Having, as I think I said, just read Marilynne Robinson's fine Gideon,
in which a dying pastor of a small USAmerican town tells of his life &
of the lives of his father & grandfather & of the people he knows, &
demonstrates a terrific love for the world as part of his faith in God
(which I confess I found particularly moving in his narration), this
is, then, fascinating, if, for me, telling in a way I can't accept:
We may compare
James 4:4-
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship (/philia/)
with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a
friend (/philos/) of the world becomes an enemy of God.
I find Robinson's representation of a human love for others & for the
world as the core of a human faith in something more profound & worthy.
Doug
Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton Alberta T6G 2E5 Canada
(780) 436 3320
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
The poet is ecstatic, having dreamt of this visit for weeks.
He takes Erato’s face, dribbling and wild, between his hands
and kisses her gently as if she were a runaway teenager.
Diana Hartog
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