Graduation Speech: The Godly Man's Picture

Good day to you, my friends, and thank you so much for inviting me to be with you this fine morning! I trust you have all been hard at work, being studious of the Scriptures? Yes? No? In any case, since all of you have hopefully read my work, The Godly Man’s Picture, Dr. Brewer has seen it fit for me to come and tell you a little bit about my life. I must admit that my memory is hazy, but I believe that I was born around 1620 in the area of Yorkshire. I do not remember much of my early years, only that I received my education at Emmanuel College in Cambridge. I earned my Bachelor’s degree of arts in 1639 and then my Master’s in 1642. Upon graduating, I chose to stay in the home of a widow by the name of Lady Mary Vere, whose family held to Puritan practices, until I was offered the position of pastor and lecturer at St. Stephen’s in London. My service there started in 1646 and it lasted nearly 16 years. Not too shabby, if I may say so myself! Shortly after beginning pastoral work at St. Stephen’s, I met Abigail Beadle, who I would later marry in 1647. Over the next thirteen years, we would have seven children, but alas, four of them died while they were still at a very young age. Unfortunately, I was not meant to live a life of peace and tranquility. You see, my country was thrown into a civil war, with religion being a major cause. It was so bad that even the king, Charles I, was executed and Oliver Cromwell took over as Lord …show more content…
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Kapic, Kelly M., and Randall C. Gleason, eds. The Devoted Life: An Invitation to the Puritan Classics. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 2004.

Wang, David Chou-Ming. “The English Puritans and Spiritual Desertion: A Protestant Perspective on the Place of Spiritual Dryness in the Christian Life.” Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care 3, no. 1 (2010):