I’ve recently been reading some books by Paulo Coelho including, ‘The Alchemist’ and ‘By the river Piedra I sat down and wept’
I have found his books a great inspiration written from the heart and I would certainly recommend them. The latest book of his I’m reading is called ‘The Zahir’ which is all about love and what it means to follow your heart. Below is a passage from this book on relationships and communication.
“The most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don’t talk any more, they don’t sit down to talk and listen. They go to the theatre, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. If we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather round a fire and tell stories�
the other issue is our desire to tell and interprit the story. Been to a session at IASYM and how we can use the interpritation as a means to control rather than giving space for new insights or and herectical imperitve that facilitates chabge
talking of Paulo Coelho, have you read “The Fith Mountain”? The story of Elijah.
While I’m thinking about that – how come people who aren’t Christians (or don’t profess to be) can write such illuminating and refreshing “fictional” accounts of some of the classic narratives in scripture? David Maine’s “The Flood” and Jim Crace’s “Quarantine” being just two examples.
Maybe they come to the narratives without our preconceptions and the stories live for them in a way I feel I they sometimes don’t for me.
Richard – not quite sure what you are trying to say in connection with this post.
Ali – No I haven’t read ‘the fifth mountain’ – but have seen it and would like to read it. I never heard of the other two books you mentioned – you sound like you are well read.
In terms of the freshness of these writers – I often feel that Christians have heard it so often and heard these scriptures interpreted mainly in the same way – that the Bible has lost it’s spark, freshness, aliveness and poetic edge. We have become so used to fitting the bible into a doctrinal box that we can’t hear what it could say to us anymore.
Like you I often find writers outside of the Christian world so illuminating adding tenderness, beauty, wonder and often a completely different take on a story I know so well.
I guess what I was exploring was the need to give time for the stories (as the campfire suggests) to be told and not for stories to be told and interprited to make a point. There is an issue that our stories are familar and so we can loose the depth of the story/surpless.