DAY 6
From the devotional book BeyondWords by frederick Buechner
“HE LET THE Times fall to the carpet beside him. It was the usual recital–a new tax plan, the danger of oral contraceptives to women over forty, the mayor’s special committee on child abuse. He pushed his glasses back on his forehead and with his thumb and forefinger massaged the loose flesh under his eyes. Through the club window he could see a fat woman in slacks waiting for a bus, a boy with a ponytail walking a dog. Somebody had the TV on in another room, and he could hear the rise and fall of canned laughter. He lit a cigarette and let the smoke drift out of his mouth without exhaling it. The city sky was turning brown with the approach of dusk. Then suddenly, as if it had been only yesterday, he remembered Eden.
The leopard…the starling…the rose–he remembered giving each its name, remembered the green river, the shy, green girl. He could no longer remember why it was he had felt compelled to leave it except that it had something to do with asserting his independence. Beyond that, he had only the dim sense that somehow a terrible injustice had been done, or possibly a terrible justice.
He saw the flame of what must have been the sunset flash like a sword in the upper-story windows across the street. When the old steward brought him his third martini, he called him Pete. Actually, his name was Angelo.
Genesis 2-3
See also Eve.”
My Reflection This is the first of these devotionals that I feel like went over my head. Buechner seems to enjoy using allegory, and this devotional is definitely allegory. He seems to be envisioning Adam as an older man, his better days behind him, perhaps contemplating on what might, or could, have been. Come to think of it, I’m having those types of thoughts these days. Why not, I’m getting to be of the certain age where, for some people, at least, they are quite common, or at least can be. If only I had done this. If only I hadn’t done that. If only, if only…But in this allegorical tale Adam only has a hazy memory of the Garden. There’s a slight hint that there might be some diminished brain capacity at play, but I don’t want to overthink. I might revisit this one for my own edification. Reflecting on it now, it seems to me that Buechner’s point may have been that it wouldn’t do Adam any good to dwell on being expelled from the Garden. That was in the past. All he can do now is do his best in the present. That seems kind of weak to me, but I’m going with it.
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- Thoughts On The Chogaffirm Petition - June 3, 2023
- Rhonda - June 3, 2023
- Beyond Words Day 23 - April 4, 2023
- Beyond Words Day 21 - April 1, 2023
- State Of The Household - January 9, 2023
- Book Review and Miscellany Thoughts - November 18, 2022
- Initial Thoughts On My Writing - September 13, 2022
- Beyond Words Day 19 - September 11, 2022
