Thanks to everyone who has participated in the virtual book club so far. I haven't read much yet either, but here is one part that I thought was awesome.
"But my mind clung to my wife's image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise."
"A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets,
proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth - that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved."
What an amazing realization to have. This came to Victor after his he had seen his wife for the last time in this life, and yet his love for her was so enduring that memories of her were enough to bring him moments of joy.
This portion of the book caused to me reflect on my loved ones, especially Laura and Alea. I think would feel the same as Dr. Frankl if I were to lose my family and were forced to endure a base and dreary existence. Something equally as beautiful though is the power that thinking of loved ones can have in our lives even if we are not in a lonely and degenerate state. Last weekend I went to a movie with my sister and her fiance. Laura stayed at my parent's house with Alea. I found myself thinking of them, and how I want to be a better husband and father. Their involvement in my life naturally lifts my thoughts and actions to be more Christ-like.
Musing Over Books - A Way for family and friends to connect, inspire, and debate.
Dear Jacob,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing those beautiful thoughts about your love for Laura and Alea!
Here is a poem that I wrote about Kimberly and an experience that we had together...
Eternal Joy
By Daryl Zadok Budd
Standing in the twilight with you
Seeing the temple as though it were new
With glowing lights adorning its face
I thank God for such a wonderful place
The beauty of heaven has come to the earth
Helping us see our own special worth
I feel so much peace from our father above
And to you I offer my heart full of love
My sweetheart forever I hope and I pray
That I'll always remember the joy of this day
I will always obey the spirit's soft voice
I will stand with you always for this is my choice
I'm so grateful we entered the Lord's Temple doors
For throughout all the ages my darling, I'm yours.
I thought it was interesting that he talked about how it was dangerous for people at the camp to live in their past, because that past life was gone, and they needed to learn lessons from the present.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't that the past was meaningless, though, because those relationships and the love (especially his wife) were sustaining forces, something there to support them when they had nothing left. We can think back to how our life was, like a wistfulness that allows us to escape the present, or we can remember the past as something that has happened, that we have learned from, and that is there to help us and support us in our CURRENT situations.
Sometimes I think back to how I've been in the past - how faithful, fit, organized, etc., and I wish I could recapture that. If we stay in that mindset it's really damning, because we're not living and learning and FACING our challenges now. If we can FACE our challenges and work on them with faith, we can progress. Hooray!