The topic of quarrelling seems to be a reoccuring theme here ... which, I guess, should come as no surprise from a book called The Great Divorce. The very strange bus trip through the air that our character is taking is ever bizarre. The funny haircut kid sitting next to him has issues that seem to stem from lack of respect. Apparently he's an unrecognized genius. He's communist, too. Suddenly a quarrel gets out of hand, shots are fired, knives are drawn and the next thing we know our man is in a different seat next to someone else. This person explains how this town -- I guess it's being called Grey Town -- is ever expanding.
(Now I might know why that band of Arkangel/Atomic Opera offspring and fugitives from Houston was called Grey Town... Those book readers down there!)
It seems that in this place people can build a house just by imagining it. Some people have described heaven that way. I'm not so sure... What happens is people move into a neighborhood/house and soon have a quarrel with a neighbor that sends them packing. Soon it happens again and again and they start looking for a house that's far away from any others. What this does is leave houses and streets and entire neighborhoods empty. A funny consequence over the people's insatiable desire to quarrel.
"Why can't we all just get along?"
The passenger next to our man explains that he's going to try and fix this problem. The solution will come in coming up with something the people need. Since they can have what they imagine, they don't need anything and they have no motivation to stay and work out conflict.
Ah-ha! Commitment is missing. They have no reason to stick around and work things out. That's what's so good about our relationships, our teams, our groups of people that we are part of. There really are tangible things and benefits (and great joy) in working through issues and enjoying each other's different gifts. It's like a synergy where the whole becomes greater and does more than its parts.
hmm....
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at March 30, 2007 10:51 AMIn case you were wondering, the title, The Great Divorce was Lewis' response to William Blake's poem "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" Lewis believed such a marriage was impossible.
Posted by: Tim Harris at March 30, 2007 02:22 PMYeah. I'd like to read that Blake poem sometime. I addressed this in the "To Barbara" post below. The preface helped me to not jump in totally blind to what the book would discuss.
Is it a long poem?
Posted by: Yepper at March 31, 2007 03:33 PMDoug: Recently in HM a book was reviewed. It was Divine Nobodies by Jim Plamer. (not the ex-Oriole pitcher) I know you would love this book if you have not yet read it. Palmer is referred to as the new Miller. He breaks it all down to simple things and really hits home again and again. I can not wait for his next book. So check it out. If you read through and blogged about it, I would re-read it again. Just a book recommnedation. Thanks Doug. Look forward to your writings every day. thanks.
Posted by: Bill at April 2, 2007 08:44 AMYeah, Divine Nobodies is really cool. I read it and really enjoyed it. It's awesome to see someone broken and share how the Lord put them back together. His eye-opening stories were very heart-warming to read.
Posted by: Doug at April 2, 2007 12:01 PM