Posted by Benjamin on: 06.30.2008 /
Eugene Peterson is the genius who completed, mostly by himself, pretty much the only readable translation of the Bible into American English. It’s called The Message. He talks about that, and about story and other things, in this video of an interview with him last year. He said:
But the imagination is almost, not quite, the same thing as faith. It’s that which connects what we see and what we don’t see and pulls us through what we see into what we don’t see. Now when that imagination then becomes/involves trust and participation it’s faith. But imagination is the training ground for that. So that’s why I think novelists, poets–we ought to ordain them.
What roles do story and imagination play in making the world a more just, peaceful place?
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Comment by: joe
1 07/1/08 3:25 AM | Comment Link |A very big part, Benjamin.
It is a truism that most people involved in radical movements for more just society are depressed, miserable, beaten, tired and ready to retire somewhere comfortable. I’ve never seen research into suicide rates amongst radicals, but I would guess it is high.
And quite a lot of the time it is because we’ve lost imagination and our vision has been beaten back by reality.
For me, that is something of the value of religion - not that it protects us from bad things, depression etc, but that it gives us some of the tools we need to keep going when things are really shite.
Comment by: Staci
2 07/1/08 11:12 AM | Comment Link |Every couple of months I have to declare a moratorium on non-fiction type reading. Information overload and the giganticness of all the suckiness in the world (think I made up a couple of words there) leaves me feeling rather like a pancake. That is exactly when I need to read poetry or a novel. Such reading can be a retreat of sorts, but not in a way that barricades a person from reality. Rather it is a way to replenish; a way to refill the reserves of the spirit with energy and hope.
When literature is at its best, I feel like I’ve gone so deep into the story, so far from my own world and regular thinking patterns, that I almost have to swim up out of it. And I can see the sunlight at the top of the water and when I burst up out of that world and into my own I take a big breath of air and feel refreshed and invigorated.
Comment by: Benjamin
3 07/1/08 12:31 PM | Comment Link |Joe, Staci,
I love both of your responses–the tension between the replenishing ability of imagination and story and the draining effect of the giganticness of all the suckiness in the world.
I especially hear you Staci about getting lost in the world of a good story, and how refreshing that can be.
thank you for writing!
Can you share a particular story or stories that have recently had that effect on you? What or who do you read to get that?
Comment by: Helen
4 07/2/08 6:57 AM | Comment Link |I think they’re vital - they engage more of our brain.
One of the problems with some forms of Christianity is that it seems all the poetry has been stripped out of it and it’s been reduced to a logical system. I think analytical people were given too much say and poets were excluded, to the detriment of some forms of Christianity.
I wasn’t going to read Brian McLaren’s new book because it sounded like it would be about things which don’t work for me, like worship.
However, I read a bit of it on Amazon and I liked how Brian uses language in it - it seems poetic. I’m open to Christian art more than I’m open to Christian ‘facts’ and ‘information’. And of course Brian’s form of Christianity has much good in it anyway - he starts out talking about how Christianity should be more than a belief system - it should be a way of life. And then he says spiritual practices lead people into more attentive, perceptive and intentional lives. That sounds great to me. So it’s not as if I disagree with everything in the book. Until I read it I’m not sure what I will or won’t agree with.
Some atheists (not all) underemphasize poetry, story and imagination too - as if all that matters is ‘what is real/true/material’. It’s not just Christians who make the mistake of underestimating the power of story and imagination. And poetry.
Comment by: Staci
5 07/2/08 4:26 PM | Comment Link |Hi, Benjamin. I like variety and guess I’m a rather promiscuous reader. The classics, summer beach novels, children’s books - I love them all. You just never know when something will grab hold of you or speak to you in a new way. No matter what it is, I’m in awe of anyone who puts what is in their head on paper and shares it with the world.
Some fairly recent that spring to mind are Elizabeth Graver’s The Honey Thief, Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible, Sherman Alexie’s Flight (actually anything by Alexie), the Harry Potter series, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Louise Erdrich’s The Last Report on the Miricles at Little No Horse, Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Some things I keep rereading are John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, two books of poetry - one American turn of the century and the other English romantics, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Rudyard Kipling’s Kim and The Just So Stories…
Arg… now I have the urge to walk down the street to the bookstore for something new…
Comment by: Benjamin
6 07/2/08 5:33 PM | Comment Link |Helen,
You are so on top of things. I didn’t even know Brian had a new book out.
Staci,
I’m so with you. Of the ones you’ve listed I’ve only read the Whitman and the Kipling Just So Stories. I find I constantly return to Kipling’s Jungle Book. I could very happily curl up with a pile of books for the next 10,000 years. =)
I found being in university … limited my reading more and more as the classes got harder and harder. Most recently I’m attempting Helen Dewitt’s Your Name Here, which is a bit of a … strenuous wade after her enormously readable and super brilliant The Last Samurai. Also recently I read three Vernor Vinge Novels: Rainbow’s End and A Fire in Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky. I’m also working on Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog. It’s all a sort of mad attempt to be able to say I’ve read every Hugo winner ever. =)
thank you for sharing your reading list. It’s a delightful idea!
Comment by: Staci
7 07/7/08 12:50 PM | Comment Link |I so get you on school limiting your reading, especially as you get into the higher level classes. Once I finished school I brought out all the novels, poetry, and essays from various lit classes - even the anthologies - and read them again. Or more accurately REALLY read them, not just reviewed for class discussion points and papers. And I found that I actually enjoyed them this time!
I highly recommend Sherman Alexie. Think you’d really like his work. I first read him in a Native American lit class when I was in university. (He has a poem about Columbus Day that reminds me of a more recent post on this site.) He has some novels, but started out with short stories and poetry, which fits into busy school schedules a little easier. You can read some of his poetry & essays on his website. One of his short story collections (Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven) was made into a film called Smoke Signals. (Rachel reviewed this film several months back.)
Comment by: Rachel
8 07/7/08 2:47 PM | Comment Link |Thanks for mentioning the movie review, Staci. Here is a link.