Five Minute Good Friday: NEXT

Today I'm linking up with the Five Minute Friday community, writing for five minutes on a given prompt. 

This week's word is NEXT.

I look out my window. The sky is whitish-gray, with darker gray clouds moving across it. Gusts of wind scatter leaves and debris across the street.

We are expecting rain today. It is supposed to start sometime this morning and rain all day and into tomorrow: 30-60 millimetres total before it's all done.

The forecast for Sunday is much better, though.

I wish we could skip the next two rainy, gloomy days and just go straight to Sunday.

Sometimes I feel the same way about Good Friday. It would be so much easier to just skip these next two days -- the increasing darkness and suffering of Good Friday, the silence and emptiness of Easter Saturday -- and go straight to the joy and celebration of Easter Sunday.

But the way of Jesus is through: not around, not over, not under, but through. He walks the road of suffering. He doesn't take a shortcut past the hard parts, the pain and desolation, to get straight to the triumph.

So we wait with him now and over the next hours and days. 

We wait in sorrow and hope. 

We go through.

April 2019 Quick Lit: what I've been reading

Today I'm joining Modern Mrs. Darcy for Quick Lit, where we share short reviews of what we've been reading.

For last month's Quick Lit post I did only a single longer review, of Karen Swallow Prior's On Reading Well. So I have some catching up to do here. I'll try to keep my reviews brief, but you know me: writing in a concise fashion is not a quality I have successfully mastered as of this point in time.

I read four nonfiction books and four novels in the past couple of months. I'll start with the nonfiction:

 Becoming by Michelle Obama. 
I really enjoyed this memoir. Obama describes in fascinating detail her upbringing in a working class Chicago family, her work as a lawyer (where she met future President Barack Obama), and her eight years in the White House as First Lady -- where she advocated for girls' education and improved nutritional health, all while supporting her husband through difficult national events and raising her daughters in the White House fishbowl. Here is a key passage from the final pages of the book:

"So many of us go through life with our stories  hidden, feeling ashamed or afraid when our whole truth doesn't live up to some established ideal. We grow up with messages that tell us that there's only one way to be American -- that if our skin is dark or our hips are wide, if we don’t experience love in a particular way, if we speak another language or come from another country, then we don't belong. That is, until someone dares to start telling that story differently.
        I grew up with a disabled dad in a too-small house with not much money in a starting-to-fail neighborhood, and I also grew up surrounded by love and music in a diverse city in a country where education can take you far. I had nothing or I had everything. It depends on which way you want to tell it."

 Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson. 

Last year we watched the four-season British TV series based on this book (actually a collection of three books) about a small hamlet and neighbouring town in rural England in the late 1800's. The book gives an abundance of historical detail about life in this time period: childhood, farming, education, hobbies, family life, religion, and more. I enjoyed reading about some of the quirky hamlet-dwellers who made their way into the fictionalized TV series. 

Once We Were Strangers by Shawn Smucker. 

This beautiful, moving book is an account of Smucker's friendship with Mohammad, who fled Syria as a refugee with his wife and family and ended up in Smucker's town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Smucker's story of his deepening relationship with Mohammad may cause us to rethink our definition of hospitality, as well as our willingness to have the grace not only to give but to receive. A wonderful story about the beauty and simplicity of friendship and the universally human desire to create a safe, secure life for ourselves and those we love.

 The Bible Tells Me So: How Defending the Bible Has Made Us Unable to Read It by Peter Enns. 

This is the first book by Enns that I've read, and I loved it. Enns explains why reading the Bible as a "spiritual owner's manual complete with handy index" doesn't work -- nor do the desperate efforts Christians sometimes make to protect the Bible from criticism or critique. Addressing many controversial aspects of Scripture, Enns urges us to read the Bible as it is meant to be read rather than expecting it to do things it was never intended to do -- and to realize that trusting God and trusting the Bible aren't the same thing. Thought-provoking, challenging, and really funny too.

And now for my fiction reads:

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton. 

This novel follows naive social climber Undine Spragg as she tries to make her way in New York City and Paris. Her efforts to determine who's "in," to infiltrate the "right" crowd, and to find a husband who will keep her in the manner to which she feels she deserves to become accustomed, are as pathetic as they are laughable. Reading this book is like watching a train wreck: you can't tear yourself away. I really enjoyed it, though -- and it gives the lie to the notion that a protagonist has to be "likable" for a novel to be worthwhile. Undine is not likable; but like other heroines of her stripe (Scarlett O'Hara and Emma Bovary come to mind), she certainly is interesting.

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan. 

This highly acclaimed novel won the Giller Prize and was a Booker Prize finalist. It's the story of Washington Black, a young boy enslaved on a sugar plantation in Barbados; he becomes personal servant to the master's brother, who turns out to be an eccentric inventor. When a horrific event forces the two of them to flee the plantation, Washington is caught up in a whole new life, traveling to the Arctic, London, Morocco, and elsewhere. This book was instantly captivating, but it did not deliver quite to the level I was expecting. Too many peripheral characters and episodes seemed to dilute the intensity after a while.

 

All He Ever Wanted and Stella Bain, both by Anita Shreve.

These two novels need to be discussed together because they are about the same people and events.  

All He Ever Wanted is told from the point-of-view of Nicholas Van Tassel, a somewhat stuffy college professor in New Hampshire around 1900; his world is turned upside down when he encounters a young woman, Etna Bliss, outside a hotel after a fire and becomes instantly obsessed with her. Her cool, enigmatic demeanour only fuels his determination to marry her. Looking back years later, Van Tassel reflects on the nature of his relationship with Etna and whether having felt a great love (whether or not it is returned, and for that matter whether or not it is really love) is enough to make one's life worthwhile. This novel reminded me in many ways of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, with its somewhat unlikable, probably unreliable narrator. It's a frustrating but masterfully written book.

Stella Bain, which Shreve wrote twelve years later, tells Etna Bliss's story: how she is found in a French field hospital in 1916, unable to remember anything other than that she is an ambulance driver, and a few consonants that lead her to think her name is Stella Bain. Her fight to recover her memory and rebuild her family is compelling, but overall I found this novel less satisfying than All He Ever Wanted, despite its having a much more sympathetic main character. The writing is not nearly as good here: it's told in the third person, so we never really get inside Etna's head the way we did with Van Tassel. Phrases like "Etna was concerned that..." make me feel like I'm watching the character think, which is not exactly gripping. What is great about this book, though, is that it fills in the gaps of the plot, giving Etna's perspective on events which we only saw from Van Tassel's viewpoint in the other book. So if you're going to read All He Ever Wanted, be sure to read Stella Bain too.

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Well, that's what I've been reading lately. Have you read any of these, and if so, what did you think? What have you been reading?

Five Minute Friday - MEASURE

Today I'm linking up with the Five Minute Friday community, writing for five minutes on a given prompt. 

This week's word is MEASURE.

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For the past few years I've been struggling with double vision. It's something I've always had a bit of trouble with: whenever I was having my eyes tested and the eye doctor would show me two separate images and ask me to tell him when they merged into one, I found it very difficult -- and the problem has only gotten worse.

Several months ago I was referred to an opthalmologist who specializes in strabismus (misaligned eyes); she told me I  have a "moderate misalignment." The options, from least to most invasive, are (1) to put prisms in my glasses, which I already have; (2) Botox injections, which numb/plump the eye muscle and need to be done every 3-4 months; or (3) surgery to adjust the eye muscles and straighten out the eyes. I've decided to go for the surgery, so last week I got started on the process for that.

The first step was to be fitted with a Fresnel prism. I had an appointment with an orthoptist at the opthalmology clinic and she did all kinds of tests and measurements on my eyes.

Fresnel prism on right lens of my glasses. I already have 
very thick lenses because of nearsightedness, but the prism 

is very, very thin. You can see the ridges at top.

Here is what the Fresnel prism looks like when it's on. It is a thin flexible plastic film, smooth on one side and ridged on the other. The orthoptist cut it to fit my glasses; the smooth side sticks to the inside of one lens, with water -- sort of like a removable window decal.

This is what I am looking through with my right eye.

When I have this prism on my glasses and look into the distance, it fuses the two images into one -- so I no longer see two clocks, or two stop signs, or two of the same person coming toward me. That part is awesome.

 It feels pretty strange, though: I'm constantly looking through these tiny ridges, and they create quite a glare. The lens also gives a slightly curved effect, so there's a bit of a fishbowl sensation. But after a week I'm getting used to it, and I'm very much appreciating the improvement in distance vision. The idea is that I use this prism for several weeks/months to see if it will keep my eyes from turning in, so that surgery can then be performed.

The big downside is that the prism interferes with my close-up vision. It's a lot harder to work on the computer (it's like I'm staring through glasses that have had Vaseline smeared on one lens), and I pretty much have to remove my glasses altogether to read. Considering how much of my day is spent reading and working on the computer, this is a major bummer.

But I'm determined to see this through -- no pun intended. And hopefully, the eventual outcome will be measurably improved vision.

Five Minute Friday: PLACE*

Today I'm linking up with Five Minute Friday, writing for five minutes on a given prompt. This week's word is PLACE.

 (*We wrote on this word before, in August 2017. This is the link to the post I wrote back then, on a totally different subject.)

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My Thursday women's group at church has been studying the book of Hebrews. Last week we were talking about Hebrews 11, the "faith" chapter, which lists many heroes of faith like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph Moses, and Rahab.

Then the writer alludes to all the others whose names are unknown, those who underwent torture and deprivation: 

"...They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith..."

As we talked about these verses, I was reminded of another passage I had recently been reading, from Mark 10. James and John come to Jesus and ask, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."Jesus responds by saying that it's not up to him to decide who will sit in these places of honour -- "These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared" -- and he reminds the disciples that whoever wants to be great must first be servant of all.

Thinking of these two passages together, I wondered aloud if maybe one of those obscure, unnamed faith heroes from Hebrews 11 might be given one of those places of honour at Jesus' side.

I even wonder ... and hear me out here ... if maybe someone from another religious tradition might get one of those places -- one of those "sheep from a different pen" that Jesus refers to in John 10.

If that's even possible, then I think it might be someone like this Muslim man in Christchurch, who greeted a gunman with the words "Hello, brother" before being killed along with 48 other worshippers.

One Twitter user wrote, "As he faced a rifle, his last words were peaceful words of unconditional love. DO NOT tell me that nonviolence is weak or pacifism is cowardice. I have seen the face of God."

I don't know exactly how God decides who will be granted those places of honour in his new kingdom. But if faithful endurance and peace in the face of unspeakable adversity count for anything, then maybe this man will be recognized. The world is not worthy of him.

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March 2019 Quick Lit: On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior

Today I'm joining blogger Modern Mrs. Darcy for "Quick Lit," where we share short reviews of what we've been reading. Although the book I'm reviewing here is not the only book I've read recently, I wanted to give it a slightly longer treatment, so I'll cover my other recent reads in a future post.

On Reading Well: 

Finding the Good Life Through Great Books 

by Karen Swallow Prior

I asked my library to buy this book several months ago; it did, and eventually I got the book into my hands -- but I did NOT want to give it back! Clearly I am going to have to buy my own copy, because it's excellent.

This book is about virtue and literature. In the first chapter, Prior introduces the theme of classical virtues, addresses the need in our day for a return to virtuous living, and reminds us that not only does good literature show us the virtues, but the very reading of that literature is a way of practicing them. 

In each of the subsequent chapters she discusses one virtue -- altogether four cardinal virtues, three theological virtues, and five heavenly virtues -- and expounds upon each one in relation to a work of literature. The literary work may present a character who epitomizes that virtue (as in the patience of Anne Elliot in Jane Austen's Persuasion or the courage of Huck in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn) or a character who demonstrates the lack of that virtue (as in Jay Gatsby's lack of temperance in The Great Gatsby or Ivan Ilyich's lack of love in Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych). In each case, Prior shows how the proper expression of each virtue is a moderation between extremes: for example, courage is a mean between cowardice and rashness.

Particular parts of the book stood out for me. One was her discussion of how young Huck Finn has to work through the effects of a malformed conscience: he's been taught slavery is right, so he thinks helping Jim must be wrong -- but when he realizes in his heart that he must help Jim, he's determined to do so even if it means going to Hell. Another was her claim that the virtue of faith in Shusako Endo's Silence can only be truly understood by interpreting the book as a tragedy. And another was her chapter on kindness in George Saunders' short story "Tenth of December" -- a story I was not familiar with -- where she compares a character's suicide plan to her own father-in-law's suicide. In these and other cases, she shows how the virtues are not static stereotypes, but living, flexible concepts that (ideally) grow within us as we work them out in both the mundane and the traumatic moments of our lives.

As with the previous books by this author that I have read (Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me and Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More), Prior's love for her subject matter comes through on every page. As I read each chapter, I felt like I was listening to an engaging lecture. On Reading Well is a book any reader -- or even any person who thinks they "should" become more well-read -- will appreciate. And it's a book I'll definitely want to re-read. 

Time to order myself a copy....