"...when a man knows somebody cares, he keeps some small place, a corner maybe of his soul, clean and lit..."
I normally plow through books, devouring hundreds of pages each evening until its come to a close. I am a task oriented person. Sometimes I even wonder if I like reading as much as a I do finishing? So the way I have been reading "The Power of One" is quite unusual for me. I picked up the novel about a month ago at Barns and Noble and have been reading 10-20 pages a night just before bed. Its a 500 pg book so at this rate, I have a few more weeks on this one. Hard to get into, but really well written and interesting characters...its about a boy in South Africa and its about boxing. One of those things seems unlikely as a topic of interest for me(guess which one *grin*)
So I stumbled across that sentence on pg 228 a week or more ago. It kind of haulted my searching blue eyes that were rhythmicly going from left to right and then left to right again down the page. I read the paragraph again and then that sentence once more: "...when a man knows somebody cares, he keeps some small place, a corner maybe of his soul, clean and lit..." I turned up the bottom left hand corner of the page to mark this place so I could think about it later. I am on pg. 357 now and still having a hard time concentrating because of those words.
I knew they were going to be important to me.
So I have been sitting with those words...holding them with my hands and rearranging the words with my mind. I have started to wonder more about the alternate experience than the one described in the book.... what if a man believes no one cares or ever could care? does that corner of the soul get cluttered and dusty and dim? and if so, can it be rehabed into a clean and lit space reserved for someone? and if not, does that corner of the soul just somehow not exist? I doubt that one, but if it exists and the soul owner doesn't know where to find it or how to rehab it, what does his lover do? how does the one who cares make a space for herself? or better, how does she convince the soul owner that someone could care and does...how could she convince him to the point that he would make a small corner clean and lit and welcome her in?
Hmmm....
Leave it to a novel about a welterweight champion to open up some of the deepest questions in the heart.
Please share your musings.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
corner of the soul
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10 comments:
Have you ever read "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers? It draws off of Hosea in the Bible. It tells of one whose corner wasn't clean and lit but was made so by the care of another. Just a thought.
I love this quote Kate. I can reach so much into it. Thanks.
Just wandered onto your blog at work, had a spare moment. I saw the movie of this novel when I was in the eighth grade and even the movie rocked my world. Once you're done reading the book you should check out the dvd.
Hope things are well and Happy Birthday by the Way.
ah
Kate...where are you??? I love reading your posts! :-) Hope all is well with you and your your man! Blessings & joy!
Kate - I really need to talk to you....please contact me regarding your puppy. I haven't heard from you and your puppy is about ready to come home. Regards, Donita Lockwood
Kate
Just wanted to say hi! I miss your posts!Hope everything is okay and going well with you guys.
Blessings,
Jodi
hi kate, i ran across your myspace and then your blogspot after adding shawn to my friends on my myspace. his words inspire me immensely. and i've come to find yours do as well. you have such a way with words, and you seem like such an amazing person. i thought i should let you know that. :)
i hope all is well and Godbless.
awesome quote...i think it's very true. when one knows someone truly cares, hope is lit inside.
about the alternate experience...that's a tough call...i think the person with the dim and cluttered part of the soul really needs to believe his lover cares and needs to allow her to care for him, thus letting her in. perhaps there is a way, yet unknown to the lover, that really speaks to his soul. but regardless of the way to reach him, it would seem that he is the one who needs to remove whatever is blocking him from believing and then allow himself to be cared for by his lover.
Hi Kate, friend of Nick!
My first reaction to the quote is the phenomenon of a man being challenged to put forth his best to live up to the love of the person who cares about him. He wants to do that person honor, and not have their care be in vain.
Now ... to answer your question about the pool. It's so sad. My roommate and I were talking on our balcony one afternoon and were, at the same time, watching a mother duck and her ducklings swim in the pool below. The pool was in the process of being drained and when the mother flew out, the ducklings were stuck, struggling to get out. But the water was too low, maybe two feet at its deepest point.
We watched the desperation go on for a while, but got distracted by out conversation, and forgot all about the little ducklings.
until ... my roommate was talking to Nick a couple of days later only to find out that he had spent a better part of the morning fishing their wee little dead bodies out of the pool.
*gasp*! sob
say hi to Tara, Dana, and Jocelyn for me!
christine
i'm actually coming out to your part of the country this summer. i'll be working at a church in Olympia (it was as close as i could get to Seattle).
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