Spilled Ink

Undoubtedly one of my favorite books from this last year’s reading, The Plague by Albert Camus poses some interesting philosophical questions. Though not, certainly, the best choice for fun reading, The Plague is well written and gripping, and Camus’s characters are complex (a facet I have come to value more and more as I have learned to predict plots). Most of all, The Plague is food for thought.

The Plague follows the lives of several people trapped in the town of Oran by an outbreak of plague. From the days prior to the plague to the day when the city emerges from quarantine, this book follows a handful of city dwellers through their struggles with the disease and with themselves. A doctor, a priest, a criminal. A do-gooder, an invalid, and a love-sick man. These people compose the primary players in Camus’s book as months of confinement and sickness reveal their natures. Well portrayed through good writing, the strength of the characters, I believe, made the story for me.

As I said, The Plague also has a deeper side. Seen allegorically, the quarantined city of Oran may be seen as the world, closed to all outside (or divine) influence. Upon examination, each character reveals a slightly different worldview, and the struggle with the plague shows where each philosophy leads its owner. When this sampling of worldviews has passed through the fire, however, and the remaining options are examined, the picture is anything but hopeful. Camus himself was no Christian—the priest reveals only an incomplete and confused form of Christianity—and so the book’s conclusions are (I must warn you) hardly uplifting. Nonetheless, as a depiction of the philosophy of his time, of the hopelessness of the problem of suffering without the light of truth, the book is impressive.

I came away from The Plague queerly overawed. Impressed as I was by the writing and characterization, I think I was more impressed with Camus’s realization of where the philosophy of his time pointed and the clarity with which he displayed on a small scale the philosophies of a world. But the final taste in my mind as I set the book down was one of pity. And I still pity the author who could see so clearly and yet never found the one hopeful solution by which we can fight evil while serving a good, omnipotent God.

As we come to what Samuel tells me is the fifth day without Mother and Timothy, I can only shake my head and kick myself for not thanking Mother more often for all the little things she does around the house. From emptying the bio bin and putting away the dry dishes every morning to bringing in the mail and doing the laundry, I can only marvel. So many little, daily activities (besides the obvious cooking and cleaning) go into making a household function smoothly. And when I even consider doing it all with a few small children to educate and clean up after . . . Good thing I have a few years to practice the basics first.

Aside from these revelations, we are doing well. Samuel and I have planned some ways to spice up our days at home, and Dad took us on an only partially rainy (and therefore quite successful) hike today. Hopefully I can get some pictures of our hike up here soon. And, to my great delight, the guys have been doing the dishes every night. So on the whole we get on well together and the men-folk don’t make much of a mess. Actually, it’s only the little lapses that cause me to shake my head and either sigh in frustration or chuckle, depending on the day. Apparently not all that I find obvious is actually obvious. Things like “Bowls dry best upside-down,” and “Don’t leave open knives in the middle of the floor.” But on the other hand there are obvious things that they remember quite well, like “Don’t annoy Rebecca,” for which I am extremely grateful. Besides, as long as my kitchen be clean, let the rest of the house be a pig sty (well, almost).

Which brings me to the meaningful part of my blog (or as close as you’ll get). As Romans 3:4 says, “. . . Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar.” It strikes me all too many professing believers in our generation try to compromise between God and men (people who try to reconcile Christianity and evolution for instance, or support female clergy and any number of other things). But Christians are called to acknowledge God first, no matter the strength of the scientific consensus or the social inclination to a certain view. Let God be true and every man a liar. That involves denying the pressure of the world to think and act and believe in certain ways. It also means choosing God’s commands and ways even above our own impulses—every word of man, including our own, is a lie before God’s word is a lie. I find this verse uplifting in its assurance of the absolute truth of God’s word and its confirmation of how completely we may rely on Him. In a world of depravity and subjectivity, we may always turn back to God. . . . At any rate, ‘tis interesting food for thought.

(As a side note, today is Midsummer’s Day. Eighteen and a half hours of daylight, with another nearly two and a half hours of twilight on top of that. It’s a little after 11 p.m. as I write this, and the sun is just set. Almost twenty-one and a half hours of visible light. Tomorrow we will have nine seconds less daylight. ‘Tis a pity.)

And so our dear ones have departed. Barely. The local airport staff went on strike the day before our cousins' planned departure, which put a few kinks in our plans. However, after my mother scurried around town most of the afternoon, we were able to get the relatives on a train to Oslo the next morning. They continued their journey from the Oslo airport, and to our best knowledge have arrived at home safely. A fantastic visit was had, movies were watched, books were read (mostly on Rachel's part: she devoured my bookshelf), an inordinate number of pictures was taken, games were played, and much laughter was indulged in by all. Many thanks to Uncle Ptum and Aunt Koffee for their sacrifice.

Now, with the house quiet and dull once more, we are trying to return to our typical routine. A task made all the more difficult by nice weather, long daylight hours, and the slow decrease of school work. I am done chemistry for the year (and hopefully forever)--an event welcomed with much rejoicing on my part. I took my final exam for Advanced Composition yesterday and feel quite pleased over how it went. Looking back over the year, I have written close to 30 compositions this school year. Overall, I quite enjoyed the class. Now, however, with a smattering of punctuation rules memorized and the ability to shoot down a "Be verb" at a few dozen paces, my nervously-typing fingers eagerly await a long rest. I will finish Spanish and geometry in a couple of weeks, and worldviews a while after that. My brothers have also almost finished school, and I doubt anyone is as relieved as my mother.

Other than that, news-worthy material has been scarce of late, so I shan't bore you further.

This week's defining event was the arrival our grandparents and some of our cousins. They are now thoroughly ensconced in our home and almost recovered from their jetlag (I think). We've been showing them around the area and pushing them to hard to keep them awake. I hope to keep steady tabs on their movements for the sake of lonely family members back in the States. Who knows, I may even drag a cousin or two on as guest blogger once they feel more alert. I also hope to regularly update a photo album ("Cousins' Visit") with some of each day's shots. For those of you readers who don't know my family, this blog series will probably be extremely dull, as I'm trying to make it nitty-gritty for my aunt.

They came in late at night, just in time to get home and crash. Our movements the next day were limited by holiday weekend traffic, but Mother got them out in the morning to show them the neighborhood. The weather has been glorious, so we grilled steak and ate dinner on the deck before washing up and hurrying off to Sola beach. A spectacular fog was just coming in as we got there, but we got some pictures and stretched our legs. Rachel and I ended the day watching "Amazing Grace" in my room before I let Rachel go to bed around 10:30.

Today we headed out reasonably early for Dalsnuten, an easy local hike with a broad view of the area. We all made it up and down safely, even if Timothy almost died of the heat. The day was almost clear, and our visitors were suitably impressed (especially Grandma). Dad took some people on an excursion downtown Stavanger in the afternoon, showing them the Domkirke among other things. Mother and I made pizza for dinner (any idea how many pizzas it takes to feed 9 people, two teenage boys among them? Thank the Lord for frozen pizza.), and we ate while watching "The Emperor's New Groove." Actually, the others are still watching the movie, but I slipped away for some relaxing time.

More news to come as we make it.

So, originally I wrote a blog about the poetry analysis I'm doing for school, about the business of my life, and about our Youth retreat. And about how weary I feel at the end of the day, when all I can do is sit back and watch something mindless. Like tonight. But all of that can either be read elsewhere (Timothy's blog, for instance) or isn't interesting to begin with. My daily frustrations belong in a journal somewhere to be burned in ten years, not on the internet to bore my friends and relations. I think my new blog topic may be a slight improvement.

I stumbled across this verse this evening: "And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God." (1 Samuel 23:16) My NKJV Bible says Jonathan "strengthened [David's] hand in God." We've been studying David in Youth Group (we're not as far as chapter 23 yet, though) and looking at what made him a man after God's heart. And this verse, I believe, is central to the topic. I have been incredibly blessed in my friends over the years. As a bit of an introvert, my friendships are few and far between, but each friendship is a lifeline. My friendships play a crucial role in keeping my focus on God, in keeping my passion for Him burning. Psalm 55:13-14 describes what I consider an ideal friendship: "But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in the throng." Christian friends and fellowship are vital in helping me find strength in God. This applies not only to choosing friends, but to being a friend. Are my friends truly supportive Christians who build me up in my walk? And what can I do to strengthen my friends in God? I believe encouragement, joyfulness, and a clear passion for God, a craving for Him, are some of the most important things my friends give me that "strengthen my hand in God." And some of the most important things we can give our friends in return. Thoughts? Input? Snores?