Here are some questions I thought of as I continued in my reading of Anne of Green Gables.
Your thoughts?
Chapter 4 - Morning at Green Gables
As Anne prepares to be sent away from Green Gables she decides not to go outside to enjoy the beauty of the place, saying "If I can't stay here there is no use in my loving Green Gables." While that view is understandable coming from an eleven year old, I found it tragic. Do you believe in the old axiom "better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all"?
Chapter 5 - Anne's History
On the drive to White Sands to see Mrs. Spencer Anne says "I've made up my mind to enjoy this drive. It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will." Is this inconsistent with her previous statement in chapter 4?
How can making up one's mind turn a negative experience into a positive opportunity?
Anne claims her remembered phrase from a book she one read: 'My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes' comforts her whenever she is disappointed. Are there passages from books you have read that have helped you get through difficult times?
As Anne describes her background I was impressed by her resilience in the face of tremendous adversity. Do you believe resiliency is more an inborn train in some people or is it something chosen and learned?
Chapter 6 - Marilla Makes Up Her Mind
What is a gimlet?
Why do think Marilla waited so long to tell Anne she would be staying at Green Gables?
Chapter 7 - Anne Says Her Prayers
When instructed to say her bedtime prayer, Anne asks "Why must people kneel down to pray?"
How does kneeling or prostration change our prayers?
How do memorized prayers differ from spontaneous prayers from the heart?
I read through chapter six, so let me finish up seven and get back here.
ReplyDeleteChapter Four:
ReplyDeleteAnne’s position was tragic. I think it was rooted in the fact that she’d been moved so many times already, and she was showing wisdom and self-protection.
I suspect it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, but it’s still a bleak thought.
Chapter Five:
I agree with Anne (who is an eternal optimist) that you are about as happy as you make your mind up to be. Having said that, obviously we still have to weather storms in our lives, but attitude is a large part of it.
That was such an interesting quote, I thought, and tinged with sadness, although she didn’t see it as much that way, I suspect. I am sure that there are quotes from books that comfort me, and I am definitely a word person, but I can’t come up with any off the top of my head. I’ll have to think on that.
Yes and no. I think resiliency is partially taught, but I also think that some of us brood more than others, and that she perhaps isn’t a brooder.
Chapter Six:
It’s been awhile since I read it, to me, a gimlet is an alcoholic drink. I’ve forgotten what it was in the book.
I think that Marilla took a long time to get to acceptance of Anne.
Chapter Seven:
I think physical posture is a very big part of formal prayer, and that it helps us to center and to focus on God. I do believe in memorized prayers, and sometimes it is what I cling to when God feels far away. However, I also believe in spontaneous prayers as you go through the day. It’s the basis of the Jesus Prayer, internalizing prayer. Clearly, it’s something I need to work on.
Thank you, my dear! What is the next assignment?
A gimlet is a hand tool for drilling small holes. I haven't ever been able to figure out exactly what we're supposed to imagine is meant by that statement, but it does give me a bit of a chuckle.
ReplyDeleteI love these questions - I shall mull them over. I just inhaled these books without really stopping to analyze them, and I'm seeing now that there's a lot to ponder.
CH 4 - I do understand wanting to protect one's heart by pulling away from something we are bound to lose. Remind me sometime to tell you the story of Larry getting food poisoning the first year we were married. It's relevant, but way too long and too personal to address here.
ReplyDeleteBut like Anne, there have been times I've felt that if I couldn't have all of something I didn't want just a taste.
CH 5 - I have DEFINITELY had key passages from books get me through tough times. There is a scene in the book The Thornbirds by Colleen McCollough where the main character had to deal with head lice - icky images that I never thought I'd have personal experience with. A couple years later my toddler came home from day care with bugs in his hair. I freaked out. One of the things that got me through that was remembering having read that story.
I think the book passage that helped me the most was a phrase from the book "Courage to Heal" by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis. Somewhere in there the authors write "Comparison of people's pain simply is not useful." That made so much sense to me. If someone is going through a terrible experience - whether that be physical, emotional, financial, spiritual or whatever - it does absolutely no good to point out that someone else has had it worse. We each have to deal with the cards we get dealt, facing it with whatever degree of personal resources we have. What might be a piece of cake for you could be a horrible trial for me, or visa versa. Rather than offering up platitudes when someone is hurting I believe the more compassionate path is to simply be present to what THEY are experiencing.
CH 7 - One of my Orthodox friends taught me the Jesus Prayer years ago and it is the one memorized prayer I have clung to. It had brought be comfort through stormy times.
However, in general I rely on heartfelt prayers - some kneeling, some sitting, some driving, some as I go about my day. I do think kneeling prayers have more focus and humility. But I believe in prayer in all places, in every circumstance.