Letters on the Human Body/Letter 11
LETTER XI.
- My Dear Sir,
My Dear Sir, I again address you on the subject of your own body, because I am persuaded that your attention cannot be too often called to a piece of mechanism which bears so evidently the marks and characters of a DIVINE ORIGIN; and which, besides, as I have attempted to prove on several former occasions, is replete with such abundant lessons of holy and edifying instruction.
In some of my late communications it has been my endeavour to bring you acquainted with the wonders which are transacted in the inside of your earthly cabinet,—will you allow me now to direct your view more to its outside aspect, whilst you behold it either in the act of moving from place to place, or in the no less astonishing and significant acts of standing still and sitting down?
Perhaps you have never heretofore reflected in your own mind either on the singularity or significancy of these acts. It is surely high time then, that you should inquire into a mystery in your own constitution, which, like many similar mysteries, is so frequently either overlooked by the thoughtlessness of man, or regarded as an ordinary natural act unworthy of notice, but which, when explored by the light of the ETERNAL TRUTH, is calculated at once to delight, to instruct, to exalt, and to sanctify the explorer.
For, to begin with walking, whence comes it to pass, let me ask, that by setting one leg before the other alternately, you are enabled to move your whole body from place to place, and to continue its motion for any given length of time? Your body, it is plain, cannot move itself, neither has your body, of itself, the discernment to see, that the alternate protrusion of its legs is requisite for that purpose; for your body is mere matter, and mere matter, as every one knows, is utterly incapable either of putting itself in motion, or of devising any methodical plan fitted to produce motion. Every time then that you walk, you have an absolute demonstration that some other principle, superior to matter, is at work within you, and that you are indebted to the principle for this power you possess even of setting one leg before the other.
The case is the same with the act of standing, which therefore may be regarded, and indeed ought to be regarded, as an act of mind rather than of matter. For only take the trouble of making the experiment with a dead body deprived of mind, and you will find it impossible to preserve it, without the aid of foreign resources, in an upright position like that of standing, whatsoever pains you take about its centre of gravity. Whensoever then you stand, you have again the most demonstrative evidence that your mind is at work, notwithstanding your inattention to it; and that thus, whether you walk or stand, some invisible and supernatural agency is present, proving' to you at once its existence, and the necessity also of its operation to enable you either to move your body forwards, to different places, or to keep it erect in the same place.
But what shall I say of the bodily act, or rather the bodily posture, of sitting?—I can only observe, that I should never have thought of calling your attention to this mode of bodily rest, had I not found that it is often alluded to in the Sacred Scriptures, or WORD OF GOD; and that in this HOLY BOOK it is applied in a figurative sense, to denote a state of the mind or spirit of man in regard to the grand concerns of eternal life and salvation. Indeed, I should hardly have thought the acts of bodily walking and standing deserving your notice, unless those acts also were found worthy of being recorded in the above HOLY BOOK, as significant acts, and thus as connected with man’s spiritual and eternal interests.
Allow me then to call to your recollection a few passages in the Sacred Volume of Revelation, from which it will be manifest, not only that the acts of walking, of standing, and of sitting are applied to the mind, but also in what sense they are applied; in other words, what we are to understand by spiritual walking, spiritual standing, and spiritual sitting.
And here it is not a little remarkable, that in the very first verse of the first Psalm, mention is made of all the above acts in connection with each other; for to this purpose it is written, “Blessed is the man that WALKETH not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor STANDETH in the way of sinners, nor SITTETH in the seat of the scornful;” from which words it must be evident to every intelligent reader, that both walking, standing, and sitting are predicated of the mind, and not of the body; and though it may not perhaps be easy to discover, at first reading, what is involved in each particular act, as applied to the mind, yet a little serious thought and reflection may lead to this discovery. For who cannot see, that the acts of mind are threefold, viz. of the will, of the understanding, and of both united? It is possible, therefore, that a man may act from the will and not at the same time from the understanding, or from the understanding and not at the same time from the will, or from both united. And is there any improbability in supposing, that the ALMIGHTY, Who is doubtless better acquainted with the mind of man and its acts than even man himself, may have had these different mental acts in view, when, at the commencement of the inspired book of Psalms, He was pleased to deliver the above qualifications to receive His DIVINE BLESSING? Is it, I say, improbable that the ETERNAL FATHER OF MERCY AND OF WISDOM should endeavour to lead His creatures to distinguish in themselves the several principles of their own minds, both by allusion to the three bodily acts of walking, of standing, and of sitting, and by reference to the three distinct evils, called the counsel of the ungodly, the way of sinners, and the seat of the scornful, as applying to those acts? Is there not therefore good ground to conjecture, that by walking in the counsel of the ungodly is meant the evil of thought in man’s understanding; and that by standing in the way of sinners is meant the evil of intention in his will; and that by sitting in the seat of the scornful is meant evil of the will confirmed by the understanding; consequently, that true blessedness, as pronounced by the ALMIGHTY, consists in removing all evil from the thought, from the intention, and from the will? I trust, Sir, that I am not perplexing you with useless subtleties, but I confess, that the more I reflect on the above three characters of bliss, as noticed and pointed out to us by the DIVINE MIND, so much the more I feel inclined to believe in, and to be convinced of the truth of, the above interpretation.
Possibly however you are not so well satisfied, on this occasion, as myself, and therefore, if you will allow me, I will adduce a few passages from the Sacred Scriptures, in further confirmation of the spiritual signification of the several bodily acts of walking, of standing, and of sitting, as applied to the mind.
To begin then with walking.
Take now your BIBLE, and turn to the following passages:—“If ye WALK contrary to Me, and will not hearken unto Me; I will also walk contrary to you,” [Levit. xxvi. 21, 23, 24.]. Again, “If ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your GOD, to WALK in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him,” [Deut. xi. 22.; chap. xix. 9.]. Again, “Thou hast delivered my soul from death, that I may WALK before GOD in the light of the living,” [Psalm lvi. 13.]. Again, “O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us WALK in the light of the LORD,” [Isaiah ii. 5.]. Again, “Remember now, O LORD, I beseech Thee, how I have WALKED before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart,” [Isaiah xxxviii. 3.]. Again, “For they would not WALK in His ways, neither were they obedient to His law,” [Isaiah xlii. 24.]. Again, “All people will WALK every one in the name of his GOD, and we will WALK in the name of the LORD our GOD for ever and ever,” [Micah iv. 5.]. Again, “Yet a little while the light is with you; WALK while ye have the light; believe in the light,” [John xii. 35, 36.; chap. viii. 12.]. Again, “The Scribes asked, Why WALK not thy Disciples after the tradition of the Elders?” [Mark vii. 5.]. Walking is also predicated of JEHOVAH, where it is said, “I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you, and will WALK in the midst of you, and will be to you for a GOD,” [Levit. xxvi. 11, 12.].
What now, let me ask, do you conceive to be the proper idea of walking, as suggested in the above passages of HOLY WRIT? Is it not manifest that the idea is spiritual, and not natural; and consequently, that it has reference to the mind, and not to the body? For how can the body, with any propriety, be said to walk contrary to GOD, or to walk in the ways of GOD, and in the name of GOD? Is it not manifest too, that the idea, as being spiritual, has relation to the thought and understanding of man, rather than to the will and its affections, since the ways of GOD, to which walking is applied in the above passages, have peculiar reference to the truths of GOD’S MOST HOLY WORD, which truths, during man’s regeneration, arc the first and more immediate objects of his intellectual faculty, to the intent that by obedience to their heavenly dictates, the will and its affections may finally be wrought upon and fixed in the principle of heavenly good? For it is a well established fact, that, previous to the acquirement and possession of such heavenly good, it is necessary that man be initiated into the knowledge of it, and thus that the understanding, for a time, should lead and direct the will, until the will is qualified, in its turn, to rule and govern the understanding. Walking then, according to this idea, is the first act of regenerate life, yet with a view to the succeeding acts of standing and sitting, inasmuch as intention and will, which are spiritually figured by standing and sitting, are successive graces, which can never be attained by man until he be first obedient to the science of what is good and true, as taught in the Divine pages of revealed wisdom.
Let us now see, in the second place, what is spiritually meant by standing.
Open then your BIBLE again, and mark well the following passages:—“At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to STAND before the LORD,” [Deut. x. 8.]. Again, “Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the GOD of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to STAND before Me for ever,” [Jer. xxxv. 19.]. Again, “These are the annointed ones (sons of the olive) STANDING before the LORD of the whole earth,” [Zech. iv. 14.]. Again, “The angel said to Zachariah, I am Gabriel that STAND in the presence of GOD,” [Luke i. 19.]. Again, “When ye STAND praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any,” [Mark xi. 25.]. Again, “After this I behold, and lo! a great multitude, which no man could number, STOOD before the throne and before the LAMB,” [Rev. vii. 9, 11.]. STANDING is also predicated of the ALMIGHTY, where it is written, “He shall STAND at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul,” [Psalm cix. 31.].
And now (let me again ask you) is it not evident, that, in the above passages, STANDING is applied to the mind of man, and not to his body, and is thus significative of a state or posture of the mind? For how else can it be said, with any propriety, that the tribe of Levi should STAND before the LORD; that Jonadab the son of Rechab should not want a man to STAND before the LORD for ever; that these are the two anointed ones standing before the LORD of the whole earth, &c.? Why too should mention be made of STANDING during the act of prayer, when it is well known that kneeling and prostration of the body are the general postures with which that act is attended? [see Psalm xcv. 6.; Daniel vi. 10.; Luke xxii. 41.; Acts vii. 60.; chap. ix. 40.; chap. xx. 36.; chap. xxi. 5.]. But if the mind be alluded to in the above passages, what shall we say is the state or posture of the mind which is intended to be described? Rather, what can it be, but a state or posture of fixed purpose and determination, which, when applied to man in reference to his GOD, as in the instances of the tribe of Levi, &c., in the above passages, can be nothing else but a posture of deliberate and steady intention to love and to serve his GOD? For standing, we know, as relating to the body, implies at once both fixedness and uprightness, and consequently, when it regards the mind, as it must be allowed to do in the above extracts from the Divine volume of Revelation, no other meaning can possibly be annexed to the term. You see then, my Friend, that in the language of the ALMIGHTY, which is the most correct and expressive of all languages, not only walking but standing has a figurative meaning, and that according to this meaning it involves in it lessons of the deepest and most important signification.
I shall now, lastly, bespeak your attention to the term SITTING.
Open then your BIBLE again, and let the following passages have their due influence on your mind:—“Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of GOD, and wept, and SAT there before the LORD, and fasted that day until evening,” [Judges xx. 26.]. Again, “O LORD, Thou knowest my DOWN-SITTING and mine up-rising, Thou understandest my thoughts afar of,” [Psalm cxxix. 2.]. Again, “Therefore have I cried concerning this, their strength is to SIT STILL,” [Isaiah xxx. 7.]. Again, “Thou shalt not go into the house of feasting, to SIT with them,” [Jer. xvi. 8.] Again, “Then shall he stand and feed in the strength of LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his GOD; and they shall abide (shall SIT),” [Micah v. 4.]. Again, “Comde down and SIT in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, SIT on the ground: SIT thou silent, and enter into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: she saith in her heart, I shall not SIT as a widow,” [Isaiah xlvii. 1, 5, 8.]. In like manner mention is made of SITTING in darkness, Isaiah xlii. 7.; of SITTING in the assembly, and SITTING alone, Jer. xv. 17.; of SITTING at the right hand and on the left, Matt. xx. 21.; of SITTING on the right hand of power, Matt. xxvi. 64.; Mark xvi. 19.; speaking of the LORD.
Will you permit me then again to ask, what you conceive to be the proper interpretation of the term SITTING, as adopted in the above passages? Doth it relate to a bodily posture, or to a mental state? In other words, is there not sufficient reason to conclude, that the bodily posture of sitting, like that of standing, and like the operations of five bodily senses, spoken of in a former letter, is applied figuratively and significantly in the vocabulary of the ALMIGHTY, to denote the permanency of some spiritual purpose, rather than repose from corporeal labour? For, according to any other construction of the above passages, why should it be said of the children of Israel and all the people, that they wept and SAT before the LORD, when one would rather have supposed, that their sorrow would have inclined them to prostrate their bodies in the deepest humiliation and supplication? Why, again, should the Psalmist exclaim, O LORD, Thou knowest my DOWN-SITTING and mine up-rising, if by down-sitting he had meant nothing else but his sitting on a chair? Why, too, should it be said of the Egyptians, their strength is to SIT STILL, if strength and sitting still had involved only the strength and repose of the body? We are constrained then to explain the above passages according to some spiritual idea, if we would collect from them either the sublime wisdom which lies concealed in every expression of Divine language, or the interesting instruction which that language was intended to convey to the children of men. If then by walking, when the term occurs in the BOOK OF GOD, we are not to understand progressions of the body from place to place, but rather some changes in the interiors of the mind and its affections; and if by standing, as applied in the same HOLY BOOK, our attention was intended to be excited to the fixedness and uprightness of the mind’s purpose and intention rather than to bodily posture; then by SITTING nothing else can be meant, in the language of the ALMIGHTY, but permanency in the state of the interiors of the mind. And since all such permanency is connected with the will or ruling love of man, therefore sitting is a bodily posture more peculiarly applicable to such will or love, as walking and standing are more applicable to the thought or intellect. It is evident then, that not only the human body, with its members and viscera, but likewise all its acts and operations, form a kind of spiritual alphabet, from which the DIVINE WISDOM constructs its speech for the expression of its ideas, and thus for the sublime and blessed purpose of communicating- to man all the eternal purposes, laws, and ordinances of its mercy and lovingkindness.
Much more might be said on this interesting subject, respecting the mode of imparting Divine ideas, as adopted in the BOOK OF REVELATION, which mode is not confined to the human body, but extends to all natural objects universally. For, would the time permit, it might easily be shown, that between those objects and the DIVINE MIND there exists what may not improperly be called an established analogy, or harmony; by virtue whereof, every natural object is symbolical, or representative, and is thus expressive of spiritual and Divine sentiment. But as this subject is far too copious to be brought within the compass of a letter,—and since it has, moreover, been lately discussed in a most valuable publication, entitled, The Plenary Inspiration of the Scriptures Asserted, and the Principles of their Composition Investigated, with a View to the Refutation of all Objections to their Divinity; by the Rev. S. Noble; (published by W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, Stationers’ Hall Court, Ludgate-street, London);—I think it far better to recommend this work to your perusal, being well convinced that you will discover in it the most satisfactory proofs of an enlightened piety, of scrutinizing inquiry, of methodical arrangement, and at the same time the most cogent arguments in favour of the plenary inspiration, &c. intended to be vindicated.
In the devout prayer, then, that you may derive from the above publication all that solid comfort and extended edification which thousands have derived before you, I remain,
Dear Sir,