CMP Review 2026-07-12

In 1887 Charlotte Mason wrote, “If parents could but be got to believe in the omnipotence of habit and in the ease with which a habit is formed, we should live to see a moral revolution, a kingdom of heaven amongst men.” And where should parents go to learn about how a habit is formed? Mason pointed them to science. “Truly His commandment is exceeding broad, and grows broader day by day with each new revelation of Science” (vol. 2, p. 161).

But as powerful as habit is, for Mason it is only part of the story. It is one of the “‘few, faint, and feeble’ flashes which Science is as yet able to throw upon the mysteries of being. But is this all? Ah, no; this is no more than the dim vestibule of Nature to the temple of grace” (vol. 2, p. 162).

What lies outside the dim (yet mighty) vestibule of habit? It is a spiritual realm where we find supernatural beings of good and evil. We find the power of prayer and the snare of temptation.

In volume 2, Mason said, “we are not concerned, however, to say one word here of how ‘great is the mystery of godliness’” (p. 162). She saved that mystery for her poems. Learn about the other side of habit and find fortification against the scourge of temptation in today’s deeply spiritual poem by Charlotte Mason on “The Three Last Temptations.” Find it here.

@artmiddlekauff