For Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Six, Part Seven or Part Eight...click responsibly. :-)
We're continuing working through Elder Sill's talk, "Great Experiences", and he certainly wasn't kidding. His talk is chock full of literary experiences I've never had before. Here's the next one:
The Quote
"Phillips Brooks was once asked when he was born and he said, “It was one Sunday afternoon when I was twenty-five years old, just after I had finished reading a great book.” "
The Many Meanings of Birth
Of course, he's referring to a sort of rebirth that happens as we experience new things, going far beyond our physical birth alone. In religion, baptism is a sort of rebirth into another life of faith. Taking communion or the sacrament at church can be considered a rebirth.
Having a literary experience where we never think the same as we did previously because of what we've experienced as part of reading that book - I've been reborn in this sense many times. It's a sense of reverence when we discover that sense of newness so many of us lose in childhood - to have that glimpse again in adulthood is something special. The newness can be good or awful - the sacred feeling is the same.
When I read Arthur Henry King the first time at age 11, and realized how much there was in the world I didn't understand, but I wanted to, that was a rebirth for me.
Other notable rebirths in literature include:
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
The book is thick language, but the play and the movie can be more accessible to modern audiences. Valjean steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, and is imprisoned for decades as a result. When he is released, and a bishop shows him kindness by feeding him and giving him shelter, Valjean repays him by stealing his silver.
The police capture him and bring back his silver, but the priest tells the police they were a gift and urges Valjean to also take the silver candlesticks. He tells Valjean he has bought his soul, and is now giving it back to God. Valjean goes on to lead an honorable life ever after.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
The book recounts Viktor Frankl's harrowing experiences in the German concentration camps of World War II. He talked about how 'the best of us did not survive', which made a huge impact on me. It showed how war creates a situation where goodness must be suppressed if physical survival is the goal, and begged the question of whether such a sacrifice would be worth it. I don't think it always would be.
He also talked about learning the lesson of how he used images of teaching others in the future to instill in him a will to survive. Those who lived only for themselves often died.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A story about love and loss and what things are most important in life - told from the point of view of a narrator who meets a child from another world that challenges adult expectations. It's good to listen to children. And pay attention to the rose...The rose is important.
Phillips Brooks
Who is Phillips Brooks, the man mentioned in the quote? He was a popular Episcopalian pastor who preached at Harvard for a time, and who wrote the lyrics to the Christmas song, "O Little Town of Bethlehem."
As my fifth cousin five times removed, he is a welcome addition to the family tree.
