar dangling from his mouth. (My daddy would have loved him.)
I've quoted Chesterton too many times to count. His love for the Lord, his hysterical (though often quite dry) sense of humor, his brilliance (that usually goes waaaaay over my head), his winsomeness, and his practicality all combine to create a truly unique and remarkable man and voice. But I confess: I started reading what is widely considered to be his great Christian opus--Orthodoxy--many years ago and never got very far. Got bogged down and simply gave up. In honor of his birthday, I'm going to give it another go...I may crash in a ball of flames once again, but here goes. I think Chesterton would approve of the daunting effort.
Just a couple (among so many) of my favorite quotes--
"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." Convicting.
"I like the Cyclostyle ink; it is so inky. I do not think there is anyone who takes quite such a fierce pleasure in things being themselves as I do. The startling wetness of water excites and intoxicates me: the fieriness of fire, the steeliness of steel, the unutterable muddiness of mud." So true--the power and beauty of the things God has created! I've loved this quote since I first heard our minister, Dr.Bauman, quote it when I was in high school--back in the middle ages. Seriously, this was eons and eons ago, and I have a truly horrible memory...yet I still recall the thrill I felt when I heard Chesterton's words. Don't you love that--"the unutterable muddiness of mud?" Isn't it so true?
On politics, well, I think he would get a huge kick out of our crazy political situation these days--but here's what he wrote about his time: "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected." Enough said.
And one of my daughter, Janie's, very favorite quotes: "Jesus promised His disciples three things--that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble." Why do we expect any less?
So happy birthday, G.K.! May your tribe increase...and might your readership as well!
To God be the glory.
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