"Friends, if we be honest with ourselves, we shall be honest with each other." - George Macdonald (1824-1905)

 
Willie speaks

Is it wrong the wish to be great,

For I do wish it so?

I have asked already my sister Kate;

     She says she does not know.

 

Yestereve at the gate I stood

Watching the sun in the west;

When I saw him look so grand and good

     It swelled up in my breast.

 

Next from the rising moon

It stole like a silver dart;

In the night when the wind began his tune

     It woke with a sudden start.

 

This morning a trumpet blast

     Made all the cottage quake;

It came so sudden and shook so fast

     It blew me wide awake.

 

It told me a must make haste,

And some great glory win,

For every day was running to waste,

     And at once I must begin.

 

I want to be great and strong,

     I want to begin today;

But if you think it very wrong

      I will send the wish away.

 

The Father Answers.

Wrong to wish to be great?

No, Willie; it is not wrong:

The child who stands at the high closed gate

     Must wish to be tall and strong!

 

If you did not wish to grow

I should be a sorry man;

I should think my boy was dull and slow,

Nor worthy of his clan.

 

You are bound to be great, my boy:

Wish, and get up, and do.

Were you content to be little, my joy

Would be little enough in you.

 

 
Willie speaks.

Papa, Papa! I'm so glad

      That what I wish is right!

I will not lose a chance to be had;

      I'll begin this very night.

 

I will work so hard at school!

      I will waste no time in play;

At my fingers' ends I'll have every rule,

      For knowledge is power, they say.

 

I would be a king and reign,

      But I can't be that, and so

Field-marshal I'll be, I think, and gain

      Sharp battles and sieges slow.

 

I shall gallop and shout and call,

      Waving my shining sword:

Artillery, cavalry, infantry, all

      Hear and obey my word.

 

Or admiral I will be,

      Wherever the salt wave runs,

Sailing, fighting over the sea,

      With flashing and roaring guns.

 

I will make myself hardy and strong.,

      I will never, never give in.

I am so glad it is not wrong!

      At once I will begin.

 

The Father speaks.

Fighting and shining along,

      All for the show of the thing!

Any puppet will mimic the grand and strong

      If you pull the proper string!

 

Willie speaks.

But indeed I want to be great,

      I should despise mere show;

The thing I want is the glory-state--

      Above the rest, you know!

 

The Father Answers.

The harder you run that race,

      The farther you tread that track,

The greatness you fancy before your face

      Is the farther behind your back.

To be up in the heavens afar,

      Miles above the rest,

Would make a star not the greatest star,

      Only the dreariest.

 

That book on the highest shelf

      Is not the greatest book;

If you would be great, it must be in yourself,

      Neither by place nor look.

 

The Highest is not high

      By being higher than others;

To greatness you come not a step more nigh

      By getting above your brothers.

 

Willie speaks.

I meant the boys at school,

      I did not mean my brother.

Somebody first, is there the rule--

      It must be me or another.

 

The Father answers.

Oh, Willie, it’s all the same!

      They are your brothers all;

For when you say, “Hallowed be thy name!”

      Whose Father is it you call?

 

Could you pray for such rule to him?

      Do you think that he would hear?

Must he favour one in a greedy whim

      Where all are his children dear?

 

It is right to get up and do,

      But why outstrip the rest?

Why should one of the many be one of the few?

      Why should you think to be best?

 

Willie speaks.

Then how am I to be great?

      I know no other way;

It would be folly to sit and wait,

      I must up and do, you say!

 

The Father answers.

I do not want you to wait,

      For few before they die

Have got so far as begin to be great,

      The lesson is so high.

 

 

I will tell you the only plan

      To climb and not to fall:

He who would rise and be greater than

      He is, must be servant of all.

 

Turn it each way in your mind,

      Try every other plan,

You may think yourself great, but at length you’ll find

      You are not even a man.

 

Climb to the top of the trees,

      Climb to the top of the hill,

Get up on the crown of the sky if you please,

      You’ll be a small creature still.

 

Be admiral, poet, or king,

      Let praises fill both your ears,

Your soul will be but a windmill thing

      Blown round by its hopes and fears.

 

Willie speaks.

Then put me in the way,

For you, Papa, are a man:

What thing shall I do this very day?

      Only be sure I can.

 

I want to know - I am willing,

Let me at least have a chance!

Shall I give the monkey-boy my shilling?

I want to serve at once.

 

The Father answers.

Give all your shillings you might

And hurt your brothers the more;

He only can serve his fellows aright

      Who goes in at the little door.

 

We must do the thing we must

      Before the thing we may;

We are unfit for any trust

      Till we can and do obey.

 

Willie speaks.

I will try more and more;

      I have nothing now to ask;

Obedience I know is the little door:

      Now set me some hard task.

 

 

The Father answers.

No, Willie; the Father of all,

      Teacher and master high,

Has set your task beyond recall,

      Nothing can set it by.

 

Willie speaks.

What is it, father dear,

      That he would have me do?

I'd ask himself, but he's not near,

      And so I must ask you!

 

The Father answers.

Me 'tis no use to ask,

      I too am one of his boys!

But he tells each boy his own plain task:

      Listen, and hear his voice.

 

Willie speaks.

Father, I'm listening so

      To hear him if I may!

His voice must either be very low,

      Or very far away!

 

The Father answers.

It is neither hard to hear,

      Nor hard to understand;

It is very low, but very near,

      A still, small, strong command.

 

Willie answers.

I do not hear it at all;

      I am only hearing you!

 

The Father speaks.

Think: is there nothing, great or small,

      You ought to go and do?

 

Willie answers.

Let me think - I ought to feed

      My rabbits. I went away

In such a hurry this morning! Indeed

      They've not had enough today!

 

 
The Father speaks.

That is his whisper low!

      That is his very word!

You had only to stop and listen, and so

      Very plainly you heard!

 

That duty's the little door:

      You must open it and go in;

There is nothing else to do before,

      There is nowhere else to begin.

 

 

Willie speaks.

But that's so easily done!

      it's such a trifling affair! 

So nearly over as soon as begun,

      For that he can hardly care!

 

The Father answers.

You are turning from his call

      If you let that duty wait;

You would not think any duty small

      If you yourself were great.

 

The nearest is at life's core;

      With the first, you all begin:

What matter how little the little door

      If it only let you in?

 - 

Willie speaks.

Papa, I am come again:

      It is now three months and more

That I've tried to do the thing that was plain,

      And I feel as small as before.

 

The Father answers.

Your honour comes too slow?

      How much then have you done?

One foot on a mole-heap, would you crow

      As if you had reached the sun?

 

Willie speaks.

But I cannot help a doubt

      Whether this way be the true:

The more I do to work it out

      The more there comes to do;

 

And yet, were all done and past,

      I should feel just as small,

For when I had tried to the very last -

      'Twas my duty, after all!

 

It is only much the same

      As not being liar or thief!

 

The Father answers.

One who tried it found even, with shame,

      That of sinners he was the chief!

My boy, I am glad indeed

      You have been finding the truth!

 

Willie speaks.

But where's the good?  I shall never speed-

      Be one whit greater, in sooth!

 

If duty itself must fail,

      And that be the only plan,

How shall my scarce begun duty prevail

      To make me a mighty man?

 

The Father answers.

Ah, Willie! what if it were

      Quite another way to fall?

What if the greatness itself lie there -

      In knowing that you are small?

 

In seeing the good so good

      That you feel poor, weak, and low;

And hungrily long for it as for food,

      With an endless need to grow?

 

The man who was Lord of fate,

      Born in an ox’s stall,

Was great because he was much too great

      To care about greatness at all.

 

Ever and only he sought

      The will of his Father good;

Never of what was high he thought,

      But of what his Father would.

 

You long to be great; you try;

      You feel yourself smaller still:

In the name of God let ambition die;

      Let him make you what he will.

Who does the truth, is one

      With the living Truth above:

Be God's obedient little son,

      Let ambition die in love.

 

(MacDonald, George, 1824-1905.  Knowing the Heart of God edited and compiled by Michael R. Phillips, Bethany House, Minnesota, pp. 246 –253.)

My thoughts:

 

The Bible never asks us to go against our conscience. The Bible informs our conscience. (If you think it is asking you to go against your conscience obey your conscience because you have misinterpreted the Bible. In time things will become clearer to you if you do what you believe is right.  God has given us our conscience and if we go against it we are going against God.
 

It could be argued that by doing what I think is right aren't I just doing what the Israelites did in the days of the Judges when everyone did what they thought was right in their own eyes? No, for they did not always follow their conscience but did what they thought was necessary or right for them to reach their goals or obtain their pleasures. A modern equivalent might be a woman sleeping with her boss so she can climb the corporate ladder. She is doing what she thinks is right to reach the top, not what is right according to her conscience.
 

To obey God there will be times when we must disobey men. But what stops people obeying God?

It is sad that many people do not know that God is good enough to trust.

But what about the Christian who claims God is good yet constantly disobeys?

Unfortunately, worry often stops us obeying (see Matt 6:25-34). But how does one not worry? If God is trustworthy all we need to do is focus on what we ought to do right now, he will take care of everything else.

 
‘If a man or woman determines to do the immediate duty of the moment, wonderfully little forthought or planning, I suspect, will be needed. Only that forethought is necessary which has to determine where obedience is called for, and then enable it to pass into action…. Work done is of more consequence for the future than all the foresight and planning of an archangel’ − George MacDonald 

If I focus on what I have to do right now I won't be worrying about other things. If I am worried about something it is because I am thinking about the future and what might happen if I do or don’t do something.

If you are having trouble living the Christian life perhaps worry and the sins associated with worry are the cause of your difficulties. For example,

 
Why does a man come home from work, sit and watch TV without doing anything to help his wife? Does his not doing anything have something to do with worry? Look at his argument for doing nothing, "I need a rest. I've been working all day." Why does he say that? He has convinced himself that he "needs" a rest. It is this perceived need which is motivating him. He would probably say that he is not worried but the truth of the matter is that he is worried about what will happen if he doesn’t rest.  Yes, he may be tired, but if he got up and helped his wife would he die?  If we are to follow Christ we must not worry.

 
God said for six days you shall work and on the seventh rest. Worry causes us to rest when we should work and work when we should rest. It makes us stay up late when we should sleep and makes us lazy when we should be doing the things God asks us to do.