stop reading and start reflecting, or you'll rattle

If you're even the slightest bit into children's literature, here's a great read: E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler.

My friend Jenny introduced me to this book a few years ago. It won a Newberry Medal in 1968, so it's been around for a while. It's about two children who run away and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as you do.

All that's by way of preamble. What I really want to share today is a wonderful quote from this book that my friend Andrew posted on his Facebook profile:

I think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside of you. If you never take time out to let that happen, then you accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you. You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them. It's hollow.

Here's a similar statement from Challies:

There is something in my nature, I think, that wants to glance instead of linger. I get restless quickly, I look for a moment and then move on to other things. I have come to see that it is often better to linger, that certain things can only be seen and grasped by that long and dedicated study.

So true! So very true! Sometimes I have to stop reading a thousand blog posts and just slow down and...read. A book. Slowly.

Sometimes I have to stop reading and just slow down and...think. Pray. Ponder.

Or I start to rattle.

The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies

I don’t usually read Christian books during our summer vacation. I take a couple away with me, worthy inclusions in a tottering pile of books, but my hand reaches for the novels and the Christian books remain untouched. But last summer was different. I picked up Tim Challies’s The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion, skimmed the first few pages, and enjoyed them so much that I read it cover-to-cover in a few days.

It’s hard to think of anyone better equipped than Tim Challies to write a book about the impact of technology on the Christian life. He’s a husband, father, and pastor; a web designer by trade; and a popular evangelical blogger (at challies.com). Living a life interrupted by the ‘beep’, in the glow of the latest iDevice, he began to suspect his technologies owned him as much as he owned them. The Next Story is the fruit of his reflections. Its goal is to enable us to live in the “sweet spot” where practice, theory and theology overlap, helping us to use technology in a way that’s thoughtful and biblically informed.

The title of The Next Story refers to the fact that a new digital era has just begun, and we don’t yet know what ‘the next story’ will look like. Challies encourages us not to reject technology, for it’s a good gift of God, but also to use it carefully, for it’s a powerful enabler of our idols. He warns that technology tends to become “mythic”, so that we assume it always existed and no longer examine it critically. Yet each new technology carries hidden ideologies that impact how we live and view the world. From oral transmission, to the written word, to the printed word, to the telegraph, to the television, to the internet… with each leap forward in the way we communicate and entertain ourselves, power shifts, society morphs, and even our brains change shape. Challies encourages us to “talk to our tech”, to question its impact and use it with “disciplined discernment”.

 In the second, longer part of the book, Challies gets practical, riffing on six themes that help us think through the effect of technology on our lives. With each issue, he digs deep into the Bible and the impact of technology and recommends a course of godly action. Here are some of the many challenges I took away:

• Communication: Do I value online relationships with people I’ll never meet over relationships in my family, church and community? 
• Mediation/identity: Have I begun to feel more comfortable with mediated communication—emails, text messages, Twitter—than with face-to-face communication? 
• Distraction: How much do I depend on the constant interruptions of emails, Facebook comments and text messages to make me feel important and valued? 
• Information: Is my mind so flooded with small, constant snippets of information that I am overwhelmed, unable to read and reflect deeply? 
• Truth/authority: Do I seek knowledge from true experts, or are my knowledge and beliefs crowd-sourced? 
• Visibility and privacy: Would I be willing to make my web history public? How careful am I about what I write, view and make public online?

I particularly appreciated the questions for reflection at the end of each chapter; they helped me examine my own use of technology and led me to repentance and prayer.

There were a few points where I would have loved to ask some further questions of Challies. His use of the Bible was spot-on when it came to wisdom issues, but, while I appreciated the way he unpacked big theological ideas and applied them to the digital world, the links weren’t always clear to me. He also made some interesting points I’d love to see further fleshed out. Yes, the medium shapes the message, but what’s the real impact of the fact that we view preachers on screens, follow sermon outlines on PowerPoint, sing hymns from projected words, and read the Bible on electronic devices? And while I appreciated his detailed reflections on the negative impact of technology, I was surprised that a man who uses his blog so well for God’s glory didn’t spend more time on how to use the opportunities provided by technology to grow God’s kingdom.1

I thoroughly enjoyed The Next Story. Challies is an able thinker and writer: the history he describes is fascinating, the philosophy stimulating, and the theological and pastoral reflections insightful and challenging. I needed the lessons this book brought me, and I went away inspired and equipped to use technology in a more thoughtful and godly way. I encourage you to read it slowly and allow it to examine and shape you.


1. John Piper’s post Why and how I am tweeting is a good example of such a reflection. ↩


This post first appeared at The Briefing today.

gems from online: Why I hope real books never die

I might be some kind of Luddite but I love this. It's one of the reasons - the main one being cost - why I won't be getting an iPad anytime soon. Cool as they are. And I do acknowledge their coolness. And I wouldn't refuse one if you gave it to me. But all the same. Give me a book any day.

Old books are like old friends. They love to be revisited. They stick around to give advice. They remind you of days gone by...And they prefer not to be invisible....If all my books disappeared on to a microchip I might have less to lug around and I might be able to search my notes more easily, but I’d lose memory; I’d lose history; I’d lose a little bit of myself.

The other problem with ebooks is their bland sameness. This is why I can’t make it much farther than two books on any electronic device. The books don’t feel like anything. The font is the same and the white space is the same. There is no variance in paper or size or weight. Each book, when read on an ereader, loses its personality...

In a virtual world, with all its ethereal convenience, there will be many...who long for what is real. Something solid. Something you can hold. Something that hangs around even when you are finished with it. Something like a book.

Kevin Deyoung - Why I hope real books never die

image is from Sapphireblue at flickr

online meanderings - failure, singleness, love and other stuff

There was much wealth this week on the internet. Much that encouraged me and made me think. Comfort in failure and in sorrow. Gold. (And a lot of Challies.)

On loving and speaking.

How do you love the way Jesus loves? - The very question I've been asking about the year ahead. I'm adding this to my reading list. A book by Phil Ryken reviewed by Justin Taylor.

Evangelism uncomplicated - Cathy says lots of things about relaxing into evangelism - things I'm finding to be true in my own life.

On sorrow, discouragement and failure.

Looking forward - I love the way Amy writes. I love this post. Hope expressed in small things, in the face of sorrow.

Crushed (written)/(podcast) - Challies talks honestly about his struggle with pride and failure when his sermons, books and blog posts don't measure up to his standards, or to others' achievements. How comforting it is to know that I am not alone! - and that "all is well with my soul".

Post prayer satanic whispers - A truly helpful post for all who feel discouraged about their prayers (hands up, everyone!) by David Murray. HT Challies.

Self-centredness in woundedness - "'Woundedness’ is compounded self-doubt and guilt, resentment and disillusionment...As badly wounded as persons may be, the resulting self-absorption of the human heart was not caused by the mistreatment. It was only magnified and shaped by it.'" A really helpful post by Ali quoting a chapter from the Keller's book on marriage.

On failure in parenting.

For parents who have failed - Such comfort! "Even if we haven’t gotten it all right, even if we’ve trained little Pharisees or have a house full of prodigals." We've got both kinds. We are both kinds. But we have God's grace. From Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson's Give Them Grace via Justin Taylor.

Parents beware: Proverbs are not promises - Why we can't assume that because the kids turn out badly, the parents have done a lousy job. David Mathis quotes Richard Pratt HT Challies (yes, that's another 4-way link.)

On the related topic of raising boys.

Raising boys: A pep talk on The Talk - Jeff Robinson discusses a book which looks worth reading: Time for The Talk: Leading Your Son Into True Manhood (Shepherd Press) by Steve Zollos.

CS Lewis on "little cyclones" (young boys) - Now I know why I'm sometimes (often!) so tired. The main refrain of our holidays: "Quieten down! GO OUTSIDE!". Tony HT Challies.

On singleness.

How to serve "the singles" in the local church - A very helpful article by Carolyn McCulley.

On communication: oral, written and technological.

A short history of communication - "In an oral culture...word-for-word accuracy was less important than thought-for-thought accuracy." Challies answers a question I have long had about the differences between the gospels.

Empty minds, empty hearts, empty lives - “We are becoming symbiotic with our computer tools...The experience of losing our Internet connection becomes more and more like losing a friend.' ...What we are seeing is the death of memory." Challies is helpful, as always, when discussing the impact of technology on memory and friendship.

On humanity.

Pondering Psalm 139 - Ashley, a woman with a disability, writes, "I believe with every fiber of my being that I was no accident...My heart grieves for the little ones gone and the mothers and fathers who never held their tiny bodies or kissed their sweet new skin. No earthly thing can fill a chasm so deep as a child lost. The grace of the cross, though, is a greater thing than the weight of our sin, and redeeming love awaits us all."

Where does blackness and whiteness come from? - "The genetic difference between blacks, whites, browns, etc. is so marginal that we’re left to affirm Acts 17:26: 'He made from one blood all nations of men.'”

In China, human costs are built into an iPad - The human cost of our toys. (The last three are all HT Challies.)

On everything.

Nothing nothing - This quote keeps popping into my mind. I used it to discuss the existence of God with my eight-year-old just the other day. "The first basic answer is that everything that exists has come out of absolutely nothing...Now, to hold this view, it must be absolutely nothing. It must be what I call nothing nothing. It cannot be nothing something or something nothing." Francis Shaeffer quoted by Challies.

And just for fun.

A rap for crochet - For my friend Jenny, crochet-er extraordinaire. Well done, Ali! But when do I get mine?

I must write something again some time - Please do, Meredith! (But only if you're putting your family and other relationships first, and have fulfilled all your primary responsibilities, and aren't just doing it out of people-pleasing, and, and, and... :) )

how I (try to) control my use of technology

I've talked about how technology tempts us to neglect rest and relationships and I've shared some links on the the temptations of technology and the temptations of blogging and facebook.

These issues have been going round and round my head ever since I started blogging! I soon realised that while blogging encourages me and others, it also tempts me to neglect my responsibilities, to care too much about what other people think of me, and to think too much about myself.

I re-assess how and when to blog and use technology all the time. There are days when blogging fits neatly into my life, and days when everything bends under the strain. There are days when I set sensible limits, and days when I'm foolish and use my time poorly. There are days when I look to God and his grace for my identity, and days when I worry about whether people are reading and what they think. I have to keep repenting and fixing my eyes on Jesus.

I'm gradually learning to blog while making sure it doesn't take over my life and emotions. Here's some of my guidelines, which I don't follow religiously:

• no computer after the kids get home from school (this one's flexible, but I keep coming back to it as the best way to keep time free for children and home!)
• no computer in the evenings unless Steve is working (I stick to this one pretty well)
• no blogging on weekends - this time is for family, rest and reading! (ditto)
• I try - not always successfully! - to limit blogging to an hour or so after lunch
• I check messages during a few discreet times every day, and try not to check when I need to give my attention to something else soon (it's surprising how "checking a few emails" can turn into "writing a few long messages")
• I don't check the stats on my blog more than once a week so I don't get obsessed with how many people are reading
• I don't check or notice other bloggers' stats or popularity or interest in me at all if I can help it! The moment I do, I start playing the comparison game
• I take holidays from blogging (thanks Rachael for reminding me of this!) - at the moment, a couple of weeks mid-year and over Christmas - yes, I'm due one soon, so you can expect another archives series in a week or so!

and other technologies:

• I don't read many blogs - those I do read, I read through Nicole's shared items about once a week, to make the process quicker (thanks, Nic!)
• I don't use facebook much at all, except to keep in touch with people
• if I haven't prayed in the morning, I don't take my iPod on my walk
• if I'm tired out, I don't listen to Christian talks in the car

These guidelines help me to exercise self-discipline, remind me to love the people around me, and keep me from exposing myself to unnecessary temptation (Gal 5:22-25, 6:7-8, Matt 5:29-30); but external guidelines only take you so far. More important than all these guidelines is fixing my eyes on Jesus.

Unless I'm secure in God's love and grace, I'll look to people for security, identity and hope. Only as the beauty and grace of Christ capture my heart will I be more interested in loving others than in what they think of me.

Like everything else, blogging is just so many clanging cymbals unless it's done out of love and for the glory of Jesus.

image is from stock.xchng

online meanderings: the temptations of blogging and facebook

How much happier you would be if you only knew that these people cared nothing about you! How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it; if you could really look at other men with common curiosity and pleasure; if you could see them walking as they are in their sunny selfishness and their virile indifference! You would begin to be interested in them because they were not interested in you. You would break out of this tiny and tawdry theater in which your own little plot is always being played, and you would find yourself under a freer sky, in a street full of splendid strangers. (G.K Chesterton, Orthodoxy, p.12)

I've been trying to find that quote ever since Nicole posted it, because it's such a wonderful antidote to bloggerly self-absorption. When I started blogging, I had no idea that it would tempt me to think so much about what people think of me.

It's good to know I'm not alone as I struggle with temptation. I've been encouraged and challenged by other bloggers over and over again as they reflect on the temptations blogging brings into their lives: self-absorption, people-pleasing, and careless words. All this in addition to being distracted from face-to-face relationships, as I talked about last week!

So why do we do it? - to encourage others, to share our thoughts about God's truth, to enjoy God's good gifts of reading and reflecting and writing - good reasons all. But I need to continually remember that I write, as I do everything, for an audience of one.

on Facebook, blogging and self-absorption

Shannon put my struggle into words in No, really I'm fine:

But there is undeniable part of blogging that feeds a part of us (me) that is, perhaps, not the most sensible part: the part that craves to "measure" ourselves, the part that is naturally drawn to a false sense of urgency, the part that needs to be heard even when there's not really anything to say.

In One of the dangers of blogging Tim Chester warns

We receive our 'seductive applause' almost immediately through hits, comments, Technocrati ratings and so on. If you desire the approval of your peers, or would-be peers, then you say the right things, commend the right books, knock the wrong people and so on. Within a constituency it can all become dangerously self-reinforcing. We commend one another for echoing back the same thoughts. All the time, we feel we are part of the cognoscenti, the cabal of people who know what is right. But 'on the last day we stand or fall on the approval of one Person, one Master, the Lord Jesus.’

Josh Harris' observations in My one and only week on Facebook could apply equally to blogging:

[Facebook encourages] me to think about me even more than I already do--which is admittedly already quite a bit. ... If that egocentrism is a little flame, than Facebook for me is a gasoline IV feeding the fire.

You'll find the same warning in Justin Buzzard's list of 9 ways not to use and 6 ways to use Facebook in Redeeming Social Life Online:

Don’t allow Facebook and online life in general to make you a more distracted person. ... Don’t allow Facebook [blogging] to tempt you away from your calling and work. ... Don’t let Facebook [blogging] cause you to think about yourself more than you already do.

on blogging and a sense of obligation

Crystal Paine gives some great guidelines for blogging in Keeping computer time in balance, although I'm nowhere near growing out of the "sense of obligation" she describes here! Maybe you could pray for me to change in the way she has:

I don't feel obligated by blogging or emails. ... I used to feel a sense of obligation to answer every email, respond to every comment, and faithfully blog something each and every week day.

In my post an end to blogging? you'll find some links to other posts by godly bloggers reconsidering their commitment to blogging.

on love, comments and blogging

Wendy Alsup reminds us of the importance of being careful about how we write online in Speaking the truth in love: "I read too many Christian blogs this weekend. It was quite depressing. First of all, I am a glutton for sensationalism. I admit it."

Lionel Windsor gives some helpful guidelines for blogging and commenting in On love and blogging: "So here are some suggestions for what constitutes a godly comment ... Apply it to anything you do on the internet—blogging, posting, commenting, etc. Be sons of God. Be godly."

That sums it up pretty well!

online meanderings: the temptations of technology

An awful lot of words have been written online about how to reduce the number of words written online!

These words have convicted, challenged and encouraged me not to let blogging and technology take over my life.

on technology and relationships

Challies' A great servant an evil master is just a little too close to home. Does this scenario sound familiar to you?

Technology sticks its foot in the door of so many areas of my life. When I sit down to read to my children we may be interrupted by a phone call. As we head outdoors to play, I may do a quick check of my email and spend fifteen minutes typing out a reply that could easily wait until the next day; and then, while I play with the children, I am distracted, mulling over what I might have or should have said.

Trevor Cairney in Writing, communication, technology and relationships warns,

Don’t replace personal conversations with your friends, family and neighbours with SMS messages, Facebook, emails and Blog posts. Yes, they can work well when you’re on the other side of the country or the world but there is no substitute for personal communication.

Trevor shares his personal list of ways to limit the impact of technology on relationships in The Soul in Cyberspace. He quotes Groothius on "absent presence" - what an uncomfortably challenging idea! Tell me you haven't done it:

"People practice an 'absent presence' constantly as they talk on cell phones while checking out at the supermarket or at Starbucks, as they send text messages during classes instead of attending to teachers and students, as they play video games instead of getting to know their spouses and children." Ouch!

Do technology and church mix? See Josh Harris' Should we use Twitter during church? and John Piper's More on not using Twitter during worship services.

on entertainment addiction

I was searching through some old posts for this post when I rediscovered a lovely poem by Dorothy L.Sayers and a great quote from Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the effect of constant entertainment on spirituality.

Mark Driscoll muses on our addiction to noise in Silence:

As I drifted off to sleep, it dawned on me that I had not had one minute of silence during my entire day. It was possible, I realized, that I could live the rest of my life without ever again experiencing silence.

In that moment, God deeply convicted me that I was addicted to the false trinity of our day, the gods known as Noise, Hurry, and Crowds.

John Piper answers the question How do you break free from an addiction to entertainment?

on MP3 sermons and the real thing

You might remember my Sola Panel post to MP3 or not to MP3?

Dan Phillips in Porn and paper pastors writes about the danger of giving your heart to theologians you will never meet and comparing them to your real pastor.

These paper pastors maintain the perfect distance. If you don't want to hear something, they don't press it — or you can instantly shut them up, snap! They never ask you to do something uncomfortable and follow up on you. They never persistently probe an area of sin, in you, in person, eyeball to eyeball... nor will they. Church discipline will not be a threat with them. Ever.

Because they don't know you from Adam.

I've got some more links on the temptations of blogging, but I think I'll save those for next week, when I'd also like to share how I (try to) control my computer use. In the meantime, I've got some reflecting and repenting to do!

Mia Freedman on the temptations of technology

This week, I'll be chatting about technology idolatry. It's a constant temptation for me to neglect relationships while I sit at the computer, writing a blog post, reading and responding to emails, or working on a Bible study or seminar.

I laughed as I read this piece by Mia Freedman, one of my favourite columnists, because I recognised myself in it only too well:

Technology ate my holiday. ...

I know I'm not the first to notice how laptops, mobiles and BlackBerries have blurred the line between work and every other aspect of life. ... During my not holiday, I spent several hours working every day. ... Just snatches of time. Three minutes here, 10 minutes there. A phone call. Some social texts. A few emails. Some blogging. ...

I consider myself an accomplished multitasker but trying to work and play simultaneously is a mental shift that's often uncomfortably jarring for me and my loved ones, especially when we're trying to holiday. You see, whenever I'm on my phone or laptop, I lose the ability to hear and all peripheral vision. You can ask me a question repeatedly and I will not hear it or see you because I am in The Technology Tunnel.

This is why I don't have a BlackBerry. During the five minutes I worked on television, I had one. ... "It frees you from your computer!" exhorted Black Berry devotees. ... What they neglected to mention, however, was that a BlackBerry chains your desk to you. ...

Initially, I imposed strict rules governing the use of my BlackBerry. ... I had to limit the number of times I checked it at home.

Like any addict, flimsy mental rules were not enough to keep me clean; I needed razor wire and an electric fence. Since neither came with my BlackBerry, it wasn't long before I was checking my emails IN THE SHOWER. And yes, this is possible if you hold your arms out far enough in front of your body. Needless to say, I was delighted to return my BlackBerry ...

Technology aside, my expectations for holidays are already low due to the face I'm a parent, which means doing your relaxing in relay form. This is interspersed with terse exchanges about whose turn it is for a break. ...

Now I just need to find a holiday destination with no mobile reception or broadband.*

Now, I don't take a laptop or use my mobile phone on holidays (heaven forbid!), I only learned how to SMS a year ago, and I've never had any interest in Twitter or a BlackBerry, although I do love my iPod. But I'm all too familiar with the way technology cuts into rest and relationships.

Like Mia, I don't hear or see anything when I'm working, and I'll sit down for "5 minutes" and find myself still at the computer half an hour later, sometimes to the soundtrack of squabbling children. So this is a constant battle for me!

How do you try to be self-disciplined in your use of technology? I'd welcome any suggestions!

* Mia Freedman's column in The Sunday Age M magazine, May 3, 2009.

image is from stock.xchng

blackout boredom

Now it may be true that people were "enjoying an hour of quiet darkness" during Earth Hour, as the FAQ page claims. It's not that hard to fill one hour once a year.

But what about when the "hour of quiet darkness" becomes more than an hour? When it fills all the hours of every evening? Where would we be without our evening entertainment?

Martyn Lloyd-Jones' observations about "blackout boredom" during World War II suggest that quiet enjoyment would be the last thing on our minds:

And yet perhaps there was never a time in the history of the world when it was so difficult to learn [contentment in all circumstances] ... as it is today. The whole of life is so organized at the present time as to make it almost impossible to live this self-sufficient Christian life. Even in a natural sense we are all so dependent on the things that are being done for us and to us and around and about us, that it has become most difficult to live our own lives. We switch on the wireless or the television and gradually become dependent upon them, and it is the same with our newspapers, our cinemas, our entertainments. The world has organized life for us in every respect and we are becoming dependent upon it. There was a good illustration of that in the early days of the last war when the blackout regulations were described as the 'boredom of the blackout'. People found it almost impossible to spend a succession of nights in their own homes doing nothing. They had become dependent on the cinema, the theatre and various other forms of entertainment, and when these things were suddenly cut off they did not know what to do with themselves - 'the boredom of the blackout'. That is the very antithesis of what Paul is describing here. But increasingly it is becoming the tendency in the life of man today; increasingly we are becoming dependent upon what others are doing for us. It is the very reverse of what Paul is teaching here.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones saw constant entertainment as a spiritual issue, for it makes us dependent on outside circumstances for happiness. Who are we when the TV and computer is turned off? When cinemas and cafes are shut? When the constant barrage of stereo and iPod ceases?

Who are we when we are alone with God?

The quote is from Martyn Lloyd Jones Spiritual Depression pp. 281-2.

lights out

It was earth hour last night, and 24 cities turned off lights and appliances for an hour to reduce climate change.

It's fascinating how many ancient Christian virtues have become trendy again, thanks to environmentalism: self-control (reduce), thrift (re-use), generosity (recycle: where we give old clothes to the poor instead of throwing them away). Although it would be nice if these virtues were practised with a more eternal perspective.

But how odd that turning the lights out has become a moral issue. For this, too, was of concern to Christians half way through last century.

Did you know that Christian moralists were worried about the impact of lights after dark, and constant entertainment, on the spiritual life? Like frogs in water slowly brought to the boil, we have failed to notice how these things affect us, but they were acutely aware of the impact of modernity on the spiritual life.

Here's a satirical poem by Dorothy L. Sayers about the spiritual effects of light after dark:

For an Evening Service

The day that Nature gave is ending,
The hand of Man turns on the light;
We praise thee, Progress, for defending
Our nerves against the dreadful night.

As o'er each continent and island
The switches spread synthetic day,
The noise of mirth is never silent,
Nor dies the strain of toil away.

We thank thee that thy speed incessant
Provides upon this whirling ball
No time to brood on things unpleasant -
No time, in fact, to think at all.

Secure amid the soothing riot
Of crank and sound track, plane and car,
We shall not be condemned to quiet,
Nor left alone with what we are.

By lavish and progressive measures
Our neighbour's wants are all relieved;
We are not called to share his pleasures,
And in his grief we are not grieved.

Thy winged wheels o'erspan the oceans,
Machining out the Standard Man.
Our food, our learning, our emotions
Are processed for us in the can.

All bars of colour, caste and nation
Must yield to movies and the mike;
We need not seek communication,
For thou dost make us all alike.

So be it! let not sleep not slackness
Impede thy Progress, Light sublime;
Nor ever let us glimpse the blackness
That yawns behind the gates of Time.

So here's an idea: let's start a Christian earth hour. Let's turn off the lights and the television, and spend some time praying and meditating on death and eternity.

Outrageous!

The poem is from Dorothy L. Sayers The Whimsical Christian pp.6-7.