I’ve just finished ‘The Old Man and the Sea’.
by Earnest Hemingway.
Here are some thoughts. First take sort of things, nothing to deep… pun intended, just getting the brain working a bit.
Also, I highly recommend reading it for yourself.
Thought: the sharks are like the devil always stealing away your glory.
Thought: there is always treachery about, like a hand that fails you.
Thought: the old man wished the young boy was with him when he hooked the big fish. My feeling is that they would have lost it due to some exuberant mistake the boy would have made.
Thought: the sadness of coming so close to glory, to have proof of one’s greatness, but then to only drag in a carcass picked clean. I think that is what old age leaves us with, ‘hollow victories’ and ‘glory days’ memories.
Thought: the old man with his steady ways when he was hooked up, the slow way he worked and played the line, with no exuberant jerks or yanking of the line to try and set the hook more fully, steady due to experience, letting the fish do the work of tiring himself out, knowing when the fight would come and being smart enough to prepare in advance for it due to past experience.
Thought: the sadness of the boy, seeing his hero so close to the glory that the young boy heaps on him in his own mind and the let down seeing nothing but those bones washing ashore.
Thought: gaining experience takes time and experiencing things takes time. Once you live through both enough you are prepared for the next day or thing.
Final Thought: the beauty of God’s solitude, you are never alone, you are with God always, and you can usually find some critter around you maybe a little bird, me I like Chickadees and Pine Squirrels in the winter, or some random bug, no matter where you are, you are never truly alone.
Even in your darkest day or hour, do not fall for the lie that you are utterly alone.
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