Stepping Heavenward: A Timeless Classic

Posted on by Michele Morin

“Write what you know.”
It’s good counsel, and, if followed, results in a kind of authenticity that can’t happen if the author attempts to write outside her realm of real-life experience. Maybe that’s why people are still reading Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss, a fictional journal that follows the life of Katherine Mortimer from her first entry at age 16 [“How dreadfully old I am getting!”] to her final entry just before her death.

Like the author, Katherine lost her father at a young age and suffered from a variety of physical ailments.  The intersection between fiction and reality becomes even more pronounced as Katherine struggles to allow her suffering to “do its perfect work” in her life.  Through weariness and discouragement, through joy and fresh resolve, the message of Stepping Heavenward is ageless and relevant to wives and mothers set in all times (and might just encourage their men-folk, too).  Written in 1869, the quaint style and slow pace is charming, and I smiled at the extreme modesty of that era in which babies just appeared in the narrative with only veiled references to pregnancy (and certainly none whatsoever to the delivery!), and I winced at the eagerness of mothers to have their children’s gums lanced to ease teething discomfort [really??] and at the prevalence of infant mortality and debilitating illnesses.

These were hard times compared to the 21st century, and yet Elizabeth harnesses Katie’s sufferings and points her readers to a God who “notices the most trivial act, accepts the poorest, most threadbare little service, listens to the coldest, feeblest petition, and gathers up with parental fondness all our fragmentary desires and attempts at good works.  Oh, if only we could begin to conceive how much He loves us, what different creatures we should be!”

It was heartening to see Katie’s trajectory of growth and to receive her offerings of homely wisdom:

“One must either stop reading the Bible altogether, or else leave off spending one’s whole time in just doing easy, pleasant things one likes to do.”

(And this was written in the days before binge-watching Netflix was a thing . . .)

In an era when women were not encouraged to read deeply or to flex their theological muscles, Elizabeth Prentiss offered solid teaching on various topics, all embedded within the narrative arc of Katie’s life.

On the sacred versus secular dichotomy:

“You speak of going back to your music as if that implied going away from God.  You rush from one extreme to another.  The only true way to live in this world, constituted just as we are, is to make all our employments subserve the one great end and aim of existence, namely , to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

On mothering:

“What a fearful thing it is to be a mother!  But I have given my children to God.”

“When you speak contemptuously of the vocation of maternity, you dishonor, not only the mother who bore you, but the Lord Jesus Himself, who chose to be born of a woman, and to be ministered unto by her through a helpless infancy.”

On perfectionism:

“I am a little afraid of ‘good people.’ I fancy that they are always criticizing me and expecting me to imitate their perfection.”

On prayer:

“I have learned, at least, to face and fight such distractions, instead of running away from them as I used to do.  My faith in prayer, my resort to it, becomes more and more the foundation of my life, and I believe . . . that nothing but prayer stands between my soul and the best gifts of God.”

On perseverance through trials:

“There is no wilderness so dreary but that His love can illuminate it, no desolation so desolate but that He can sweeten it.  I know what I am saying.  It is no delusion.  I believe that the highest, purest happiness is known only to those who have learned Christ in sick-rooms, in poverty, in racking suspense and anxiety, amid hardships, and at the open grave.”

If the author’s name, Elizabeth Prentiss, rings a bell, check your nearest hymnal, for in addition to Stepping Heavenward, Elizabeth also wrote “More Love to Thee,” and I will share the lyrics below.  You can also click here to see a YouTube video of the hymn sung by Fernando Ortega.

More love to Thee, oh Christ, more love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea
More love, oh Christ, to Thee
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest
Now Thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be
More love, oh Christ to Thee
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Elizabeth Prentiss wrote with the aim of encouraging others along the path of a fierce discipleship.  I’ve been intending to read Stepping Heavenward ever since the days when Elisabeth Elliot was recommending it on her radio program, and now, since it is in public domain, it is available very inexpensively in various editions.  The author joins Peter in exhorting her readers to “think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.”  The struggle to pray, to be patient, and to care for others is very real, but so is the comfort that God brings to the heart that looks to Him for daily strength.
//

I read this book in community with Emily Whitten as part of a series called World Radio Classic Book of the Month.  Each month, Emily introduces World Magazine readers to one more timeless treasure.   Last month my high school senior and I dove into Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell.  I encourage you to subscribe to World Magazine for sound words about news and culture, and then to join Emily and me for the upcoming series of classic reads which I believe will include Knowing God by J.I. Packer (and who doesn’t want to read or re-read Packer?).

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four sons, four daughters-in-love, and five adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

48 thoughts on “Stepping Heavenward: A Timeless Classic”

  1. I’ve read it twice and will read it again when I order my own copy. And I’ll read it again and again. Such precious truths.

    Thank you again, Michele

    Blessings,

    djm

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  2. Michele,
    Isn’t amazing that writing from long ago centuries, still echos and applies to today’s trials. We think that what we deal with is somehow new and different. Meanwhile until a new Heaven and a new earth come, we will be destined to face the same struggles. I do love the wisdom found in the writings of yesteryear. I always say I was born in the wrong century…
    Blessings,
    Bev xx

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    1. My husband and I say the same thing about ourselves! I’m thankful that my resolution to read more older books this year has started out so well. Till We Have Faces was wonderful, and now this!

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  3. Dear Michele,
    Oh, yes, what a wonderful book to follow on the heels of “Till We Have Faces.” I did read Elizabeth Prentiss back in the day when Elisabeth Elliot recommended her. I even found a rare copy (back when my husband had access to a Christian College’s library) of her letters, that were just so encouraging and strengthening. But thank you for reminding me of “Stepping Heavenward.” I have such sweet memories of reading it aloud with my daughter just after she turned 13. Maybe it’s time for another re-read now, from this perspective, years later! –Blessings to you, Dear Sister!

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    1. I’m so happy that you were able to have that wonderful experience with your daughter. Makes me wonder if I have a granddaughter someday . . . Always good to hear from you!

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    1. The slow pace and amount of internal dialogue are definitely marks of a book from another era, but there is so much to be gained from a leisurely trip through this book. Hope you enjoy Take 2!

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  5. She reminds me a lot of C.S. Lewis in these words: “One must either stop reading the Bible altogether, or else leave off spending one’s whole time in just doing easy, pleasant things one likes to do.” They would have been friends

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  6. I have not read anything by this author but I am sure going to check our library for her books. Glad I stop by.

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  7. Beautiful story. Such stories of another time are profound in how they speak into the “now” of our lives. Thank you!! (I also love the hymn!) Of course Elisabeth Elliot never steers us wrong on any recommendation! Blessings on you, my friend!

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  8. “You speak of going back to your music as if that implied going away from God. You rush from one extreme to another. The only true way to live in this world, constituted just as we are, is to make all our employments subserve the one great end and aim of existence, namely , to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” <- This is everything! #MASTERPIECE living at its finest! Blessings!

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  9. Wow, what a wonderful book! Thank you for bringing this one to my attention, Michele. I will definitely need to grab a copy! Such encouragement in these passages you shared. Thanks!

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  10. Michele, Thank you for reminding me about this great book. I read it years ago when I was still homeschooling my children. It was a perfect read at that time of my life. 🙂

    Blessings,

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  11. Oh, how I relate to those thoughts on Perfectionism! It’s no surprise that pesky feeling has been around for so long! It’s interesting to hear the commonality in our feelings despite the gap in time.

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    1. Yes, we have the idea that our fears and foibles are unique to this era. Somehow it’s comforting to know that people a hundred years ago felt pressure to perform — even before Pinterest was invented!

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  12. Oh, my! It was SO good to see this precious, old book reviewed here! Truly, this book is probably in the top five books that have affected and influenced my life. It is so chock full of wisdom and counsel for us all, regardless what era of time we live in. Thank you for speaking of it…reading your review felt like revisiting an old friend.

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    1. You were wise to read it when you were younger. I wish I had bumped into it in my twenties. I learned about it in my thirties, and here I am reading it in my fifties. Better late than never?? (I hope so!)

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  13. Sounds like an amazing book. I wish I wrote a journal from when I was younger. I have some journals before but I think I lost them.

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  15. “One must either stop reading the Bible altogether, or else leave off spending one’s whole time in just doing easy, pleasant things one likes to do.” I read your post yesterday. And I couldn’t get this quote out of my mind. So I am back to say thanks for the reminder that frivolous and Godly aren’t compatible.

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    1. Wow, that’s a great way to sum up the distinction. C.S. Lewis said it well: “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

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  16. This sounds like a beautiful book! I love reading oldies but goodies–have you ever read anything by Isabella Alden (Grace Livingston Hill’s aunt)? or the What Katy Did series?

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    1. Oh, isn’t that just horrific and barbaric? And they thought that it was helping the child avoid the pain of teething (?????) I read elsewhere that many children actually died from infection after the lancing.

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  24. This one has also been on my to-read list for a very long time, but somehow I never realized it was fiction. That will bump it up a good bit! 🙂 Thanks for linking up at Booknificent Thursday on Mommynificent.com!
    Tina

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    1. Yes, fiction, and Elizabeth uses her own life as a palette for painting the life of her main character, Katie. It feels kind of memoir-ish, but because it’s fiction, it is very narrative driven, while at the same time the story line moves along slowly as is the custom with older books.

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  25. Michele – yet another book I have not read – my must read list from you is growing and growing – I think I don’t need another one added for a few years. LOL

    Again thank you for linking up last week, and I hope to see you tomorrow at #TuneInThursday

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