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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Ice Axe


I don't write much these days. Poor practice for someone who once fancied herself a writer.

I have, however, been reading a lot.

Yesterday, while reading Eugene Peterson's "Eat This Book," I came across this fabulous quote by Franz Kafka: "If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skull, why then do we read it?... A book must be like an ice-axe to break the frozen sea within us."

If I cannot be an ice-axe, why bother writing? Why, indeed? I am surrounded by ice, made of it, but seem quite unable to find a sharp implement with which to break its surface.

The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, said: “There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else.”

Well, that isn’t very encouraging.

So, what then, is the wise King Solomon’s advice? What is his final conclusion about the meaning of life? It is simply this: Fear God. Do what he tells you.

And so, what does God tell me? There are a lot of things I think he is telling me. However, there is little I know. In this way, I am a fool.

And so, I walk, blind and foolish. Listening. I want to do what he tells me.

1 Comments:

At 9:00 AM, Blogger Terri B. said...

I hear you on this one.

 

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