Thank You, John Bunyan
A LETTER TO A DEAD PURITAN
DEAR JOHN BUNYAN,
I am writing in response to your book The Pilgrim’s Progress, and all I can say is “Wow, that’s deep.” The allegory of a treacherous journey suits the Christian life perfectly. You wrote about despair, doubt, temptation, vanity, fear, freedom, passion, and patience all from a 1600’s jail cell, but oh how those topics ring true today. If you could only see the 21st century. Our culture doesn’t physically lock us up, yet, but our own independence and pride are isolating enough.
Your main character, Christian, has a tenacity that I really admire. Sure, he gets tripped up along the way, but he never quits. His hope fuels him, and in the end he is greatly rewarded. We, on the other hand, give up so easily. It really doesn’t take much. His belief in the truth, not himself, enables him to put one foot in front of the other even if it means leaving behind dear family and comfortable circumstances.
The vivid imagery you described with such poetic language is beautiful. However, your vocabulary choices take a bit of deciphering for our modern lexicon. No matter, an animated film was released in the last few years that encapsulates your message perfectly. But, I suppose you’ve never seen a movie, have you? It’s like moving illustrations…oh, never mind.
Thank you, John, for engaging your mind during your years in the jail, for not laying down and dying. Today, your writing is on bookshelves around the world, and countless people have been encouraged by what your suffering produced. May we exhibit even a fraction of your courage in our world today.
Sincerely,
A Fellow Christian Sojourner
This hill though high I covent ascend; The difficulty will not me offend; For I perceive the way of life lies here. Come, pluck up, heart; let’s neither faint nor fear. -John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress