You know, Rush Limbaugh died recently. They showed pics of his 50 million dollar house. The library was humongous. Thousands of books. It made me think, this is why you want to focus on a handful of books and really get to know them. Because our time is so short. A small bookshelf. Books like the Bible, the Work [i.e. Fourth Way, Ouspensky ... not for everybody], Homeric epics, history that is archetypal and universal. Just a few that you come to in time and know they are foundational to building understanding and wisdom *in your soul.* Not just surface knowledge. This is what Luther advised too. It's obvious though. Any secondary books should be books that help you understand the main books.
I've been thinking of the language of archetypes. That is language to know. Ryken is bold to state that the complete book of archtypes is his Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. Which mines the Bible for it's archetypes. Biblical history too. Seeing what Assyria and Babylon mean in modern times. All times. Things like that. Tower of Babel. Arm of the Lord. Order. All of it. Garden, wilderness. Seeing how archetypes usually are sets of good and bad.
Apply ourselves there.
2 Comments:
I did pick up a physical copy of Dictionary of Biblical Imagery and use it at times while making my way through the bible. It's mainly an inspirational thing when a word jumps out then I look it up and spend some time reading. One recent one was 'money' and it's connection to seed and stewardship.
*in your soul* A few books I can say without a doubt this happened in a meaningful way (besides the bible and work material) was War and Peace and to a lesser extend Anna Karenina. That material left real substance behind, they changed me or added to my wealth in a really deep way. And it didn't necessarily happen at the time, it took time for the material to sprout. I really have you to thank for that because I would never have done battle with them without your encouragement.
Thank you. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky are the heights in literature for the novel form.
Post a Comment
<< Home