i've been reading a novel by Par Lagerkvist entitled The Dwarf. written in swedish in 1945, it is an autobiographical tale of hatred and murder. as the dwarf spins his yarn, he reveals his insecurities, prejudices, corruption, and inability to love. ulitmately it is a story about the brutal results of "otherness" carried to its fullest extent. what are we capable of if we fail to connect relationally with others? what will we become if we isolate ourselves in our own self-righteousness, never to give selflessly on behalf of the other? as i read the dwarf's story, i begin to see my own face in the pages of the text- in places i don't want to show up. i needed to be reminded of my own tendancies towards nonrelationality. so help me, God.
Monday, August 15, 2005
evil you can relate to
i've been reading a novel by Par Lagerkvist entitled The Dwarf. written in swedish in 1945, it is an autobiographical tale of hatred and murder. as the dwarf spins his yarn, he reveals his insecurities, prejudices, corruption, and inability to love. ulitmately it is a story about the brutal results of "otherness" carried to its fullest extent. what are we capable of if we fail to connect relationally with others? what will we become if we isolate ourselves in our own self-righteousness, never to give selflessly on behalf of the other? as i read the dwarf's story, i begin to see my own face in the pages of the text- in places i don't want to show up. i needed to be reminded of my own tendancies towards nonrelationality. so help me, God.
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good words phil. this is making me wonder how i will encounter the "otherness" of my own soul. i like to see only the parts of myself that justify the ways i live and move and have my being. i am so often blind to or unwilling to see the "otherness" of the falleness that dwells within me.
it seems that there is both an "otherness" of the other and of the self.
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