John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word
태초에 말씀이 계시니라
ในเริ่มแรกนั้นพระวาทะทรงเป็นอยู่แล้ว
初めに言があった
आदि में वचन था
ஆரம்பத்தில் வார்த்தை இருந்தது
Başlangıçta Söz vardı
В начале было Слово
Na początku było Słowo
Pada mulanya adalah Firman
Lúc đầu có Ngôi Lời
For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
— Psalm 27:5
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. (Mark 11:25–26, KJV)
It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.
The law of your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
— Psalm 119:71-72
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
— Philippians 4:5-7
They called him a traitor to his class.
Born into one of the wealthiest families in England. He turned against the system that made him rich.
His wallpaper is probably in your house right now.
His name was William Morris. Born 1834.
He looked at what factories were doing to Britain. Cheap goods. Ugly homes. Exhausted workers. And he said: this is wrong.
So he carved printing blocks from pear wood by hand. Mixed natural dyes from plants. Printed wallpaper one sheet at a time.
Strawberry Thief. Willow. Acanthus. Still sold today. Over 160 years later.
But there was a problem he couldn't solve. Handmade things cost more than factory things. The workers he made them for couldn't afford them. Only the rich could buy what he built for the poor.
He knew it. It tortured him.
So he went further. He chose to fight for working people. Gave over a thousand speeches in seven years. Published penny pamphlets so workers could afford his ideas.
His own class called him a traitor. They considered making him poet laureate. Then decided he was too dangerous.
In 1885 police charged a workers' rally in East London. Morris was in the crowd. They arrested him. He went straight back to the streets.
He said something that still holds true:
"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
He died in 1896. His doctor had one explanation: he had done more work than most ten men.
They carried his coffin on a cart with wildflowers. Unpolished oak. No gold. No marble. Just honest wood.
You probably have one of his designs in your home right now. But they never told you who made it. Or that he was arrested for what he believed.
His designs are in millions of homes. His story should be too: https://t.co/rih7iKwnvf
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He was DEFEATED ELEVEN TIMES.
Attacked. Threatened with DEATH. Nearly blind.
Addicted to opium just to function. They told him to stop. He spent forty-six years refusing.
His name was William Wilberforce. Born in Hull, 1759.
He could have lived a comfortable life. Wealthy family. Safe seat in Parliament.
Instead he chose to destroy the most powerful economic system in the British Empire.
The slave trade.
He didn't fight alone. Thomas Clarkson rode 35,000 miles gathering evidence.
Olaudah Equiano, man who had been enslaved himself, gave testimony that no politician could ignore.
Wilberforce took their evidence to Parliament.
They voted no. He came back. They voted no. He came back. Lost by eight votes.
MPs deliberately stayed away so they wouldn't have to choose a side.
He came back. Again. And again. And again.
By now his eyesight was nearly gone. His body was breaking. He'd been on opium since he was 29.
Twenty years after he started, they voted again.
283 to 16.
The slave trade was abolished.
But he wasn't finished. Slavery itself was still legal. He fought for another twenty-six years.
In July 1833, lying in bed, barely able to move, he received word. Parliament had voted. Slavery was abolished across the entire British Empire.
Three days later, William Wilberforce died.
He held on just long enough.
They buried him in Westminster Abbey.
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