Reading the following poem by William Wordsworth brings to mind
Romans 1:20:
20. For since the creation of the world His invisible
attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly
seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are
without excuse.
(New American Standard Bible)
Lines Written in Early Spring
By William Wordsworth
(Composed and published in 1798)
I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.
Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ‘tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure: –
But the least motion which they made,
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.
The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.
If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?
True Christianity should open one’s eyes and touch the soul in much
the same way as Wordsworth was affected by God’s creation. I don’t know
about his faith, but I think Wordsworth had (and still has), through his
poems, a lot to teach those who profess to be Christian, but who
continue to cause pain and suffering to God’s creatures. Surely they, of
all people, are “without excuse.”
In this poem, Wordsworth’s Lines in the second stanza,
“And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man”
and his closing lines,
“Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?”
say it all!
