Thursday, February 28, 2008

370 Years Ago


"...On this day, Wednesday, February 28, 1638, the Covenant was first read aloud in the Greyfriars Church of Edinburgh. This was the same church where John Knox had once been taken for trial. It was already dear to the Scots, and now would be more so. Leading individuals signed the covenant on the spot.

The next day, it was taken to Tailors Hall, where the burghers of the city added their names. In subsequent days and weeks, the movement gained force as copies made their way not only throughout Scotland, but into Ireland. Everywhere, people signed..."

(from http://chi.gospelcom.net/DAILYF/2003/02/daily-02-28-2003.shtml)

3 comments:

Jen said...

Dear Mark:

Just wanted to say thank you for your blog. Today is my first day to visit it, and I am visiting it because I am leading a book study on the Letters of Samuel Rutherford. I can't wait to come back and spend some time reading more of what you've written...

Jen

Mark Thompson said...

Thanks Jen - how's Colorado at this time of year? Look forward to hearing from you. Mark

Jen said...

Hi Again Mark:

Yesterday, Colorado was 70 degrees fahrenheit. Today it has been snowing all day long. Such is Colorado in March and April. We never know what we'll wake up to!

I have to tell you. I've been all around your blog in the past couple of days and I am intrigued. I'd never heard the term Ulster-Scots prior to reading on your blog, but I've been doing some web surfing to find out what I can.

I love Samuel Rutherford. I've loved his letters for years. And the Covenanters have always drawn me. Long story, but the picture I prize most is in my dining room. I picked it up at a garage sale and would have bought it at any price. It is of a small child, obviously royal, being questioned by what looks like a Puritan and the inscription at the bottom of the picture is "When did you last see your father?" When I arrived home after purchasing the picture, I began to research, and the small royal is Charles II. The Puritans are Cromwell's men. Add that to my love of the Covenanters and you have someone who is hungry to know all I can about that period in history and about the people who stood so firmly for King Jesus. My second favorite picture is that of a group of Covenanters meeting on some lonely hillside. It took some work to hunt that one down...

Hopefully, someday soon, my husband and I will travel to Scotland. I'm thinking now that we need to include your area of Ireland in our trip. I want to kneel at the graves of some of these, in my humble opinion, great men and women of the faith and give thanks to Almighty God for what they did, and for what they preserved and perpetuated for my generation and for the men and women who would follow after them. (I loved your "Be prepared" blog post. I would love to traipse through muddy fields too.......)

God bless,

Jen