Bear Ye One Another's Burdens & The Strait Gate and the Broad Way by Hannah More
The first part, “Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens,” is about helping your neighbor. All people are portrayed as having a burden but individuals who help each other make their own burden manageable. The “secret packet,” or the black part of the burden, written in indelible ink, is concealed at all cost and gives extra weight to the burden.
The second part, “The Strait Gate and the Broad Way,” is an allegory of the parable of “The Ten Virgins” with their lamps in Matthew 25; cautioning people to be ready. It is combined with the parable of “The Narrow and Broad Gates” of Matthew 7:13, which speaks of not being weighed down with things of this world.
Original title: Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens: The Valley of Tears: A Vision.
The Strait Gate and the Broad Way: Being the Second Part of the Valley of Tears.
Paperback 4X6; 66 pages; 1 illustration; ISBN 9781941281857, Vintage Chapbook Series
HANNAH MORE (1745-1833) was born in Stapleton, Bristol, England. Early in her life she was interested in the theater and wrote plays. For six years her fashionable social life grew to include many important people, but when it lost its appeal she turned to religion. Dr. James Stonhouse is credited with Hannah More’s spiritual awakening, but it was John Newton’s influence that gave energy and devotion to her spiritual walk, and she became a strong Evangelical Christian. Education was a strong theme in her life and William Wilberforce encouraged her to start schools for the education and moral advancement of poor village children. To counteract immoral forces in society, Hannah More, her sister Sarah, and others wrote a series of successful chapbooks called the “Cheap Repository Tracts.” She was also active with a group called the “Clapham Sect” that met at Henry Thornton’s house in Clapham. She had a vast social circle and wrote a multitude of letters. Her talent for writing also produced many books of drama, poetry, hymns, fiction and religious instruction.
