The Voyage Of Life

When it comes to art, Thomas Cole's painting series, "The Voyage Of Life" has long been one of my favorites.

The first painting in the series is an illustration of infancy. If you blow up the picture, you can see the child in the bottom of the boat. There is a guardian angel standing in the boat with the child. This angel is present in each of the pictures in the series. The figurehead on the prow of the boat symbolizes time.

The second painting in the series is an illustration of youth. In this picture, you can see that the youth is still in the same boat, traveling down the same river, (The River Of Life) and that the same angel stands near him. However, in this picture, the guardian angel is farther off and the youth has turned his head in another direction. He is chasing his "Castle In The Air," the shimmering illusion seen in the skies.

The third painting in the series is an illustration of manhood. The man is passing through wild rapids here, symbolizing the difficulty of manhood. The guardian angel is still present, as you can see, but he\she is far away and only watching from the clouds. However, far up ahead, you can see the sea through the rocks.

The fourth and last painting in the series is an illustration of old age. I don't think it needs much explanation:)

There's a lot more symbolism in these paintings that I didn't cover so if you'd like to find out more about them, I'd suggest that you read up on them here. Also, the pictures aren't nearly so beautiful when they are small like this. They are so much lovelier when they are big. The real paintings cover an entire wall! I'd sure love to see them like that!

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StrongJoy

Sonnet XXIX

I'm always a little suspicious of sonnets. They tend to follow a similar pattern of admiring nature and then mourning one's rejection by one's lady-love. Furthermore, the said lady-love was very often not someone the poet cared for in the least, though, of course, many earnest lovers must have written sonnets as well.

However, despite all of these stains upon the reputation of the sonnet, I do believe that Shakespeare has very nearly managed to redeem it with his many contributions to the world of sonnets. Here is one of my favorites:

SONNET XXIX
“When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur’d like him, like him with friends possess’d,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply, I think on thee, -- and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my place with kings.”
-William Shakespeare

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-StrongJoy

Reading The Meaning...

These lines from Flannery O' Connor made me stop and think more deeply about how I read books...

"Some people have the notion that you read the story and then climb out of it into the meaning, but for the fiction writer himself the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, not an abstraction."

-Flannery O'Connor

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-StrongJoy

The Innocence Of Father Brown

I finished reading The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton recently and I liked it so much I thought I'd share some of my thoughts about it. I really think that Chesterton is a wonderful writer and he has a way of expressing ideas with startling clarity.

All of the stories in this book include elements of suspense and surprise that are so important in a great detective story. The plots are complex and well-organized. There is the joy of feeling smart when you finally do crack the code and solve the mystery. Even if it isn't until the end of the story, you still feel like a very accomplished detective. In fact, you feel like you solved the mystery yourself, much of the time.

I think that the greatest thing about the book is that it is both entertaining and thought-provoking. Chesterton has created an intriguing story but has also managed to weave much deeper ideas into the book. Through the conversation of Father Brown, the sweet little English priest, Chesterton manages to state many of his own beliefs. Yet, somehow, he says them in such a way that the reader does not feel at all as though he is "preaching to them." Indeed, how can they? For the author rarely states his own opinions with the omnipresent privilege he possesses, but prefers to let his star character influence the reader of each story. This is what I consider to be very good writing.

I cannot say that I agree with everything that Chesterton says - indeed, I differ with him on many points- but somehow, in this book, those differences don't really matter. Winston Churchill says of history, "Nevertheless, the broad story holds for it was founded on a true and dominating principle." I believe that the same is true of these stories. The truth behind the book is so powerful that it makes a fascinating read.


Here are some lines I particularly like:


"Reason and justice grip the remotest and the loneliest star. Look at those stars. Don't they look as if they were single diamonds and sapphires? Well, you can imagine any mad botany or geology you please. Think of forests of adamant with leaves of brilliants. Think the moon is a blue moon, a single elephantine sapphire. But don't fancy that all that frantic astronomy would make the smallest difference to the reason and justice of conduct. On plains of opal, under cliffs cut out of pearl, you would still find a noticeboard, 'Thou shalt not steal.' "

One of the most interesting stories in the book is The Eye Of Apollo. At the beginning of the story, Father Brown asks his friend Flambeau about the new "Religion Of Apollo."

"What on earth is that," asked Father Brown, and stood still."

"Oh, a new religion," said Flambeau, laughing: "one of those new religions that forgive your sins by saying you never had any....It claims, of course, that it can cure all physical diseases."


"Can it cure the one spiritual disease?" asked Father Brown, with a serious curiosity.

"And what is the one spiritual disease?" asked Flambeau, smiling.

"Oh, thinking one is quite well," said his friend.

I sincerely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries that are more than just mere mysteries.



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-StrongJoy

Today's Words Of Wisdom

"Never work before breakfast.
If you have to work before breakfast, eat your breakfast first."
-Josh Billings

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-StrongJoy

Are You Trusting God To Write Your Story?

I don't remember where I found this but I re-discovered it in my documents this week and I was moved again when I read it:

Are You Trusting God To Write Your Story?

"Do you trust Him with your dreams?

Do you trust Him with your friendships?

Do you trust Him with your work?

Do you trust Him with your finances?

Do you trust Him with your love story?

Do you trust Him with your future?

Do you trust Him in your fears?

Do you trust Him in your pain?

Do you trust Him in your circumstances?

Do you trust Him in EVERYTHING?

Do you trust Him enough to let Him keep on writing?"

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-StrongJoy

A Classic Case Of Mixed-Up Priorities

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-StrongJoy

When the Darkness Comes in Like a Flood...

Star Wars Ideology

My sister and I saw Star Wars for the first time this week. It was definitely an interesting story. Some of the scenes were incredibly well-filmed and the plot was complex and well-organized. The movie was very clean. I could stop here, call it a "good movie" and go on. But it seems to me that there is a lot more below the surface of this story than meets the eye.

I don't think that there is any such thing as an "innocent author." What I mean by this is that every author has his or her own opinions, biases, beliefs and worldview and that these will naturally come out in that author's writings. Is this bad? No! Of course not! But it is dangerous, especially when we don't read carefully. The same goes for movies. Perhaps we tend to say a movie is "OK" if it doesn't have any inappropriate graphical scenes or bad language. Do we sometimes forget that movies (and books) are usually written to communicate an idea (and even if they aren't written for that purpose they fulfill it anyway, albeit unintentionally). Ideas are dangerous, especially when we aren't paying attention to them, because it is then that they slip into our minds unnoticed and uncontested.

In George Lucas' World there is no God, but 'The Force" -an energy field created by all living things that surround us. It has a good side and an evil side. When someone dies, his spirit joins the force and becomes part of it. This is a Buddhist/New Age belief. By the way, have you noticed that the characters names all sound far-eastern (Obi Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda)? While researching New Age beliefs, I was surprised to find that many New Agers believe crop circles to be created by aliens and welcome their coming to our earth. Star Wars holds a picture of a world where aliens and humans will one day live together. Each Jedi has a 'guide' who teaches him secret knowledge. Often these guides communicate as 'ghosts' after they have died. This is forbidden in the Holy Scriptures (Leviticus 19:31) and is also a common New Age belief.

When interested in the ideology behind an author's work, I think it's a good idea to research the beliefs of the author concerned. In this case, that would be George Lucas. Did you know that he wrote a book about his New Age beliefs and had it made into a comic books series? Then...you guessed it! The birth of Star Wars! It is clear that Star Wars is New Age propaganda. George Lucas doesn't deny this. I suppose an informed person can still enjoy the adventure in these movies, but I think they are really dangerous for the naive and especially young children and yet this is the audience the Star Wars creator has targeted.

If you're interested in Star Wars, I think it would be a good idea to learn a little bit more about the worldview of its author and the concepts portrayed in the movies. You might profit from it -- I did.

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-StrongJoy

Now You Have No Excuse Not To Read It...

For those of you who haven't read The Ballad Of The White Horse (and, by the way, if you haven't read it, you haven't lived!), it is now possible to read it online. This site has the entire poem typed up and you can even print it out if you want. I highly recommend that you do it immediately...

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-StrongJoy

The Best Dialogue In Tolkien's Works (Well, I think so at least...)

The fact that I am a true and thorough Tolkien fan might not have been made clear yet by any of my previous posts...but it's time to confess...

I found a wonderful passage of his and I decided that it was too good not to share. This dialogue is only published in one of Tolkien's books -- Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion (Go here to read up on the history of Middle-Earth) and discusses Redemption. Tolkien has been criticized by some that his stories do not contain the redemption story. Read on...

‘Have ye then no hope?’ said Finrod.

‘What is hope?’ she said. ‘An expectation of good, which though uncertain has some foundation in what is known? Then we have none.’

‘That is one thing that Men call “hope”,’ said Finrod. ‘Amdir we call it, “looking up”. But there is another which is founded deeper. Estel we call it, that is “trust”. It is not defeated by the ways of the world, for it does not come from experience, but from our nature and first being. If we are indeed the Eruhin, the Children of the One, then He will not suffer Himself to be deprived of His own, not by any Enemy, not even by ourselves. This is the last foundation of Estel, which we keep even when we contemplate the End: of all His designs the issue must be for His Children’s joy. Amdir you have not, you say. Does no Estel at all abide?’

‘Maybe,’ she said . . . ‘It is believed that healing may yet be found, or that there is some way of escape. But is this indeed Estel? Is it not Amdir rather; but without reason: mere flight in a dream from what waking they know: that there is no escape from darkness and death?’

‘Mere flight in a dream you say,’ answered Finrod. ‘In dream many desires are revealed; and desire may be the last flicker of Estel. But you do not mean dream, Andreth. You confound dream and waking with hope and belief, to make the one more doubtful and the other more sure . . .

‘What then was this hope, if you know?’ Finrod asked.

‘They say,’ answered Andreth: ‘they say that the One will himself enter into Arda, and heal Men and all the Marring from the beginning to the end. . . . How could Eru enter into the thing that He has made, and than which He is beyond measure greater? Can the singer enter into his tale or the designer into his picture?’

‘He is already in it, as well as outside,’ said Finrod . . . ‘For, as it seems to me, even if He in Himself were to enter in, He must still remain also as He is: the Author without. And yet, Andreth, to speak with humility, I cannot conceive how else this healing could be achieved. Since Eru will surely not suffer Melkor to turn the world to his own will and to triumph in the end. Yet there is no power conceivable greater than Melkor save Eru only. Therefore Eru, if He will not relinquish his work to Melkor, who must else proceed to mastery, then Eru must come in to conquer him. More: even if Melkor (or the Morgoth that he has become) could in any way be thrown down or thrust from Arda, still his Shadow would remain, and the evil that he has wrote and sown as a seed would wax and multiply. And if any remedy for this is to be found, ere all is ended, any new light to oppose the shadow, or any medicine for the wounds: then it must, I deem, come from without.’

-John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, "Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion"

ht: www.lordofthekingdom.com

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-StrongJoy

New Twist On An Old Proverb...

“Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away. Plus, you'll have their shoes.”

-Unknown

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-StrongJoy