I just finished
Phantastes by George MacDonald. I read it a few years ago, but I am re-reading it for a Men's Reading group that I am part of up here in Fargo/Moorhead. I really enjoyed it this time through -- perhaps even more than the first time I read it. It is not an easy read, as the plot is a bit disjointed and the language a bit archaic, but to me, that is part of its charm. The book is a sort of Fairy Tale for adults, in the true sense of the word rather than the modern pejorative sense.
Here are a few highlights from the last few chapters of the book. I am not sure if they will make much sense out of context, but I hope you enjoy thinking about them anyhow:
"I learned that it is better, a thousand-fold, for a proud man to be humbled, than to hold up his head in his pride and fancied innocence. I learned that he that will be a hero, will barely be a man; that he that will be nothing but a doer of his work, is sure of his manhood."
"I knew now that it is by loving, and not by being loved that one can come nearest the soul of another; yea, that, where two love, it is the loving of each other and not the being beloved by each other, that originates and perfects and assures their blessedness."
"Yet I know that good is coming to me -- that good is always coming; though few have at all times the simplicity and the courage to believe it. What we call evil, is the only and best shape, which, for the person and his condition at the time, could be assumed by the best good."
I think that this last one is especially good and especially challenging to ponder. When we look at our lives, it is easy to categorize our experiences as pleasant or unpleasant, as good or bad. On what basis do me make that judgment? Also, as we try to make sense of the unfolding story of our lives, which we alternatively consider as to some degree under our control or quite outside our control, do we believe that we are in a comedy or a tragedy? How much, if any, of the script has been written, and how will it end?
Often our current circumstances and emotions dictate the answers we give to these questions. But at the end of it all, it is quite comforting to think that perhaps there is a master story-teller who is scripting the course of our lives, and better yet, he means to bring it to the best conclusion possible. Believing this will undoubtedly force us to give up our role as protagonist in the story of our lives. Under the circumstances, I think that this is a small sacrifice to make.
