A little something from a time long before the "alphabet soup" and when we didn't have to specify that we are "traditional" Anglicans:
O God, dearest and best, may the increase of Thy accidental glory be the chief end of my life! May Thy ever blessed making will be the law of my being and of all my actions and desires! May Thy transforming and uniting love be the permanent and imperative motive of all my actions, duties, labors, thoughts, and words! May the life of my blessed Lord be the model and mould of my own, that being melted by penitence, I may be recast and recreated in Thee! May the Holy Spirit so rule and govern my interior, all my emotions, fears, hopes, sorrows, and joys, that I may rest peacefully in Thee, and be an instrument for the conversion of others! Amen.
Grafton was one of the great early bishops of the American Church. He took the American prayer book and the prayer book tradition at its word, believing that it meant what it said in the plainest and yet most elegant of English and built upon it. May we in this generation do likewise.
ReplyDeleteMight I ask you learned fathers a question? I sent that Grafton quote to a friend and he wanted to know what Grafton meant by God's "accidental" glory. This is what I told him:
ReplyDelete"My guess is that he was using the term "accidental" in the sense "property, factor, or attribute that is not essential". In that regard WE cannot add to God's ESSENTIAL glory because He is already INFINITELY glorious. But perhaps Grafton was seeking to express that he wished to live in such a way that it would glorify God in the sense that His Name CAN be glorified - by living so that people who knew Grafton would praise God for what He was doing through His servant."
Am I on the right track?