N00528:194
Winter-meditations directions how to employ the leisure [sic] of the winter for the glory…Winter-meditations directions how to employ the liesure [sic] of the winter for the glory…
Winter-meditations directions how to employ the leisure [sic] of the winter for the glory of God. : Accompanied with reflections, as well historical, as theological, not only upon the circumstances of the winter, but also, upon the notable works of God, both in, creation, and providence: especially those, which more immediately concern every particular man, in the whole course of his life: and upon the religious works, wherewith every man should acknowledge God, in and from the accidents of the winter. / By Cotton Mather. ; With a preface of the Reverend, Mr. John Higginson.Winter-meditations directions how to employ the liesure [sic] of the winter for the glory of God. : Accompanied with reflections, as well historical, as theological, not only upon the circumstances of the winter, but also, upon the notable works of God, both in, creation, and providence: especially those, which more immediately concern every particular man, in the whole course of his life: and upon the religious works, wherewith every man should acknowledge God, in and from the accidents of the winter. / By Cotton Mather. ; With a preface of the Reverend, Mr. John Higginson.
Boston: printed by Benjamin Harris over-against the Old-Meeting-House, 1693
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Particularly; The FIRST Article in our Commemoration may be, The Benefits of God, relating to the Protection which attended our FIRST PRODUCTION: Our Formation in the Womb, and Reception from the Womb. About our being Shaped in our Mothers, we may say, Lord; I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully Made. And about our being Taken from our Mothers, we may say, Lord, Thou art He, who took me out of the Womb. As for our Bodies, 'tis impossible for any thing to be better contrived, than they are in the whole Make of them. What a sad thing would it have been, if these had been monstrously Deformed, or Defective in any One of all their Members? Truly, There are Thousands of Mercies and Wonders, in one perfect Child! And then, as for our Spirits, They are certainly the most Noble ⟨p. 49⟩Things that inhabit this Lower World. How doleful had been our plight, if these had Lost any of their Faculties; were we Fools, or Mad? But indeed, we have Souls capable of a very vast Improvement, in the Honouring & Enjoying of our God! What shall I say? That we are Arrived Alive among the Living on the Earth, is a Thing full of Marvels, if not of Miracles. What if we had Expired Embryo's, whereby all our Opportunities to Glorify God, had been Lost for ever; yea, and this, after our being Animated, but perhaps, before our being any way given unto God in the New-Covenant, by our Parents; who 'tis possible were themselves, At that Time Strangers from the Covenant of Promise, and so Having no Hope, for their miserable Offspring? O think on what thou Art, and what thou mightest have been! But,
Particularly; The FIRST Article in our Commemoration may be, The Benefits of God, relating to the Protection which attended our FIRST PRODUCTION: Our Formation in the Womb, and Reception from the Womb. About our being Shaped in our Mothers, we may say, Lord; I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully Made. And about our being Taken from our Mothers, we may say, Lord, Thou art He, who took me out of the Womb. As for our Bodies, 'tis impossible for any thing to be better contrived, than they are in the whole Make of them. What a sad thing would it have been, if these had been monstrously Deformed, or Defective in any One of all their Members? Truly, There are Thousands of Mercies and Wonders, in one perfect Child! And then, as for our Spirits, They are certainly the most Noble ⟨p. 49⟩