King Canute =
(or Cnut] the First of Denmark (AD 985-1035) was a larger-than-life =
figure in Anglo-Saxon history.=A0 He led an army into England after the =
death of English King =C6thelred ‘the =
Unready’, and failure of his son Edmund Ironside to gain support =
of the people. Canute was crowned King of England in AD 1016, married =
the widow of =C6thelred and continued to expand his realm, adding =
King of Norway and King of Scotland to his titles. =
He was so =
powerful that he imagined he could command the sea to stop rising and it =
would obey him. To prove this, he moved his throne to the beach, =
only to discover to his chagrin that the sea was not his to =
command. He could not roll back the ocean. Many stubborn =
people learn the hard way by taking a tumble. Kind Canute learned =
by getting a soaking. Having learned his lesson, King Canute could =
teach modern people a thing or two about trying to tell aging to stop; =
there are limits to earthlings’ abilities. Stopping aging is =
not within those limits.
It is =
noteworthy that the noble king, after getting his feet and legs wet, not =
only admitted he was wrong, but proclaimed that earthly power has limits =
and that the power to rule the waves belonged only to the One who had =
created them. As a result, he never again wore his crown, but =
ordered that it should be placed above a cross symbolic of which the =
Lord of heaven and earth hung. Those who resist the incursion of =
age should admit their limits as the king did, and should acknowledge =
that their times are held safely in the hands of Him who, as the King of =
Kings, rules the cosmos and all that is within =
it.
Addendum: This =
may certainly be applied to the current arguments about “Climate =
Change” and ludicrous notions that politicians or policies of man =
can change the ocean or by law change the cycle of =
nature!
[Adapted from =
a story in the book Improving with Age by Stuart and Jill =
Briscoe]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] =
www.grif.net
"Jesus =
Knows Me, This I Love!"