Book Review: Winged Life

I read this little book years ago and, as I always do with a book like this, I mark passages that are precious to me. It had been so long, I decided I would like to reread it. In the intervening years, the Lord has done so much in my heart that this spoke to me in completely different ways. I underlined so much this time through that the book has more pages written on than not, if I were guessing. It was definitely not a random choice off the shelf. The truths expounded within have done nothing short of expanding the definition Love in my spirit.


Hannah Hurnard wrote several book, but the one for which she is best known is Hind's Feet On High Places, considered a classic among Christian books. In reading some biographical information before writing this book review, it seems that Hurnard went from a well grounded Biblical message to a universalist understanding of Christianity wherein she believed that all those condemned to Hell at the Day of Judgement would eventually end up in Heaven. This, along with a belief in reincarnation and a definite shift toward Pantheism are cause for great concern in her later writings. 


But in this specific book, I found many blessings. 


Within the first several chapters, Hurnard challenges believers to take very seriously the charge for us to take every thought captive to Christ. She explains that the life of freedom and victory that we know is our inheritance and birthright as those clothed in Christ is possible only when we allow Him to completely transform our thought life. We, as those bought by His Price, are not allowed a half hearted commitment to this standard and the results of obedience are nothing short of transformational. When we view the world through His eyes, there is no room for thoughts centered on self love.


Another profound principle discussed was the worth of each individual in the eyes of a Christian. That sounds routine. But as she explains how we can consider someone to be irritating or boring or not really worth our time, she holds that careless standard up to compare it with the way Love sees those same individuals. If I truly Love as He loves, I could never again grow impatient or irritated with any, except the ones He Himself rebuked for their lack of need for a Savior. To truly see the world through His Love would require me to die to self love at an entirely new level, a level I hadn't really recognized until compared to the standard set forth here. 


She tells the story of St. Francis of Assisi to illustrate this point:

"I was reading Ernest Raymond's book on St. Francis of Assisi, and came to the description of Francis, just after his conversion, riding on horseback near the crossroads where stood a leper hospital. He had such a horror of lepers and of the stench coming forth from the Lazar house that generally he avoided the place altogether. But on this occasion, lost in thought, he did not notice where he was until suddenly his horse shied, and then he saw a leper standing in the path before him, asking for alms.

His first impulse was to fling his purse to the poor wretch and then spur his horse away from the spot as quickly as possible. 'But was not the leper with his eaten face and his outcast's uniform a symbol of suffering and poverty? Before he could think again, leaping from his horse and forcing himself all the time, he went to the leper, put all his money in his hand and then lifted that hand and kissed it. And in Italy the kiss of the hand is the kiss of reverence to the representative of Christ.'"  

Definitely a book that was worth the few short hours it took to read, with only 173 pages. I will be "chewing" on this one for a while. 


#40 out of 52 for the Week 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge.

The 52 Book Challenge