Tag Archives: prayer

I’ve always had a fairly negative view of the group of people we call generically “The Puritans.”  I imagine that my negativity stems from highly publicized events such as the Salem Witch Trials, but I also think that it’s probably also colored by our society’s view of Puritans as hypocritical repressors.  In some ways, all most of us know about Puritans, we learned in The Scarlet Letter – a book that certainly doesn’t paint a very positive picture.

However, from time to time at the Austin Stone, either the pastors or one of the worship team will read a passage from a book called Valley of Vision.  It’s a book of collected Puritan devotions from authors primarily in the 1600s and 1700s in France, Holland, England and America, edited by Arthur Bennett, an English pastor.  And whatever shortcomings – real or perceived – may remain in my consciousness, I can say that the prayers they prayed were remarkable.  Deep, thoughtful and beautiful, I find them completely relevant to my spiritual journey, though they were written in a much different time and place.  I typically close my morning bible study with a reading from Valley of Vision … Below is an excerpted example that moved me as I read it this morning.

Reading works like that tells me that there is much more to the dour, hypocritical repressor in the heart of the Puritan … and makes me want to learn more about my spiritual forebears.