The text below was taken from Michael Haykin’s book 8 Mulheres de Fé, future version of Editora Fiel.
For various reasons, Richard and Margaret’s marriage became the London affair. There was a difference in age between them: Richard was old enough to be his father. There was also a disparity between his social situation: the death of his mother in 1661 gave him a considerable finally, everyone knew that Baxter had advocated for celibacy for ministers because of the need to devote himself unreservedly to his departments. Although Baxter never asserted roman Catholic opinion that the marriage of ministers was illegal, he warned them with a desire to monitor the situation. Herd:
- Is the work of the sacred ministry sufficient to occupy every man.
- If it had the strength and attributes of many men? Trust me.
- Anyone with a wife should spend a lot of time with him.
- Praying and other family chores.
- And.
- If you have children.
- See how much care.
- Time and work they will require.
However, once married, Baxter discovered that the marriage was very in tune with him. As he wrote after his wife’s death: “We live in inviolable love and mutual complacency, aware of the benefit of mutual help. In almost nineteen years,” I don’t remember once when we diverge in terms of love or interest?
This statement, however, must be read in light of the fact that neither Richard nor Margaret were peaceful people. Richard, a scholar and, in a way, an inmate, was not very trained in social treatment, was sometimes in a bad mood. and had a sharp tongue, perhaps a side effect of living regularly with pain. Margaret then gently deceived him when he was reckless or hurried in his speech. Axter writes: “If my appearance wasn’t pleasant, it would make me adapt (which made my weak and painful physical condition reluctant to do so). “Baxter learned a valuable lesson about marriage through Margaret’s correction of her faults. It was nothing less than a school of sanctification. And he counseled husbands and wives in Christian Directory:
Don’t hide the state of your soul and don’t hide your faults from each other. You are like a flesh and you must have a heart: and just as it is so dangerous for a man to be unknown to himself, it is also very harmful for a husband or wife to be unknown to each other; in these cases, they need help. It’s just a foolish sensibility on your part when you hide the disease from your doctor or a helpful friend; And who should be as kind and helpful as you?In fact, in some cases, when revealing a fault or secret will only extinguish affection and not encourage the help of the other, it is advisable to hide; but this is not the most common case. Opening one’s heart to each other is necessary for mutual help.
Margaret, on the other hand, was often overwhelmed by irrational obsessive fears, nightmares and fears, partly because she nearly died at least four times before meeting Richard, in addition to a traumatic incident, especially during the Civil War, when her mother’s castle was surrounded, invaded and looted, and the men were killed in the face?She also suffered from several diseases, including regular migraine attacks and pulmonary congestion. Moreover, did you have an extraordinary, clear and direct vision?and was able to assess the character of men and women very quickly. She tended, according to Baxter, to be calm and reserved, and given her gift to understand others, she hoped that “everyone would understand her spirit without expressing it. “people, including her husband, didn’t understand what she was thinking, she was frustrated. Despite this, unlike her husband, she had no problems with anger.
In addition, the circumstances in which they were raised gave them very different expectations about how to take care of the house, which undoubtedly caused tensions. Baxter writes about himself:
I grew up between simple and lower people [i. e. , humble], and I believed that washing stairs and rooms, keeping them clean like cutting boards or plates, and all the cleaning talk and trifles all this was a sinful curiosity and a time spent on the servants, who could, during that time, read a good book. But she, who had been raised differently, had a different way of thinking.
The years he spent left Baxter indifferent to the problems of managing a house. Despite this, I was happy to have someone efficient take care of your business. The Baxter house, like all the others except the poorest of the time, had servants. Margaret was an extremely kind and caring woman to them, almost always letting go of her faults and mistakes. She insisted that Richard catechist them once a week and teach them the Bible. There were times when Baxter was so involved in his studies that he forgot his obligation. So Margaret kindly called him with a “problem” in her face. The servants of the Baxter house were treated as a family: “Did she have a sincere desire for conversion and the salvation of her servants?”Baxter wrote, “And I was very concerned that many of them (though tolerable in their service) would go away as ignorant, or without realizing true piety, when they came; and those who have truly converted with us, have you loved them as children?
By: Michael Haykin. © EDITOR FIEL. Website: editorafiel. com. br, translated with permission.
Original: Richard and Margaret Baxter: their marriage profile, © Faithful Ministry. Website: MinisterioFiel. com. br. All rights reserved.