Parables of the Cross

by I. Lilias Trotter

Isabella Lilias Trotter (1853-1928) was an artist and a missionary for over 38 years to the Muslims of Algeria. John Ruskin, the famous art critic, didn't believe that ladies could paint before he met Lilias, he changed his mind after he met her, and believed that if she would give her life to painting she could become the greatest painter of the nineteenth century. Ruskin believed that if she would devote herself to art "she would be the greatest living painter and do things that would be immortal. " - he was unhappy that she was spending so much time on the streets of London, helping with the YWCA when he thought she ought to be painting. Lilias, however, decided to give up her career in art in order to serve God. She always remained a good friend of Ruskin's though, and they wrote many letters when she was in Algeria. She also wrote several books - beautifully illustrated by herself, Parables of the Cross (1894), Parables of the Christ-Life (1899), and a book for Sufi Muslims The Way of the Sevenfold Secret.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Theology, Art, Faith, Devotional, Spirituality

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1890

About the author

Isabella Lilias Trotter was an artist, author, and a Christian missionary for over 38 years to the Muslims of Algeria.

Reviews

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are Life Lessons, parables—from the flowers—each accompanied with delicate black-and-white sketches; I can only imagine what they must be in full color based on the cover portrait. Nature teaching us The Truth if the Eyes of our Heart open to it. A gift from a dear friend and a perfect Lenten read. The author-artist, judged by art critic John Ruskin good enough to become the greatest painter of the 19th century, left her career to serve God.

[Heather Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It is when we come to self-despair, when we feel ourselves locked in, waiting our doom, that the glory and the beauty of God’s way of escape dawns upon us, and we submit ourselves to Him in it. All resistance breaks down as faith closes on the fact: “He loved me and gave himself for me.” we receive the atonement so hardly won, and we go out into life not only pardoned, but cleared and justified.

And as we go out free, we find that on the other side of the Cross a new existence has really begun: that the love of the Crucified has touched the spring of our being - we are in another world, under an open heaven. “Christ hath suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”

“What more do we need for our souls than to have this God for our God?”

“We can do without anything while we have God. Hallelujah!”

“Back to the Cross!” - the most repeated phrase in this book

Lilias. Trotter. 💘 a new favorite

[Olivia Iles · Rating 5 out of 5]

“May God show us every witholding thread of self that needs breaking still, and may His own touch shrivel it into death”

2 Corinthians 4:11
“For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

“Satan is quite content that we should have faith for future sanctification, just as he was content that we should have faith for future salvation. It is when the soul rises to "here and now" that he trembles.”

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life changing and beautiful in every way: her insight, the way she weaves her observation of the natural world into scripture, the paintings and illuminations, and just her heart! I’m so inspired. This came to me at exactly the right time.

[Emma Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short read (in my case, listen) on how the life cycles of plants and nature reflect the death that leads to life in the gospel's resurrection. As with any metaphor, it needs to be read carefully so as to not be overinterpreted. But as one who enjoys gardening and plants it was helpful in opening my eyes to how we can see the gospel in everyday life!

[essie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A life that has been poured forth to Him must find its crown, completion, in being poured forth for man: it must grow out of surrender into sacrifice.”

This is, simply, a wonderful book.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Small and yet so poignant! I listened to it but definitely want to read it again! So many good quotes and thoughts in such a short read!

[Rod Innis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book. She paints flowers and the book has Facsimiles of those paintings with parables / spiritual truths and applications from facts about these flowers. I loved it and plan to read it again and to recommend it to others.

I just finished reading it for the second time. It has so much Scripture. It is full of Biblical challenges. Lilias Trotter just seems to just bleed Scripture.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

2024- still so precious.. struck with so many afflictions right now auto immune flare, kidney infection, and now double pneumonia .. I want to remember this when I read this again if the Lord wills I have opportunity to read it again at a later time. Bless the Lord oh my soul.


So.. this is amazing .. did I find this on YouTube and then proceed to listen to it 4x? Y e s. Zero regrets. Cannot wait to listen to it more .. and eventually own it in physical .. this is an absolute gem.

[Sarah Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read this book... I return to it often.

The way I understand and approach surrender has been shaped by this small but powerful book.

Must read for every Christian in my opinion!

[Grace Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be the most amazing underrated thing I've ever come across. It's a work of Victorian writing, and although it's upsettingly obscure, I found a free 45-minute audiobook on Librivox that I think I've listened to 5 or 6 times this week because I loved it so much. This tiny book now ranks alongside "Revelations of Divine Love" as one of my favorite pieces of Christian writing ever, and I just can't get enough of it.

"Parables of the Cross" is a short work that packs a powerful punch as it delivers the gospel through comparisons to flowering plant life. Trotter is so genius about how she connects these things, and I found myself completely convinced that plants are the best allegory of the Christian life. She writes about death as the gate of life, as the way out into a life of justification, holiness, surrender, and sacrifice, and she does it all by showing how these things play out in various plants and flowers in the most beautiful and profound ways. In some ways this is a "basic" work of theology because it presents the gospel clearly and simply, but I found it so deeply convicting and challenging and arresting at times. I'm just amazed at all that she could convey in so few words and I want to memorize every bit of this.

I recommend this possibly more highly than anything else I've read this year, and I loved it so much that I will be getting my hands on a facsimile edition to read as often as possible. You can find the written version with her original illustrations on Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22189...) or listen on Librivox (https://librivox.org/parables-of-the-...)

[Lauren Fee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book of Christian meditations which deeply explores the spiritual truth of “unless a seed die, can it then bear fruit.” This book presents a paradigm shift when contemplating death. Because of the cross, death which we view purely through cursed eyes, becomes not the end, but the gateway for life. And not just one time death, but a daily dying to self to live to Christ for the glory of Christ and the good of others. All of these deep spiritual truths are put to parables and illustrated by lovely watercolor paintings, so that they really take root in your heart and mind. A gem of a book!

[Jenny Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read passages from this in other works but it was wonderful to read the real thing, and took less than a half hour. Highly recommend - I expect to revisit often. (I found a lovely online reading option... link below.)

"Measure thy life by loss and not by gain,
Not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth,
For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice,
And he who suffers most has most to give."

https://archive.org/details/ParablesO...

[Petra Stoneman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful short book of profound learnings found in nature. I was so encouraged in my own faith journey to view the storms, trials and tribulations as blessings along the way, giving forth new life. Definitely recommend!

[Anna Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lilias Trotter's beautiful sketches to illustrate her reflections. It's highly allegorical - as was the style of the time - but thought-provoking. It's very special to have the whole facsimile and Kathy Keller's introduction is excellent.

[Pilgrim Father · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no better book that speaks to the spirit-filled soul about the new life in Christ. It is a small book of incredible spirit-given depth and insight into what it means to be “In Christ.”

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This bit of sphagnum shows the process in miniature: stage after stage of dying has been gone through, and each has been all the while crowned with life. Each time that the crown has sunk down again into death, that death has again been crowned in the act of dying: and the life all the time is the apparent thing: the daily dying that underlies it is out of sight to the passing glance."

[Landri Kozler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love when someone two hundred years ago was thinking about the exact same things I'm thinking about

definitely want to re-read

[Molly Sawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lilias Trotter is a beautiful writer and artist! She simply illustrates the truths God has set in His creation which explain the life He offers us! Really beautiful and eye opening.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A character of Amy Carmichael's caliber, she has a lot of truths to share in a very pleasant, humble and yet no nonsense way.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Take the very hardest thing in your life, the place of difficulty—outward or inward—and expect God to triumph gloriously in that spot. Just there, He can bring your soul into blossom." ~Lilias Trotter~
Parables of the Cross is a short (50 pages), rich book of spiritual insight & devotion from artist/missionary Lilias Trotter. I was inspired to re-visit it after watching the documentary Many Beautiful Things, which tells the story of Lilias Trotter's life. (Lilias was recognized by John Ruskin as a potentially great artist, but she chose obscurity & the hard life of a missionary in Algiers.) The Parables of the Cross contains prints of her paintings & drawings, as well as her words. Beautiful.

[Kayla Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinely one of the best books I have ever read about turning from sin and resting in Christ.

[Dhanaraj Rajan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small book with fantastic spiritual reflections......

The main theme is Death. Besides speaking about the physical and bodily death the author also speaks of death in a figurative manner. In simple terms, the way to salvation begins initially with death to one's own old self and ultimately ends in death of one's own self. This is the theme expounded in thirty pages. But the novelty lies in the author's creativity of using the plant world as the metaphor to explain everything.

The plant life is marked with death of the seed on its first sprouting, of the death of the old leaves to the new leaves, of the death of the bud to the full blown flower and the death of the flower to seed pocket and its ultimate loss. All these stages are spiritually explained and that is very refreshing and enriching.

Read for yourself the spiritual comparisons for it is a small book and it is worth having if you are a Christian. Specially, it is a great read for the time of Lent.

[Chesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

August 2024

Wee book written in 1894 by British artist and cross-cultural ministry worker Lilias Trotter. It’s about dying to sin and self to be able to experience spiritual freedom and fruitfulness. Filled with her own nature illustrations, but they are blurry black and white copies that don’t do her work justice.

Though much of my young adult years were majorly formed by pietist type writings such as this, I’m very shy of picking them up now—they caused so much miserable spiritual striving and burnout in me and in others. But I decided to return to Lilias Trotter, remembering her artist’s soul that took time to SEE and ponder what she saw in light of what she knew of the gospel. And I survived the foray without too much trauma triggered! 😅 I found a worthwhile, thought-provoking, encouraging read.

Excerpts:

“The death of the Cross”—death’s triumph—that was the point where God’s gate opened; and to that gate we come again and again, as our lives unfold, and through it pass even on earth to our joyful resurrection, to a life each time more abundant, for each time the dying is a deeper dying. The Christian life is a process of deliverance out of one world into another, and “death,” as has been truly said, “is the only way out of any world in which we are.”

***

From His side God will come in with a breath of His resurrection power; for the Cross and the empty tomb cannot be long divided.

***

…There lies before us a beautiful possible life—one that shall have a passion for giving: that shall be poured forth to God—spent out for man: that shall be consecrated “for the hardest work and the darkest sinner.”

***

And a like characteristic of the new flood of resurrection life that comes to our souls as we learn this fresh lesson of dying—a grand independence of any earthly thing to satisfy our soul, the liberty of those who have nothing to lose, because they have nothing to keep. We can do anything while we have God. Hallelujah!

[Anndrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing Style (well-written?): 4
Personally Enjoyable: 5
Nonfiction (Did I learn something?): 5
How likely am I to suggest this book to another person: 5
Did it align with truth: 5
**Average: 4.8

"Holiness, not safety, is the end of our calling." pg. 10 (of the eBook, so throughout).

Lilias Trotter is fast becoming a personal hero. Her artwork is stunning. Her story is encouraging. Her strength, inspiring. In many ways, she speaks as one who has gone before and can turn back and say "Don't worry, He will hold!" What an answer to prayer for all of us who wrestle with the question of whether it really is worth it to lay that treasured piece of ourselves on the altar. Don't be fooled by her deep feeling or delicate drawings - she speaks the truth with fire, and it is good for the soul. I praise God for her boldness and for the opportunity to learn from her!

"Separation from all known sin is the starting-point for sanctification, not the goal: it is only the negative side of holiness; it is only reaching the place where God can develop His ideal in us unhindered. It is when the death of winter has done its work that the sun can draw out in each plant its own individuality, and make its existence full and fragrant. Holiness means something more than the sweeping away of the old leaves of sin: it means the life of Jesus developed in us." pg. 18

"And the first step into the realm of giving is a like surrender - not manward, but Godward: an utter yielding of our best. So long as our idea of surrender is limited to the renouncing of unlawful things, we have never grasped its true meaning: that is not worthy of the name for 'no polluted thing' can be offered." pg. 26

"... He is not a God of the dead, but a God of the living, and He would have us let the glory of His gladness shine out." pg. 50

[Meag Cotter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this summer of ‘21 and it utterly and completely changed my life. I don’t know how such a tiny book can hold so much weight. Lilias Trotter I can’t wait to name a daughter after you. That was the first thing I said when I learned about this woman. I have read every piece of her almost forgotten work since. & Collect her art as treasures for my wall. I have never felt so connected to a soul, so inspired, challenged, and awed by someone. But ultimately the astounding way every piece of her words and life reflect Christ, the sheer beauty of it.

“Measure thy life by loss
and not by gain,
Not by the wine drunk,but
by the wine poured forth, For love's strength standeth in
love's sacrifice,
And he who suffers most has most to give.”

I am bad at updating my good reads for my own personal record haha

[Carol Bakker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 1894 booklet focuses on death being the gate of life.

Lilias Trotter uses various plants (dandelion, iris, oat grass, peat moss) to illustrate the words of Christ about the kernel of wheat that falls to the ground and dies will bear much fruit. She includes many of her exquisite drawings (paintings?).

John Ruskin, an art critic, said that if Lilias Trotter devoted herself to art she would be the world's greatest living artist. Instead, she moved to Algeria as a missionary.

"A flower that stops short at its flowering misses its purpose. We were created for [...] reproduction, not more development."

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This succinct yet insightful little work delves into the spiritual journey of death to sin and self. Using the cycles of flowers, Trotter demonstrates how there are successive “gateways” of dying in our life’s that ultimately lead to fruitfulness.

It doesn’t take long to read but it does enrich the soul.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new friend with a love of Christian missionary biographies introduced me to the life of Lilias
Trotter, an English artist who became a missionary to Africa.

"Holiness, not safety, is the end of our calling."

"...there are those to whom a blessed life of fruitfulness to God comes in a simple way, with seemingly no hard process of dying involved"

[Zachary Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend and contemporary of Amy Carmichael, she paints with words and real paint beautiful pictures of the path to live in Christ. She clearly and humbly writes on the path to live a life for and in Christ in such a beautiful and desirable way. A very clear book on holiness and death to self. Just wonderful. Will read it again and again.