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I hold and am held

‘I hold and am held’.

This is the translation of the Latin phrase ‘et teneo et teneor’ which is part of Spurgeons College motto and can be seen in the centre of this photograph of the stained-glass window at the College.  In his autobiography, CH Spurgeon puts it this way:

“Our desire is that every man (and women) may both hold the Truth, and be held by it; especially the truth of Christ crucified”  [C. H. Spurgeon – Autobiography. Vol.II, p.150.]

According to the College website the motto originated in a book by Dora Greenwell, the 19th-century authoress and it is likely that Spurgeon saw the crest and motto in Dora Greenwell’s early writings and adopted it for the College.

While I was studying at Spurgeons and seeing this window every time I was there, it was a phrase which became dear to my heart.  Sometimes when I pray, I hold a ‘holding cross’. When I was first introduced to this, I thought a very odd Idea and was probably even quite suspicious of it.  What difference would holding a bit of carved wood make?  However, I find the tactile nature of this cross nestling in my hand reminds me that ‘I hold and am held’ and this can mean different things in different seasons.

There are times when I am holding on with a thread and my holding feels weak and in these moments, the being held seems stronger and so important.  At others I feel confident in the cross that I hold and I don’t sense the holding needing to be as great because it is somehow easy, and yet of course Jesus’ strength and holding power remains the same in both circumstances and every circumstance in between.

So ‘I hold and am held’ reminds me that my faith rests on his faithfulness, my ability to be gracious rests on his grace over me, any strength that I have is greater and deeper because of his power at work in me.  I might be holding, but he is the everlasting arms forever holding me underneath, beside me, over me and around me.

What about you, what does it mean to you ‘to hold and be held’ by Christ?

The thought this week was written by Beth Powney, EBA Regional Minister