Thursday, July 21, 2005
Imaginative Reading 5: A River Runs Through It
Report from Imaginative Reading for Creative Preaching, a three-week seminar sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary, hosted by Seminars in Christian Scholarship, and co-led by CTS president Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.:
The conversation in Imaginative Reading for Creative Preaching today touched on a number of the themes in Norman MacLean’s A River Runs Through It. One idea that was developed by a number of the participants was the idea of being able to accept help.
The conversation focused especially on the narrator’s relationship to his brother Paul, who struggles with gambling and alcohol addictions. I noted a number of relevant points on this topic:
-Paul’s mastery of fishing is like a greek tragic flaw – it leads to hubris.
-Wisdom is “a species of humility, acknowledging that reality is bigger and stronger than you are… this whole book is in some ways a primer on wisdom.”
- folly is often linked with pride in Proverbs
- Norman (the narrator) seems to be the guy who has it all together, who’s supposed to fix everybody else. But “the only help that’s given is from his brother – the one that so badly needed the help”
Of course, the participants gleaned wisdom from the book and from each other on a number of other areas as well, including discussion about the role of the river symbolically and literally, the majesty of creation, the nature of family, and the nature of good writing.
7/20
Earlier: Imaginative Reading 4: Children’s literature
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