In an effort to educate myself, I am reading The Oxford Book of Essays, chosen and edited by John Gross. [copies for sale here] There’s 142 of the blighters, so it will take me all year. To make this “stick” I am going to blog each essay.
This essay is online
Who was the author:
Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the “Shakespeare of Divines” for his poetic style of expression, and he is frequently cited as one of the greatest prose writers in the English language.[1][2]
What happened the year they were born (and the C02 ppm): 1613
The Big Events they were alive for: Civil War etc
What happened in the year they died (and the C02 ppm): 1667
My awareness of/appreciation of this author (if any): nothing whatsoever. One of the greatest prose writers in the English language… Oops
What’s the essay?
The essay is called “Of Charity.” It’s 2 pages long. For me, the key take-aways were…
Be nice to each other (Nietzsche would be pissed off).
Best line(s)
The consideration of which may be heightened, if we consider our distance from all these glories, our smallness and limited nature, our nothing, our inconstancy, our age like a span, our weakness and ignorance, our poverty, our inadvertency and inconsideration, our disabilities and disaffections to do good, our harsh natures and unmerciful inclinations, our universal iniquity, and our necessities and dependencies, not only on God originally and essentially, but even our need of the meanest of God’s creatures, and our being obnoxious to the weakest and most contemptible.
For in the scrutinies for righteousness and judgment, when it is inquired whether such a person be a good man or no, the meaning is not, What does he believe? or what does he hope? but what he loves
Stuff I had to look up
none
Stuff worth thinking about.
What he loves, what he does (because, after all, talk is cheap)
Stuff to look up
xxx
Connects to (watch this space – if there are later essays that resonate with this one, I’ll come back and add a link to the post for that essay).
marchudson.net 
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