I had a wicked cold a few days ago, and picked up an Elizabeth Goudge. It's a funny thing about reading novels during Lent - to me, novel-reading doesn't seem to fit in with that season's atmosphere of austerity. But of course there are novels which are so helpful in ways that non-fiction can't always be; you learn many things by reading non-fiction, but the way you learn from fiction is through the back door, so to speak. If it speaks to you, you end up absorbing it, kind of from the inside out. Both methods are worthy. But not all fiction is equal. So, I was feeling lousy, and I had this book on hand since she's my favorite author but I haven't read all her work, and I think I should - so now, interestingly, I'm finding that it fits quite nicely with the whole spirit of Lent. Surprise!
To be very brief, the heroine is a young socialite woman who drags her parents and fiance to remote Scotland, a run-down castle which is periodically let by the laird to bring in a little money for himself. She is powerfully drawn to the almost bleak aura of the whole landscape and way of living there. She is embarking on an inner journey.
She realized that to the questing mind and spirit there are worlds beyond worlds, never ending. To enter into possession of one was to stand on the threshold of another, and it seemed to her that on each threshold there took place a death and a birth. Any laziness or weakness of mind or spirit, conquered and killed, seemed always to be followed instantly by an inrush of new energy, and the harder the death the more joyful the corresponding life. (emphasis mine)
Doesn't that describe Lent, and then Easter, perfectly?
Some Christian said: "Die before you die." Amen! Have a blessed Lent, Lisa.
ReplyDeleteAnd you!
DeleteSo true! Your description of learning through novel reading is so good, Lisa. I too feel guilty if I read novels during Lent so I try not to, though after this post of yours I might re-appraise that. I hope you are feeling better. A novel is just the thing for a cold xoxo I am rushing to finish a non-fiction which I had started too late and doesn't fit in with Lent at all. There has been a push in this country recently to encourage novel reading in children and young people as they help with social problem-solving and all sorts of emotional situations that so many of us experience all the time. This experience is done 'through the back door' as you say and gives people the tools for coping with everyday 'stuff'.
ReplyDeleteYes, it really depends on if it has spiritual value, Clare, doesn't it? As for the books written for young people today, I hope there are enough which are good in that way, because they don't seem interested to read the old books. If a young girl would only pick up L.M. Montgomery's works, a whole new world would open up for her!
DeleteOh yes! I remember reading the Anne books to my elder daughter when she was little and she loved them so much she 'became' Anne for a few weeks which was a little strange. She didn't exactly call me Marilla but she was forever coming out with Anne-comments which made me feel I didn't quite come up to scratch! I never thought I'd ever feel sorry for poor Marilla when I was a girl but I certainly understood the woman as an adult after my daughter's stoical, long-suffering Anne-replies to me whenever I corrected her or asked her to do something! I was glad when she discovered the next big thing :D
DeleteOh, my goodness - that must have been hard for you! Good grief.
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