23 April 2007

A Night for Steinbeck


It's thundering outside, and I'm strangely comforted. It feels nice to be inside on a stormy night. I think I'll read; I've been looking around for a copy of the Grapes of Wrath, as I've been on a Steinbeck kick lately. I just finished the masterpiece East of Eden, and I loved the questions Steinbeck engaged. Of this novel Steinbeck says, "[This is] the big one as far as I'm concerned. Always before I held something back for later. Nothing is held back here." He dealt with the essence of humanity, the "never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil." The story is an allegorical retelling and re-searching of the Biblical tale of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4). It is a story of depravity, and deeply details our capacity for self-destruction; but it is also a tale of grace, love and humanity's painful struggle for acceptance. Are humans basically good or essentially evil creatures? Is a terribly evil person still a human being? Is there redemption, or grace, for humanity after a life of evil? Steinbeck only hints at an answer to this question,as a struggling man questions whether or not he is destined to a life of darkness because of the deep darkness that dwelt in his mother, and that he sees in himself. Steinbeck gives a glimmer, no, more like a strong ray of hope with the ancient Hebrew word found in the original language of Genesis 4: timshell [meaning, thou mayest]. With this word, he shows that there is redemption, even for the darkest of lives (1 Peter 2:9); there is a chance to overcome darkness and live a life of light. Thank God for this glimmer of grace, this redemption from our darkness. Thank God, because without it, the senseless, vicious tragedy of the Virginia Tech shootings would bring nothing but silent darkness. Without redemption, we would be mute, empty, lost in that silence. C.S. Lewis: "If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning." Thank God for His marvelous light--a light that may not explain the darkness to us in a way that we understand, but that gives us hope that that's not all there is.

Well, in the great words of
Reading Rainbow, "Don't take my word for it! Find out for yourself when you read John Steinbeck's East of Eden. Take a look; it's in a book! Reading Rainbow!" What a great show.


Well, I must say, this weekend was delicious: crunchy new buds showing their faces and delighted joggers and dog-walkers in the park. Oliver and I are enjoying the damp air coming in through our open window (my new curtains are dancing). I worked at the hospital this morning, and it was hectic and great. I am thoroughly enjoying my new job in the Emergency Room, and am learning oodles of medical terminology (What's deep-vein thrombosis, you wonder? I learned today...), and it's going to be a great preparation for medical/nursing school. I am chum-chumming it with the docs and anxiously looking forward to joining the ranks of health care workers. James is out driving a car home from Boston (Who knew one could make money driving home from Boston? Count on James to find such work...). Well the rain is coming down quite hard now; I should go shut the windows...