"HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?" Francis Schaeffer

Wednesday, April 20, 2005


This was spotted on Powerlineblog.com who pointed to Robert Burns website.

"O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An' foolish notion
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us
An' ev'n Devotion

This last verse contains the often quoted lines and shows Burns depth of understanding of human nature.
Note the capital P in Pow'r denoting God.

This last verse translates as

Oh, that God would give us the very smallest of gifts
To be able to see ourselves as others see us
It would save us from many mistakes
and foolish thoughts
We would change the way we look and gesture
and to how and what we apply our time and attention."

JB here: Who can ever forget "Wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us
To see ourselves as other see us..."

And there is the challenge of life; to change our ego-centric view of ourself to a more accurate and sometimes painful view of ourselves -- ignoble, pedestrian, foolish and all to self-centered. sigh
Then CHANGE!

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