Shannon Aaron Stephens's Blog, page 8
July 8, 2021
Jayhab Captain Crow
Neighbors,
I have this thought that Jayber Crow is like a redeemed Captain Ahab.
If you haven’t read Wendell Berry’s novel, Jayber Crow , man, I can’t recommend it enough.
Here’s a quick summary. Jayber is a barber in a small community in Kentucky. Part of his journey is growing content with the lot that he ended up with. Please read this most wonderful of novels. The picture I am painting isn’t anything nearly as beautiful as the real deal. Wendell Berry is a true craftsman.
Jayber does have to come to terms with where he is and the path that led him there. And he eventually thanks God for all of it. He enjoys his life, simple though it is.
Captain Ahab, however. Yes, good old Ahab. You’ve read Moby Dick , right?
Or if not, at least you know that Ahab is a lunatic whaling ship captain on a crazed revenge mission against a giant white whale, right?
Ahab is trying to hunt down fate itself. He is trying to wrestle destiny to his favor. Jayber takes a sober assessment of life and tries to do the best work he can wherever he is. The former leads to disintegration. The latter leads to joy, peace, patience, and good work, faith, hope, and love.
These are my two favorite novels.
Enjoy!
Prost!,
Shannon
I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
I have this thought that Jayber Crow is like a redeemed Captain Ahab.
If you haven’t read Wendell Berry’s novel, Jayber Crow , man, I can’t recommend it enough.
Here’s a quick summary. Jayber is a barber in a small community in Kentucky. Part of his journey is growing content with the lot that he ended up with. Please read this most wonderful of novels. The picture I am painting isn’t anything nearly as beautiful as the real deal. Wendell Berry is a true craftsman.
Jayber does have to come to terms with where he is and the path that led him there. And he eventually thanks God for all of it. He enjoys his life, simple though it is.
Captain Ahab, however. Yes, good old Ahab. You’ve read Moby Dick , right?
Or if not, at least you know that Ahab is a lunatic whaling ship captain on a crazed revenge mission against a giant white whale, right?
Ahab is trying to hunt down fate itself. He is trying to wrestle destiny to his favor. Jayber takes a sober assessment of life and tries to do the best work he can wherever he is. The former leads to disintegration. The latter leads to joy, peace, patience, and good work, faith, hope, and love.
These are my two favorite novels.
Enjoy!
Prost!,
Shannon
I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
July 7, 2021
Fallow, Fruitful, Fallow
Meticulous ordering of intentions,
But no work.
Meticulous arranging of ideas,
But no novel.
To wish only, is to sleep.
To desire deeply, is to awake.
To will, is to be.
To do, is to become.
Someone probably already said that.
To strikethrough words is to...
To rest is to accept
Sabbath and work
Simultaneously
And in their turn.
But no work.
Meticulous arranging of ideas,
But no novel.
To wish only, is to sleep.
To desire deeply, is to awake.
To will, is to be.
To do, is to become.
Someone probably already said that.
To strikethrough words is to...
To rest is to accept
Sabbath and work
Simultaneously
And in their turn.
July 6, 2021
Soren Kierkegaard
“Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth – look at the dying man’s struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.” 1
Soren Kierkegaard wrote this in his journal. SK is known as The Father of Existentialism. Deep, right? Well, yeah, but... He wasn’t questioning whether anything actually exists. Not like your pot-head college freshman roommate. Kierkegaard was writing to try to get us to think deeply about our existence and the make the most of life. You have to know the truest truth about the reality you inhabit in order to live it to the best. That just seems self-evident to me. Dig deep. Wrestle with the hard questions.
In this quote Soren Kierkegaard is challenging our default view of the purpose of our lives. The default view is that our highest goal should be to make ourselves happy. But why do we conclude that? His sentence points out that if our life begins with pain and tears, and it ends with pain and tears, what leads us to believe happiness is the highest pursuit? I got no answer to that. We’re just wrong. Whatever life is supposed to be about (I certainly have thoughts on that, but let’s start out light – this is only the second blog post) it isn’t about bliss.
By the way, I started reading Soren Kierkegaard with his Works of Love .
Here is my favorite quote:
“With respect to love we speak continually about perfection and the perfect person. With respect to love Christianity also speaks continually about perfection and the perfect person. Alas, but we men talk about finding the perfect person in order to love him. Christianity speaks about being the perfect person who limitlessly loves the person he sees.” 2
So, we ought to not wait for those around us to become lovable in order to love them, but to endeavor to be good neighbors first.
I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
1. Kierkegaard, Soren. Papers and Journals. United Kingdom, Penguin Books Limited, 2015.
2. Hong, Howard V., et al. Kierkegaard's Writings, XVI, Volume 16: Works of Love. United Kingdom, Princeton University Press, 2013.
July 5, 2021
Weeping Poplar
Under a tulip poplar
With weeping leaves
Rainy dusk time
Is like a mourning widow
It’s a window
Into a broken heart
Peace in a cleft
In spite of a storm
Crying hard, though
Because
There is plenty to cry about
And I need to catch up
On weeping
For you and me
And for our children
The trees too,
Might as well
Might as well cry
