Don't be so "Sensitiveness": Thoughts on the Poem by John Henry Newman

Sensitiveness by John Henry Newman

Time was, I shrank from what was right,
From fear of what was wrong;
I would not brave the sacred fight,
Because the foe was strong.

Now that I’ve discovered this whole technique of “interrupting” the poem, I’m going to roll with it.  This is why we can’t have nice things. 

Oh, this first stanza. It’s full of regret. Who hasn’t had this happen?  You’re in a group, and someone says something that is wrong. Maybe it’s a hateful remark. Maybe it’s just a plain lie. And no one says anything.  And you don’t say anything, for fear of what someone else will think. I know I’ve done that. (I hope I haven’t done that much.) It’s the kind of incident that seems harmless when it happens, but then time proves it wasn’t harmless, not at all.  It’s the kind of thing that wakes me up in a cold sweat at night.


But now I cast that finer sense
And sorer shame aside;
Such dread of sin was indolence,
Such aim at heaven was pride.

Our culture so often trains us to be “sensitive,” and not just in the good way of being “sensitive to others” but also “sensitive to offending” even when offending is just what we need to do.  Let me explain. A person who is holds hateful opinions, like racism, in their heart, is a person that needs to have that view “offended.” We do no one any favors by allowing them to continue in their self-conceived lies. “Speak the truth in love,” as Ephesians 4:15 says. 

So, when my Saviour calls, I rise,
And calmly do my best;
Leaving to Him, with silent eyes
Of hope and fear, the rest.

As a Christian, I have the responsibility to follow Ephesians 4:15 in speaking out against even the most “inconsequential” wrongs, and in my actions towards other people. I’m so fallible as a human being, but as Newman says, all I can do is my best, and “Leave to Him…the rest.” 

I step, I mount where He has led;
Men count my haltings o’er;—
I know them; yet, though self I dread,
I love his precept more.

It’s always easier to tear down than build up. As a reader, it’s easier for me to find fault with a book than point out its virtues. The same is true with humans. No matter how good a person is, there are always “haltings” that attract other people’s criticism. It’s important to try to take correction, of course. But if I hold out from doing what I can to fight the evils of this world until after I’m perfect…let’s just say, it’s never to get done.