-Henry David Thoreau, "Life Without Principle"
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
to ponder:
"I believe that the mind can be permanently profaned by the habit of attending to trivial things, so that all our thoughts shall be tinged with triviality."
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
something lost-
"We will send word when we may, and some of us may yet meet at times, but I fear that we shall not all be gathered together ever again."
-Gimli, in J.R.R. Tolkein's Return of the King
I received a 5-page letter yesterday from the dearest of friends. As I unfolded the handwritten pages, I discovered a small red leaf, pressed and preserved forever in its dying brilliance. My friend had plucked it from a tree as she walked across a silent college campus, abandoned and advertised for lease.
In the past few months, I have been experiencing a time of profound mourning for an era that will never come again. I see a man walking and for a brief instant I believe that he is Tom B., smiling and entering the rehearsal hall to lead the concert choir. I sit in class and suddenly, overwhelmingly, I remember Dr. Williamson. I remember the way he challenged me, both inside and outside of class, to be the best student of history and best follower of Christ that I could possibly be. I recently discovered last season's nameplate which hung above my locker in the locker room. What bitersweet memories! I seem to hear my old roommate's laugh, to recall our expeditions and late-night conversations. I remember curling up in a large chair in Brian's office, hot chocolate in hand, feeling my character grown and molded by his wisdom. I can't decide if this death of a school is like the death of a friend, or more like the death of a part of myself.
"Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do."
-Frodo, in J.R.R. Tolkien's Return of the King
Fortunately, I read the right books as a child.
Back in the day, when one of the good guys died or was kidnapped, I knew it wasn't real. No book worth its salt would let anything happen to the hero.
But pain and tragedy are real, even for the good guys. Sometimes the wrong people die. Sometimes schools close and life plans must change. The lesson of the storybooks is no less real, because it is rooted in the deepest and oldest truths. Things will work out right in the end. It may not be in the way that we expected, as readers, but that only makes the story better. The surprises, the struggles--that is what makes the ultimate happy ending so very powerful and real.
I will never forget C-----, and I am grateful for its place in my story.
-Gimli, in J.R.R. Tolkein's Return of the King
I received a 5-page letter yesterday from the dearest of friends. As I unfolded the handwritten pages, I discovered a small red leaf, pressed and preserved forever in its dying brilliance. My friend had plucked it from a tree as she walked across a silent college campus, abandoned and advertised for lease.
In the past few months, I have been experiencing a time of profound mourning for an era that will never come again. I see a man walking and for a brief instant I believe that he is Tom B., smiling and entering the rehearsal hall to lead the concert choir. I sit in class and suddenly, overwhelmingly, I remember Dr. Williamson. I remember the way he challenged me, both inside and outside of class, to be the best student of history and best follower of Christ that I could possibly be. I recently discovered last season's nameplate which hung above my locker in the locker room. What bitersweet memories! I seem to hear my old roommate's laugh, to recall our expeditions and late-night conversations. I remember curling up in a large chair in Brian's office, hot chocolate in hand, feeling my character grown and molded by his wisdom. I can't decide if this death of a school is like the death of a friend, or more like the death of a part of myself.
"Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do."
-Frodo, in J.R.R. Tolkien's Return of the King
Fortunately, I read the right books as a child.
Back in the day, when one of the good guys died or was kidnapped, I knew it wasn't real. No book worth its salt would let anything happen to the hero.
But pain and tragedy are real, even for the good guys. Sometimes the wrong people die. Sometimes schools close and life plans must change. The lesson of the storybooks is no less real, because it is rooted in the deepest and oldest truths. Things will work out right in the end. It may not be in the way that we expected, as readers, but that only makes the story better. The surprises, the struggles--that is what makes the ultimate happy ending so very powerful and real.
I will never forget C-----, and I am grateful for its place in my story.
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