From My Journal: An Intriguing Question

Thumbing through my journal for inspiration I found this bit: "Once Einstein was asked what he thought the most important question was. 'Is the universe a friendly place?' he replied." I wonder what he meant and if he decided?

A Lively Discussion

My book club met yesterday. The discussion of Richard B. Wright's Adultery was an animated one. Many thought the situation that begins the book was too far-fetched and ludicrous and that two people would hardly be having sex in a car at a deserted beach in the rain at an English resort when they had a perfectly good hotel room nearby, especially with Dan being in his fifties! Then, Denise being murdered after she steps out of the car because she needs to "go" and Dan falling asleep only to awaken to the horror of her disappearance which later turns out to be murder by a pervert who has been lurking nearby seemed rather too unlikely.

I thought the situation at least plausible. It is often in the most unlikely of circumstances (some of them tacky) that tragedies occur. I thought of several true stories of friends and relatives who have died tragically. We, their colleagues and family tried to make sense of their deaths by coming up with explanations as to what might have happened. Why was she driving along that back country road when she had the head-on collision with the gravel truck? was it a suicide or was she reaching down to pick up a dropped cigarette? Why was he murdered by a female drug addict in his motel room in an out of the way town? was it because she had seen him in the bar earlier in the evening with a large amount of cash? was it a botched robbery attempt gone terribly wrong?

In this case, the death is a tragedy, of course, but, for Dan who now has to explain to everyone what happened there is the added humiliation, embarrassment and shame to deal with. Our group, in general, were fairly sympathetic to Dan in the end. We agreed that the book is really about how ordinary individuals get caught up in the most horrible of messes (impulsive and/or careless behaviour - while often leading to tragedy - is hardly a crime) and how you just, in the end, have to sort things out, pick up the pieces and move on as best you can.

Pilgrim for Peace

A pilgrimage is usually defined as some sort of spiritual journey often to vist a sacred place or series of places. There are Sufi pilgrims, Muslim pilgrims who journey each year to Mecca, Christian pilgrims who journey to visit sacred places such as shrines and cathedrals. I suppose that "pilgrim" is most associated with an old, old book, Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, in which the journey, if I remember it correctly, sees the hero beset on all sides by evils and dangers but never giving up his commitment to follow the Master, knowing that the final goal witll be the Celestial City, his heavenly home. A hymn entitled He Who Would Valiant Be or To Be A Pilgrim was adapted and set to music in 1906. I personally find the words inspiring and I rather love the call to journey on in one's "first avowed intent to be a pilgrim."

However, I think a pilgrimage can have a much broader meaning: it can refer to a life spiritual journey in which the goal may be justice or peace or enlightenment. I have been reading online about the life of a remarkable person, Mildred Norman Ryder (1908-1981) who for 28 years walked all over North America promoting non-violence and disarmament. She was called Peace Pilgrim and today a non-profit group, Friends of Peace Pilgrim, continues her work.

One of Peace Pilgrim's goals was to teach people how to have inner peace and how to live the way of peace. Her motto was - "overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love."

It's all so simple when we really think about it, isn't it?

I have to learn how to do links on my blog. For now, if you want to read more about Peace Pilgrim, go to: http://www.peacepilgrim.com

My Book Club

My book club meets this week. I've been a member of this group almost from the beginning in 1998. Although at present we have over ten members, rather a large number for a book club, six or so of us are original members, so there is a lot of continuity. In all, we've probably read and discussed 60 or 70 books in that time. I think we have been meeting since before Oprah started her book club and the whole rage for reading started. I'm actually not knocking Oprah; I think she has done wonders for literacy, not to mention the publishing industry, a sector of the economy that was sorely in need of a boost! I don't always agree with her "picks" as being particularly interesting or remarkable, but, the same thing happens in my book discussion group. Only rarely do we find a book where agreement is unanimous, where we all agree that the book rates "five stars" or, alternatively, that it's an absolute dud. Our choice for this month should make for a lively discussion.

This week we will be discussing Adultery by Richard B. Wright. I thought this was an interesting book as I love books that give me questions to explore even if there are no easy answers. Anyone picking up Adultery thinking it will be a sensationalist, steamy novel with lurid details of sexual encounters will find it to be rather the opposite! The novel begins with
an affair, more of a brief weekend fling, which results in a murder, the murder being a chance happening which nonetheless would not have happened had the main character Dan not been cheating on his wife with a much younger colleague while being away from home attending a publishing convention in Frankfurt and, after the convention, had the two of them not decided to take a little side trip, so to speak, to Exeter, west of London, where Denise, the girlfriend, is murdered. So begins Dan's week from hell as he meets with - in order - the Exeter police, his wife, his daughter, his colleagues, her mother, and her brother. As details of the characters are revealed gradually in small increments and flashbacks, we are faced with many questions: is Dan a despicable person? can he be forgiven? does he deserve our sympathy? how does the adultery come to overshadow the tragedy of the murder? or does it?

More - after we discuss the book!

Weird and Wonderful

I went on a little journey last night - around blogspot - and checked out a number of blogs. Wow! There's everything from the wild and wacky to the weird and the wonderful. So many interesting blogs to read and so much more exploring to do! I'm amazed at the creativity, and even the rants are articulate. Does blogging appeal to a particular kind of person? It seems so.

Games People Play

It's almost April, spring in Nova Scotia! I just heard on the news that the Pubnico golf course has opened in the far southwestern corner of the province. Sometime in April my golf course will open again and I'll be back at my summer routine of a golf game at least three times a week. I can't wait! All winter I have been bowling in two seniors' leagues. All year I play competitive duplicate bridge. Just musing: do these three activities have anything in common? What's the attraction? Most people would agree that there is a social component - being with others and having fun and a ton of laughs is certainly part of it. There is definitely a competitive aspect: in league bowling points are awarded for games won and for individual achievements; in bridge, masterpoints are awarded to the top finishers; in golf, there are various competitions and special events. In playing any game there is always a thrill in winning and it is rather satisfying to gain that spot on the leader board, pick up a prize or get a name on a trophy once in awhile. But I think, for me, the real attraction is in the challenge - playing a hand well, lowering my handicap, trying to make the perfect shot. My attitude when I don't do well is usually "I can't wait till the next time to try again."

I think it's important to keep active physically so my golf and bowling are important to me for that reason. Bridge provides a good balance. One of the directors of my local bridge club calls bridge "aerobics for the mind," and a couple of hours of competitive play does require quick thinking and the application of logic, a whole lot of psychology, and, of course, the maintaining of a good relationship with a partner.

It's a well known fact that sometimes one can get obsessed with winning which doesn't strike me as particularly healthy. I hope I can maintain an interest in my games for the sheer joy of playing!

What Myths and Stories Do You Live By?

What myths and stories do you hold dear? What meaning do they have for you? Here are a few of mine. Life is a drama with many twists and turns in the plot and always something new (Cinderella). Life is for learning, new challenges, new experiences, the accumulating of wisdom, the transforming experience (Ulysses; Pilgrim's Progress; the story of Moses; The Road Less Travelled). It's important to "keep on carryin' on," no matter what, never give up on anything (the story of David & Goliath; The Little Engine That Could; Helen Keller). Life is for love and compassion, sharing one another's burdens and tears (the story of Jesus; No Great Mischief; Heidi). From my titles, it looks like some of those Fairy Tales and Bible stories from childhood really made an impression!

Two Books - One Theme

Now that I've started my blog I guess I'm going to have to write. For the past couple of years I have been keeping somewhat of a reflective journal. Hopefully if will be my goldmine for furthier musings. Thumbing through it I noticed something I had written about Ian McEwan's book Saturday that is startingly similar to the theme of one of the books I'm now reading. Joan Didion begins her book The Year of Magical Thinking with the words: "Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant." After I read Saturday a few months ago, I wrote "the book is about how life can change in an instant, how in an ordinary day the unpredictable happens to change everything - the accident while day-dreamedly driving along, a fatal heart attack in a restaurant, the chance encounter, - the twists and turns life takes." The difference in the two books, of course is that McEwan's is fiction and Didion's non-fiction.

My First Post

Today I am excited but nervous about beginning a blog. I've chosen a title that indicates that I might be all over the place. This suits my interests: one day I may write about my spiritual journey, my search for truth; another day I may review a book I am reading; perhaps, another day, a reflection or an opinion on something currently of interest. Books currently on the go include The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, Beyond Belief by Elaine Pagels and Adultery by Richard B. Wright.