It has been quite a while since I read this book. But every time I thought of writing about it here, I would be at a loss for words. What was more maddening was that I was simply unable to put a finger on the reason for it - until today morning when I had my own Eureka moment. Of course, I didn't respond to it in as dramatic a fashion as good old Archimedes did. Anyway, the problem, as it turned out, was that I couldn't identify with the concept of God as portrayed in this book. To explain it further, it is necessary to give a bit of a background of the story.
This story is of Elijah - a young man who is a prophet. He can hear the angels who convey the God's orders to him. The king of his country, king Ahab, marries a princess, Jezebel, who is from a foreign land called Phoenicia. The new queen quickly sets about replacing the native God, who is referred to as simply the Lord, with the God of her country, the Baal. Elijah's countrymen are furious about it but can do precious little to stop it. And then one day Elijah gets a message from God that unless the worship of Baal is ceased, the land would be plagued by a severe famine. It falls on him to convey this message to the royal couple with the result that Jezebel starts executing the prophets and Elijah has to get out of the city to save himself. The rest of the story is about where he goes and what he does.
Now, my unease stemmed from this image of God who takes offense that some other God is being worshipped. Make no mistake, my own religion, Hinduism, is replete with stories of jealous, petty Gods who lose patience at the drop of a hat and do not hesitate to curse even an innocent person. But I have never identified with those Gods either - my least favorite one being Indra, the king of the Gods. They are just stories - made up to either put the fear of the Almighty in humans or to make the Gods appear closer to mankind by showing them capable of harboring the same base feelings and instincts as humans. So I cannot pretend that the concept of an unreasonable God shocked me to the core or otherwise. But I guess that did color the lens through which I viewed the rest of Elijah's story.
Having said that, I must confess that the book does talk about a few ideas which might seem rather rebellious when it comes to religion. e.g. God likes those who challenge his will rather than submitting to it meekly. Hmmmm......God knows there are moments when I start having serious doubts about the concept of 'free will' but I think someone mighty enough to create this whole universe would have been bored ages ago if everything were to go as He had planned it to be. Where is the surprise in that, right? One other idea that I simply loved from this book was that the meaning of your life is whatever you want it to be. Beautiful!
I could not resist collecting a few of my favorite paragraphs - if only to come back and read them again when I feel confused or let down by life. Here goes:
“What is temporary?” asked Elijah.
“The unavoidable.”
“And what is lasting?”
“The lessons of the unavoidable.”
“Every man hath the right to doubt his task, and to forsake it from time to time; but what he must not do is forget it. Whoever doubteth not himself is unworthy–for in his unquestioning belief in his ability, he commiteth the sin of pride. Blessed are they who go through moments of indecision.”
“Fear exists until the moment when the unavoidable happens,” he told Elijah. “After that, we must waste none of our energy on it.”
“Everything that could have happened but did not is carried away with the wind and leaves no trace,” said the shepherd. “Life is made of our attitudes. And there are certain things that the gods oblige us to live through. Their reason for this does not matter, and there is no action we can take to make them pass us by.”
“If you have a past that dissatisfies you, forget it now,” he went on. “Imagine a new story of your life, and believe in it. Concentrate only on those moments in which you achieved what you desired, and this strength will help you to accomplish what you want.”
A child can always teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.
Sometimes it was necessary to struggle with God.
From heaven, God smiles contentedly, for it was this that He desired, that each person take into his hands the responsibility for his own life. For, in the final analysis, He had given His children the greatest of all gifts: the capacity to choose and determine their acts.
He had fled from doubt. From defeat. From moments of indecision. But the Lord was generous and had led him to the abyss of the unavoidable, to show him that man must choose–and not accept–his fate.
Sadness does not last forever when we walk in the direction of that which we always desired.
“It's always necessary to know when a stage of one's life has ended. If you stubbornly cling to it after the need has passed, you lose the joy and meaning of the rest. And you risk being shaken to your senses by God.”
“The Lord is stern.”
“Only with those He has chosen.”
This story is of Elijah - a young man who is a prophet. He can hear the angels who convey the God's orders to him. The king of his country, king Ahab, marries a princess, Jezebel, who is from a foreign land called Phoenicia. The new queen quickly sets about replacing the native God, who is referred to as simply the Lord, with the God of her country, the Baal. Elijah's countrymen are furious about it but can do precious little to stop it. And then one day Elijah gets a message from God that unless the worship of Baal is ceased, the land would be plagued by a severe famine. It falls on him to convey this message to the royal couple with the result that Jezebel starts executing the prophets and Elijah has to get out of the city to save himself. The rest of the story is about where he goes and what he does.
Now, my unease stemmed from this image of God who takes offense that some other God is being worshipped. Make no mistake, my own religion, Hinduism, is replete with stories of jealous, petty Gods who lose patience at the drop of a hat and do not hesitate to curse even an innocent person. But I have never identified with those Gods either - my least favorite one being Indra, the king of the Gods. They are just stories - made up to either put the fear of the Almighty in humans or to make the Gods appear closer to mankind by showing them capable of harboring the same base feelings and instincts as humans. So I cannot pretend that the concept of an unreasonable God shocked me to the core or otherwise. But I guess that did color the lens through which I viewed the rest of Elijah's story.
Having said that, I must confess that the book does talk about a few ideas which might seem rather rebellious when it comes to religion. e.g. God likes those who challenge his will rather than submitting to it meekly. Hmmmm......God knows there are moments when I start having serious doubts about the concept of 'free will' but I think someone mighty enough to create this whole universe would have been bored ages ago if everything were to go as He had planned it to be. Where is the surprise in that, right? One other idea that I simply loved from this book was that the meaning of your life is whatever you want it to be. Beautiful!
I could not resist collecting a few of my favorite paragraphs - if only to come back and read them again when I feel confused or let down by life. Here goes:
“What is temporary?” asked Elijah.
“The unavoidable.”
“And what is lasting?”
“The lessons of the unavoidable.”
“Every man hath the right to doubt his task, and to forsake it from time to time; but what he must not do is forget it. Whoever doubteth not himself is unworthy–for in his unquestioning belief in his ability, he commiteth the sin of pride. Blessed are they who go through moments of indecision.”
“Fear exists until the moment when the unavoidable happens,” he told Elijah. “After that, we must waste none of our energy on it.”
“Everything that could have happened but did not is carried away with the wind and leaves no trace,” said the shepherd. “Life is made of our attitudes. And there are certain things that the gods oblige us to live through. Their reason for this does not matter, and there is no action we can take to make them pass us by.”
“If you have a past that dissatisfies you, forget it now,” he went on. “Imagine a new story of your life, and believe in it. Concentrate only on those moments in which you achieved what you desired, and this strength will help you to accomplish what you want.”
A child can always teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.
Sometimes it was necessary to struggle with God.
From heaven, God smiles contentedly, for it was this that He desired, that each person take into his hands the responsibility for his own life. For, in the final analysis, He had given His children the greatest of all gifts: the capacity to choose and determine their acts.
He had fled from doubt. From defeat. From moments of indecision. But the Lord was generous and had led him to the abyss of the unavoidable, to show him that man must choose–and not accept–his fate.
Sadness does not last forever when we walk in the direction of that which we always desired.
“It's always necessary to know when a stage of one's life has ended. If you stubbornly cling to it after the need has passed, you lose the joy and meaning of the rest. And you risk being shaken to your senses by God.”
“The Lord is stern.”
“Only with those He has chosen.”
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