Changing Times

They say one of the best ways to keep dementia at bay is to learn another language. Supposedly new pathways are created in the brain that keep the brain vibrant and strong. If I had not moved to Sweden, I would have never taken up the task of learning Swedish. Prior to meeting my Swede, I had never heard the language spoken, except for the Swedish chef on Sesame Street. That doesn’t seem to count as real Swedish. Now, as I am writing this, I am using a Swedish keyboard that has these three new letters and one that one my tongue can barely pronounce: Ö, Ä, och Å. 

As part of my learning Swedish, I am reading Astrid Lindgren’s children’s books. These books are at the third-grade reading level yet they are a challenge for me to read. Recently I finished, Kajsa Kavat. Kajsa is a girl’s name and ‘Kavat’ means ‘plucky’. Each chapter is a story of another ‘plucky’ child. The book was published in 1950. It is written during another time when children were viewed differently than they are today. In the book the children are harsh to each other, the parents are harsh to the children, and life is harsh to all. Yet, there is an undertone of humor and care. Lindgren’s stories represent a time not only in Sweden, it also represents the view of mid 20th century in the US. These types of harsh stories I don’t find in children literature today. Our view of children has changed. 

The Reading i Sverige book club has four categories we read from; one of the categories is ‘Swedish’. This month we read, ’The Abominable Man, A Martin Beck Novel’ by Sjöwall and Wahlöö, written in 1971. The book is unique in that the authors are creating a new genre within the detective crime genre. Throughout the book the authors use the crime story to be critical of Sweden. The country they were criticizing is hardly recognizable today. In the 1990’s vast economic changes were put in place in Sweden. Today Sweden is one of the strongest democratic countries in the world. It is not a perfect society, as I read a few years ago in the book 'The Almost Nearly Perfect People' by Michael Booth. Yet, much has changed and the world’s view of Sweden has changed. 

My reading has highlighted the continue evolution of society. The struggle of how to build a strong society is ongoing and we are all a part of it. Obviously, organizing a successful society is a difficult human endeavor. In my past I have hopefully been a part of changing society for the better. And now, for my part I continue that struggle by min dagliga läsning av svenska bärnböcker. Hopefully the dementia stays away too!

Currently reading:

• On Interpretations (4th Century BCE) by Aristotle
• Psalm (5th Century BCE by King David and Solomon
• The First Four Books of Poems (1995) by Louise Glück
• Leviticus (6th Century BCE) tradition says Moses
• Every Thing is Sacred (2021) by Richard Rohr and Patrick Boland
• The Peloponnesian War (5th Century BCE) by Thucydides

Completed:

• The History (425 BC) by Herodotus
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• West with the Night (1942) by Beryl Markham
• The Abominable Man (1971) by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

Never Be Puny

'The outward work will never be puny if the inward work is great.’ 

Meister Eckhart 

This past year I stumbled upon the daily newsletter by Heather Cox Richardson. Richardson is an American historian and a faculty member at Boston College. Her writing is simple and straightforward in explaining topics I have not fully understood. (I highly recommend signing up for her daily newsletter.) Recently she explained the uneventful yet courageous way in which Frederich Douglass escaped slavery. Douglass stepped onto a train with the identity papers of another man. As Richardson writes in her newsletter: 

'Douglass's step was such a little one, such an easy one... except that it meant the difference between life and death, the difference between a forgotten, enslaved shipyard worker and the great Frederick Douglass, who went on to become a powerful voice for American liberty.' 

This seemingly small step one hundred and eighty-three years ago has dramatically affected the world today. Douglass's inner world was 'not puny,' as Meister Eckhart says,  and we remember Frederick Douglass today.

This quarter's reading for the Great Books of the Western World project has led back to Herodotus's book, 'The History.' We are reading about the Persian Wars. Previously I have read novels about these events and watched the movie '300 Spartans'. Even though I am familiar with some of these historical events, reading Herodotus, the historian who documented these events, has been a wonderful experience. Herodotus recounts individual heroic deeds and the successes of being united,

'if they quarreled among themselves about the command, Greece would be brought to ruin. Herein they judged rightly, for internal strife is a thing as much worse than war carried on by a united people,' 

Individuals had to give up certain rights and desires for something greater. He understands the work of the inner world for the outer world. 

My brother recommended that I listen to the book 'West with the Night' by Beryl Markham. Markham's book is a brilliantly written memoir. She, at the age of four, and her father moved to Africa from England. In her memoir, I could sense her aloneness but never being lonely. The stories of her life are riveting and speak to her inner strength. What she accomplishes in the outer world is remarkable.  Through her writing, she creates poetic images of her experiences growing up in Africa, training racehorses, and flying from Europe to North America. This is what Ernest Hemmingway says of her writing:

'Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West with the Night? ...She has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pigpen. But this girl, who is to my knowledge very unpleasant and we might even say a high-grade bitch, can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers ... it really is a bloody wonderful book.'

There are two spaces we all inhabit: our inner world and our outer world. My reading has made me pause and wonder about my inner world. Could I, would I step onto the train?  

The picture is of me in Oslo. It was the day I was granted permanent residency in Sweden.

 

Currently reading:

• Psalm (5th Century BCE by King David and Solomon
• The First Four Books of Poems (1995) by Louise Glück
• The History (425 BC) by Herodotus
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• Every Thing is Sacred (2021) by Richard Rohr and Patrick Boland
• The Abominable Man (1971) by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

Completed:

• The Wives (2019) by Tarryn Fisher
• East of Eden  (1951) by John Steinbeck
• The Universal Christ (2019) by Richard Rohr
• The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (2020) by Erik Larson

• Let Him Go (2013) by Larry Watson

The Smallest of Things

 

Spring is a busy time of year for gardening and cleaning the summer house, Villa Ramona, and the property, Silva Dulcis. We have a robot lawnmower, Buddy, that is a godsend when doing spring work until the chip in the robot no longer works. Now he is taking another extended holiday after his winter rest. We have become birders and are enjoying identifying birds as they make their nests in the many birdhouses Andreas built during the cold winter. (Now he is moving enormous stones for the rock wall!). A fun time of year where the little changes have a big payoff.

'The Waves' by Virginia Woolf was the book chosen to read in April by my Reading i Sverige book club. Several years ago, I read 'To the Lighthouse' by Woolf, so I thought I knew what to expect. I was aware that her style of writing was a stream of consciousness, a difficult genre for me. Yet, 'The Waves' is one of the most challenging books I have read. The beginning reminded me of the first section of 'The Sound and the Fury' by William Faulkner. As a reader, I was thrown into a story, and nothing made sense. The only reason I kept reading was….to keep reading. Once I finished the book, I reflected on it and said: What a brilliant book! The book's title gives away the theme of the book: 'As in me too the wave rises. It swells. It arches its back.' The waves never stop; from birth to death, the continuous power of the waves never lets up. Reflecting on the book, I found Woolf brilliant in what she accomplished. Lordy be, I struggled reading it!

This same book club intends to keep our summer reading on the lighter side because of the holidays and travels. The May book is in the contemporary category, and we are reading 'The Wives' by Tarryn Fisher. 'The Wives', a thriller, took no time to read. Even though the book was a page-turner, it left me with emptiness, for the experience was in the reading only, not the reflection. To be fair to the book, Fisher does address the negative role women often have in the American culture. Woolf does the same in her novel, except in England. The titles of these two books are almost the same except for one vowel.  And yet, what an amazing contrast between them. 

One vowel changed my reading experience completely; 'The Waves' to 'The Wives.' The smallest of things. Yet, is it not the smallest of things that make life what it is? This reflection made me think about the tiny seeds I have been planting in the hopes of a beautiful reward this summer. It made me think of the small words we say to each other to live in a civil society. It made me think of those special small things we do for those we love. It is the smallest of things that we intentionally do, making our life experience rich and beautiful. This spring, enjoy the smallest of things.

Currently reading:

• Psalm (5th Century BCE by King David and Solomon
• The First Four Books of Poems (1995) by Louise Glück
• The History (425 BC) by Herodotus
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• Every Thing is Sacred (2021) by Richard Rohr and Patrick Boland
• The Universal Christ (2019) by Richard Rohr
• The Abominable Man (1971) by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

Completed:

• The Wives (2019) by Tarryn Fisher
• East of Eden  (1951) by John Steinbeck
• The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (2020) by Erik Larson

Great Love and Great Suffering

In March, I read several difficult books; at least they were for me. I seldom go back and reread a book because I think there are many books I have not read. Now seemed the time to change my stance. After such difficult books, it seemed like the perfect time to pick up my favorite novel: 'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck. I have found the book to be better than it was the first time! 

Through brilliant writing, Steinbeck explores the extremes we find in humanity: good and evil. The characters in the novel who are the most compelling to me are the ones who struggle with being good—those who have an ethical system and they grapple daily trying to do right. The wise Chinese man, Lee, states while discussing the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, 'If the story is not about the hearer he will not listen. And I here make a rule—a great and lasting story is about everyone or it will not last.' The brilliance of Lee's statement is that it reflects on the book 'East of Eden.' The book is about us. It is about me grappling with my ethical system to do right. 

April is the start of year three for the Great Books reading project, and we head back to read the ancient Greeks. The first reading is the Greek tragedy 'Prometheus Bound' by Aeschylus. I have not read this before and loved reading it. Reading this alongside 'East of Eden,' I found a similar theme. 

In the drama, Zeus is angry with Prometheus for giving away some of his powers to Man. Prometheus says, 'I place in them blind hopes.' and 'Besides this, I gave them fire.' Man becomes more powerful with fire. This ignites Zeus's anger. Prometheus does not regret what he has done. He will not bend and has a horrific punishment. The pull between Zeus and Prometheus to determine what is right and good is similar to the tension in 'East of Eden' between good and evil. 

Richard Rohr says that two things cause significant growth: great suffering and great love. Both of these have traveled with me on my life's journey. As I reflect on my life, I see an evolution in my ethical system. In his book 'The Universal Christ,' Richard Rohr writes: 'humans are fashioned to love people more than principles.' I am hoping that my ethical system is evolving to love. It is much simpler. In this challenge of loving people, Steinbeck's theme shines through: the tension between good and evil is what makes us human. Prometheus, in his wisdom states, 'Time in its ageing course teaches all things.' Now, for me to be a good student.

Photo by Andreas Stiebe in Rome

Currently reading:

• Psalm (5th Century BCE by King David and Solomon
• The First Four Books of Poems (1995) by Louise Glück
• The History (425 BC) by Herodotus
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• Every Thing is Sacred (2021) by Richard Rohr and Patrick Boland
• The Universal Christ (2019) by Richard Rohr
• East of Eden  (1951) by John Steinbeck
• The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (2020) by Erik Larson

Completed:

• Prometheus Bound (450 BC) by Aeschylus
• The Correspondence (2017) by J.D. Daniels
• Averno (2006) by Louise Glück
• What Unites Us (2017) by Dan Rather
• Proverbs (8th Century BC) by King Solomon
• The Waves (1931) by Virginia Woolf
• High Achiever: The Incredible Story of One Addict's Double Life (2017) by Tiffany Jenkins

Searching the Depths

The Great Book of the Western World group just finished year two of the ten-year reading plan. This quarter we read: 

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726) 

A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality by Jean Jacques Rousseau (1755) 

Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals by Immanuel Kant (1785) 

On Liberty by John Stuart Mill (1859) 

Exodus by Moses (6th century BCE) 

At the end of the quarter, each member does a write-up of what we have read. At the beginning of the project, we chose a format that we all followed. As the project has progressed, each of us has adapted our own format. I am asking three questions of the texts: What is the author’s view of humankind, society, and God? These questions have helped me in identifying similarities and differences between the texts. 

The question must be asked, why? Why am I doing this? This reading and writing is not coursework towards a degree, of which I have done my fair share. I am not writing a curriculum for a school. This is not part of a job description. So then, why? A friend recently said that her anxiety rises with the idea of ‘required’ reading each month. That is a fair assessment; why go back to university days of being held accountable for reading? 

Tuesday evening, we had our first of two discussions of the texts we read this quarter. Something occurred during the discussion that could not have happened if I was reading alone. None of us are experts, yet we are curious. In this process, we are not searching the internet to see what the experts are writing; that is for later. This reading is our first run-through. At one point or another, each of us during the discussion said, ’hum...I did not think about that before.’ New ideas were forming while we talked, even though we all had worked extensively with the texts. It is the delight that comes from exploring ideas, wondering, and grappling that is satisfying. 

John Stuart Mill in ’On Liberty’ despises the ‘despotism of custom.’ How can there be individual liberty when a person is addicted to his customs and culture? My friend, who I have known since my teenage years, and I have discussions about our lives. We have grown up in a similar place with similar backgrounds. We both have the desire to become more than what we were a year ago. This desire leads to a variety of books which we discuss, always probing our own lives; looking beyond what we have always known. And, at this point in life, there is no need to be anything but honest. This stretching of myself could not happen on my own. 

John Stuart Mill also rails against the ’tyranny of opinion’. These tyrannies are worse than the long arm of the government. The Reading i Sverige group doesn’t allow me to stay stuck in what is comfortable from my own culture. When I am reading with friends from the world, I find myself looking at things from another perspective; how refreshing. This new perspective allows me to experience the world more richly. 

There are many classics that I have not read. Several years ago, I asked my mom if she wanted to join me in reading the classics. Along the way, my brother joined us. We have read 23 books together. This experience has made these relationships fuller because of a shared history beyond our physical being. We can discuss the four girls in Little Women; the old man, did he win or lose by catching the fish; and Anna, who seemed to have everything and lost it all, including her own life. What memories we share. 

Reading with others gives a shared history which includes the adventures, trials, triumphs of the books we have shared. I am always grateful to those who read with me. My life has a rich texture because of you.

Image from Hornborgarsjön 2020 by Andreas Stiebe

Currently Reading:

• Psalm (5th Century Bc) by King David and Solomon
• Averno (2006) by Louise Glück
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• East of Eden  (1951) by John Steinbeck
• The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (2020) by Erik Larson

Completed:

• The Correspondence (2017) by J.D. Daniels
• What Unites Us (2017) by Dan Rather
• Proverbs (8th Century BC) by King Solomon
• The Waves (1931) by Virginia Woolf
• High Achiever: The Incredible Story of One Addict's Double Life (2017) by Tiffany Jenkins

The Waves

 

Virginia Woolf's book 'The Waves' is not the first stream of consciousness book that I have read. Hjalmar Söderberg’s book, ‘Dr. Glas' and 'The Sound and the Fury' by William Faulkner are great examples of this genre. Having read 'The Lighthouse' by Virginia Woolf, I thought I knew what my experience would be in reading 'The Waves.'

During this reading experience it was as if I had a veil over my eyes. Nothing seemed to be clear. I found myself suddenly pondering past events in my life. It was as if by reading 'The Waves' I had entered my unconscious, and things became unveiled. It isn’t easy to describe because it has been unlike any reading experience I have had before. 

After a death in the book, the language Woolf used to describe grief is poetic and mystical:

"I went from one to the other holding my sorrow - no, not my sorrow but the

 incomprehensible nature of this our life - for their inspection. Some people go

 to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends, I to my own heart, I to seek among

 phrases and fragments something unbroken - I to whom there is no beauty

 enough in moon or tree; to whom the touch of one person with another is all,

 yet who cannot grasp even that, who am so imperfect, so weak, so

 unspeakably lonely."

Louise Glück, in her poem, 'Averno' wrote about the veil. 

'.. and now the mortal spirit 

seeking so openly, so fearlessly---

To raise the veil,

To see what you're saying goodbye to.

The poem is not grieving the loss of a loved one. Instead, the desire is to raise the veil to understand what life was. What had been kept hidden? She desires to know what was behind the veil before she dies.

 

Julian of Norwich also uses the metaphor of the veil. She acknowledges this same veil

that Glück desires to remove before death: 'We may have fleeting glimpses of the cosmic design and see that it is good. But then the veil drops again and we forget.' Does the veil protect us from what we cannot yet see or do we get busy with life and fail to see what is before us? 

 

After Moses spent time with God in Exodus, God put a veil over his 'shining' face to protect the people. Only when he was in the presence of God was the veil removed. This veil leads the reader to wonder if the people were not ready to see the truth. God protected them.

 

In my life, I often do not see clearly. Reading has caused me to question, wonder, probe, and see, but not yet fully. At times the veil has dropped as Julian of Norwich suggests. My different reading groups have helped me on this journey of 'raising the veil.' For them I am grateful!

Image of Lake Superior

Currently Reading:

• Don Quixote (1605) by Cervantes
• Psalm (5th Century Bc) by King David and Solomon
• Averno (2006) by Louise Glück
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• The Waves (1931) by Virginia Woolf

Completed:

• The Correspondence (2017) by J.D. Daniels
• What Unites Us (2017) by Dan Rather
• Proverbs (8th Century BC) by King Solomon

Thresholds

Releasing tight grip
what I want 
to be real

Lightening hold
what I want
to see

Opening soul
enters
reality

Truth found
goodness, sadness abide
joy, suffering reside

This 
moving
forward

Recently I finished two books for the Great Books of the Western World reading project: Exodus, tradition says it was written by Moses and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. Also, I have been reading the Center for Action and Contemplation's journal, Oneing: An Alternative Orthodoxy. The theme of this journal is 'Liminal Space.' 

'In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between them, there are doors.' This quote by William Blake describes liminal spaces. Liminal comes from the Latin word limen, which means threshold. In the journal's introduction, Richard Rohr states, '(t)he two greatest liminal spaces in human life are great love and great suffering.' These thresholds are present in our lives; they lead us to the unknown. It is what we do in this space that determines how we grow, what we learn, and what we will become.

 

Gulliver's Travels, written in 1726, is a satire of the state of affairs in England. Gulliver sets out, as usual, to sea and finds himself in the most unusual places. As James Danaher writes in his essay, Truth and Liminality, 'As we enter into liminal space, everything becomes new and amazing, but always most unfamiliar.' In The Voyage to Lilliput, Gulliver is pinned to the ground with ropes over his entire body. This has been done to him by the tiniest of people. As he is forced into stillness in this strange place, he becomes still, listens, and begins to learn the language. Gulliver recounts what he says when he can finally speak the language, '(t)he first words I learnt where to express my desire, that he would please to give me my liberty.' It was in his stillness that he learned something new and could then express his desire.

 

In Exodus, Moses took the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land. After the ten plagues, the Jewish people were finally going to cross the Red Sea and escape slavery. The crossing of the Red Sea is a threshold of knowing what was on one side of the sea and not knowing what was on the other. James Danaher continues in his essay, 'things that are familiar feel safer and more manageable. This is true even when the 'norm' is self-limiting or even painful.' At the edge of the sea, God speaks to Moses, 'Fear not, stand firm. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.' Many wanted to turn around and go back to what they knew when seeing the Egyptian army approaching. There was nothing for them to do on the edge of this threshold but be silent.

 

We all recognize this space where we experience 'great suffering' or share 'great love.' We have all been on this threshold. As I reflect on the thresholds in my own life, I am aware of the time I needed to cross over to the unknown. This threshold space does not happen quickly for me. I have learned that it is vital to keep going forward in this space and not turn around to what seems familiar. In order not to get stuck, I must not be self-limiting. That which is required to move through to the other side, the side of the unknown, is stillness, silence, being, and learning.

 

Did I say I am working on my Swedish? Det är svårt för mig men jag försöker. 

Image by Andreas at Läckö Slott.

• Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals (1785) by Immanuel Kant
• Anxioux People (2019) by Fredrik Backman
• Meadowlands (1996) by Louise Glück
• On Liberty (1859) by John Stuart Mill
• Paradise Lost (1663) by John Milton
• Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens
• Paradise Regained (1671) by John Milton

Currently Reading:

• Psalm (5th Century BC) by King David and Solomon
• Averno (2006) by Louise Glück
• Kajsa Kavat (1950) by Astrid Lindgren
• Proverbs (8th Century BC) by King Solomon
• Oneing: An Alternative Orthodoxy Liminal Space (2020)

Audio:

• What Unites Us ( 2017) by Dan Rather