In Shakespeare\u2019s time, people still lived out their days under the shadow of divine reward and punishment. Lady Macbeth hopes otherwise. \u201cA little water clears us of this deed,\u201d she says as she and her husband rinse their hands of blood. How wrong she was. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our leaders could use a dose of the humility of Edward, the Earl of March, who prays<\/a>, \u201cEre my knee rise from the earth\u2019s cold face \/ I throw my hands, mine eyes, my heart to Thee \/ Thou setter-up and plucker-down of kings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n King Lear knew what it was to be set up and plucked down, and only in his reduced state did he taste the wonder of grace. Shakespeare often echoes what theologians call \u201cthe theology of reversal,\u201d as expressed in the Beatitudes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the paradox of grace, he describes<\/a> in As You Like It<\/em>, \u201cSweet are the uses of adversity \/ Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous \/ Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.\u201d Dogberry, the comical constable in Much Ado About Nothing<\/em>, gets his words mixed up in a deeply ironic way when he says to a wrongdoer, \u201cO, villain! Thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> William Shakespeare\u2019s honest tragedies and bold assumption of God\u2019s providence offer insight in our contentious election season.
From @philipyancey<\/a>:https:\/\/t.co\/O4FQPN9eCB<\/a><\/p>— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) October 23, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>