The Truth About Victoriana
The patriocentrics adore the Victorian period, but from the discussions with my elderly family and loved ones, they related stories to me that were a far cry from lavender and lace. I also love to look at the idealized paintings and have quite a collection of doilies and tatting that belonged to my elderly neighbor next door to where I grew up.
But there is not a great deal of truth that is told about the era, as well as other eras in American History. I've read where one woman in particular teaches her following that women slaves stayed home in their cabins and cared for their children, rather than the bitter truth. (Women took their infants with them into the fields, some of them meeting their demise as a consequence.) This woman goes on to say that the wives of slaves in the American South were keepers of their homes and had dinners waiting for their husbands, in a fantasy I can barely dream would be offered anyone, let alone as instruction. There were certainly kind and gracious slave owners, but I never heard of anything like this "Leave it to Beaver" version of married slaves. I suppose that these slaves homeschooled their children in classical literature, too?
I believe that the truths that I was told about the Victorian period should be declared,
To that end, I've organized some thoughts about the true history of the Victorian period in particular and created "The Truth About Victoriana." I do not limit it to the Victorian Era, and I would like to explore the 1950s and perhaps some of the issues faced by the early church in months to come. (There is still much still forthcoming concerning the Victorian Era.)
We can idealize and idolize these times, but we are called to be in this world and not of it in the time period that God has placed us. If this subject is of interest to you, please come visit. There will be much more to come.
From Hannah Hurnard's "The Kingdom of Love":
Pages 61-62:
As one reads the writings and experiences of Christians in all ages, one cannot help realizing that, though this experience is common to all, it would seem that in every generation the actual experience of entering into the deliverance which our Lord Jesus gives varies very greatly.
And I think that one of our chief difficulties is that we suppose that the same formula which helped others in an earlier generation must be the formula for our age too.
Whereas in this also our Lord seems to love great variety, and if we cannot find this blessed experience, “I thank God through Jesus Christ,” in the same way as our fathers found it, it simply means that we shall find it in some other way.
