i’m reading “the poisonwood bible” by barbara kingsolver.
i’m a great believer that things and events come to you when they are supposed to, and it’s up to you to figure out why or be open enough to possibilities to let the intended meaning reveal itself, and this book is no exception.
the book was lying on a table of free stuff at work just before the election, and it said to me, “pick me up and read me.” so i picked it up and, after the election when i wanted some distraction, i started to read it. aaaargh.
it’s about a family of fundamental christians. just what i needed, to get my mind off of current events.
but, having read another of her books, i thought that maybe there was some learning to be had. and the book reads well, or at least it has so far in the ~100 pages I have read. it’s all about a minister and his family who travel to the congo as missionaries in the 1950s.
and, this morning, the first message leapt to me from the page. the book is written from the point of view of the various family members, and the chapter i’m reading is by one of the children, who is teaching the congolese children to play “mother may i”. she’s discussing, in her limited way, the mentality that the children bring to the game, and how the congolese children always won the game because of their strict adherence to the rules.
here is what the book said: “this came as a strange letdown, to see how the game always went to those who knew the rules without understanding the lesson.”
the game always goes to those who know the rules without understanding the lesson.
i hope ms. kingsolver disproves that somewhere in her book. i’d hate to think that’s going to be an undisputed ultimate truth as i finish the book.
but, given the subject matter and what i guess so far will be her thesis, i’m thinking that it will be. undisputed. ultimate. truth.
i know it seems to be undisputed, ultimate, and truthful from what i’ve seen of the world so far.
