Have you heard of I. Lilias Trotter? Neither had I until one fateful day. I was browsing the new books at the library. There it was... A Blossom in the Desert compiled and edited by Miriam Huffman Rockness.
In the book I learned that "I. Lilias Trotter was a well-born daughter of a distinguished Victorian family whose heart led her unto volunteer work in London" and later as a missionary in Algeria. She was an artist. She was a theologian. She loved nature. She was the student of John Ruskin - artist, critic, social philosopher. He believed that without a knowledge of drawing, one could not fully appreciate nature: "I would rather teach drawing that my pupils may learn to love Nature, than teach the looking of Nature that they may learn to draw."
Here are a few quotes from the book.
"Measure thy life by loss and not by gain,
Not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth,
For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice,
And he who suffers most has most to give."
"Long is the time to learn
Short is the time to do,
Yet it is worth it all
If the work in the end be true."
"Take the very hardest thing in your life - the place of difficulty, outward or inward, and expect God to triumph gloriously in that very spot. Just there He can bring your soul into blossom."
I hope to find her autobiography, A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter also by Miriam Huffman Rockness at the library. I think I could glean a lot from Miss Trotter's wisdom.
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