Matt, I have been enjoying this series so very much.
I first encountered the Pilgrim’s Promise through another book that had a profound impact on my childhood and shaped many of my ideas about what it means to live a virtuous life. In Little Women, The Pilgrim’s Progress serves as the foundational religious allegory. Their struggles hearken back to that spiritual journey over and over again. Amy’s “Valley of Humiliation,” Jo’s battle with “Apollyon” (her temper), as they strive toward self-improvement and womanhood. I have always identified with Jo March in so many ways, and I still do. The theme of this journey of personal growth continues to shine through in this exercise.
My day 4:
“It didn’t look like the Lonely One at all”, gasped Charlie. “It looked like a man.”
“Right, yes sir, a plain everyday man, who wouldn’t pull the wings off so much as even a fly, Charlie, a fly! The least the Lonely One would do if he was the Lonely One is look like the Lonely One, right?”
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury pg. 178
Dandelion Wine is my all-time favorite novel. I have read it countless times. To me it seems to be almost poetry, filled with brilliant nostalgia and deep meaning.
Over the years, I have thought about the name of this fear embodied in the Lonely One. I remember as a child having similar fears. In adulthood, it turns out that the most destructive elements that enter life do not look like ferocious beasts or evil incarnate. Many times they are just hurt people, who then hurt others. Destruction is a lonely place. And while I try to avoid it, I have sympathy for those who are in that space. The antithesis of connection is operating in that selfish alone way.
The face that Dandelion Wine presented itself to your questing hand is both totally predictable and something that's deeply confirmatory for this whole exercise or experiment. Just lovely. So is the Little Women framing of Bunyan's book in your life.
The fact that the Bradbury delivery deals with the Lonely One is just pretty interesting! Your reflections on it are fascinating.
Matt, I have been enjoying this series so very much.
I first encountered the Pilgrim’s Promise through another book that had a profound impact on my childhood and shaped many of my ideas about what it means to live a virtuous life. In Little Women, The Pilgrim’s Progress serves as the foundational religious allegory. Their struggles hearken back to that spiritual journey over and over again. Amy’s “Valley of Humiliation,” Jo’s battle with “Apollyon” (her temper), as they strive toward self-improvement and womanhood. I have always identified with Jo March in so many ways, and I still do. The theme of this journey of personal growth continues to shine through in this exercise.
My day 4:
“It didn’t look like the Lonely One at all”, gasped Charlie. “It looked like a man.”
“Right, yes sir, a plain everyday man, who wouldn’t pull the wings off so much as even a fly, Charlie, a fly! The least the Lonely One would do if he was the Lonely One is look like the Lonely One, right?”
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury pg. 178
Dandelion Wine is my all-time favorite novel. I have read it countless times. To me it seems to be almost poetry, filled with brilliant nostalgia and deep meaning.
Over the years, I have thought about the name of this fear embodied in the Lonely One. I remember as a child having similar fears. In adulthood, it turns out that the most destructive elements that enter life do not look like ferocious beasts or evil incarnate. Many times they are just hurt people, who then hurt others. Destruction is a lonely place. And while I try to avoid it, I have sympathy for those who are in that space. The antithesis of connection is operating in that selfish alone way.
The face that Dandelion Wine presented itself to your questing hand is both totally predictable and something that's deeply confirmatory for this whole exercise or experiment. Just lovely. So is the Little Women framing of Bunyan's book in your life.
The fact that the Bradbury delivery deals with the Lonely One is just pretty interesting! Your reflections on it are fascinating.