William Aitken

“Chronological snobbery” was a term coined by Owen Barfield in the 1920s and made popular in the writings of C.S. Lewis in the 1950s. The phrase communicates our modern prediction to regard the past as intrinsically inferior to the present. New is better than old. In my endless quest to find more prayers, I came across an old book of sermons by William Hay MacDowall Hunter Aitken (1841-1921). I’m still researching why he has five names! He was a Church of England clergyman with Methodist sensitivities who left a settled parish to become an itinerant preacher. In his 1883 collection of sermons, The Highway of Holiness: Helps to the Spiritual Life, he includes two sermons on sisters Mary and Martha. Martha represents the active life for him while Mary epitomizes the contemplative life. In his Martha sermon, (“Thoughts on the Active Life”), he commends her initiative in inviting Jesus and his disciples to dinner. Aitken asks several times in his sermon, “Have you invited Jesus into your home and hearts?” In his companion sermon on Mary (“Thoughts on the Contemplative Life”), he underscores that in all three gospel stories about Mary, she assumes a posture of sitting at Jesus’ feet. Aitken concludes it’s not enough to receive Jesus into our hearts and homes; we must also sit at Jesus’ feet. We often set these two sisters in opposition to each other in the church. On one side is busy Martha; on the other is quiet, contemplative Mary. Is it better to sit at Jesus’ feet or be engaged in his service? How to choose? I’m intrigued with Aitken’s observation of his day, “We live in a proverbially busy time. Everything seems to go at railway speed. We are all so very busy.” Sound familiar? Action and contemplation complement each other. Jesus led an active, contemplative life. Our doing for God flows out of our being with God. Aitken’s simple prayer says it all: