The Stove
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Stove
Scripture Reference:
- Revelation 3 (further images / scripture text)
Description: To resist the winter’s cold, a family gathers around the warm stove. The poem reminds the reader that similarly, thoughtfulness and reflection can enable one to resist evil, even in the most difficult situations, and so faith and hope can sustain (Revelations 3:10). The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649–1712), whose initials are at the lower right, was responsible for drawing and etching this emblem and wrote the accompanying poem.
Motto: Freed through avoidance.
Poem:
When the Cold, in the winter
At its onset bites fiercely,
Then one sits closely together
With his occupation and activity,
Or whatever else it may be,
And Tempers this cold with heat.
The Excess of things hurts,
Therefore one seeks a defense,
So that it does not totally oppress us:
If only, the calm mind
Would keep a Defense at hand,
Against the largest and heaviest things.
A Defense in time of need,
Yes at the Hour of Death,
Whose intense Pressure must retreat,
Before the Good and well calmed heart,
Fed by firm Faith and Hope,
That Defense will pay off,
And will pass Life from this Time,
Into the Temperament of Eternity.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker).
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