A little reading and reflection

What I’m reading. After reading and reflecting on the book of Job I went back to the start of the Bible with Genesis, with the intention of noting facts of the scripture rather than reading primarily for themes. Thematic analysis is what I had been doing, but I wasn’t sure if I was being true to the text by seeing themes that may or may not be there, for what was the purpose of writing devotionals.

I’ve also finished Star Wars, the original novelization of the film. This year it’s been re-published in a trilogy of books. This trilogy is the original Star Wars trilogy, from A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, to Return of the Jedi. I was surprised how they condensed two hours that seems longish into a shortish book. I expected longer, but that’s how this film-tie in went.

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Better to keep

I was going to send my copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy to the second hand bookshop, but thought better of it, because one day I may miss this book. Besides, by today’s standards, the Divine Comedy is classical and rare, a book I will want to keep.

Reading week

Visceral entertainment and thought-provoking, reflection, and the off-putting: my reading week so far.

The original Star Wars novelization was the first.

The book of Job the second.

And Dante’s Divine Comedy the last.

Star Wars the novel doesn’t seem to compare to the movie, but with the movie in mind, the novel is added entertainment on top of the movie and a good read. Thought provoking in the sense that where is Luke Skywalker’s journey taking him and how? And I love the peppering of words that require a dictionary. Not that there are many.

The book of Job is reflection and a very centering one. I love it, although I admit takes a bit of effort.

But I am surprised that I officially no longer like Dante’s Divine Comedy. I have read the first part and saw the point although the poetry itself was hit and miss. I skipped the second part and went for what I thought would be the best part, Paradiso. But this is when I realized that the Divine Comedy makes some good points, but not everything stacks up for me. I’d rather read Job and the Bible for spiritual reflection. And Dante’s poetry just didn’t jell this time.

Well, that’s how my reading week may have ended, but the last passage I read was from Star Wars and I’m in the throes of taking the Divine Comedy to the second hand bookshop.

Interesting exercise

I couldn’t have imagined how many words in Dante’s Inferno could be misunderstood, those mildly or moderately complex and very complicated words that requires a dictionary. I came up with about 300 difficult words which I randomly scribbled on a card to look up later. It became a very interesting exercise.

Dante makes me think

Six parts to read of Dante’s Inferno, having read a further five parts today, so am closing in on the target.

The main thing I gathered from today’s reading is how evil distorts humanity, bends it out of shape, manifests in all sorts of contortions from what is good.

The reading today brings into focus the existence of evil and the origin of evil being Satan himself.

Dante has made me think. I have heard the question before. Why did God allow evil? But when one is affected by the distortions of sin, the question is how does one get back into shape? Therefore, spiritual need outweighs theological questions.

I keep on thinking because of Dante. When in need there must be an answer for that need, not ever spiraling out of control questions that may breed dissatisfaction to the needy.

I think again. In the end, God gives us what we need to overcome evil and the theological questions pale in significance. Spirituality should deal with the basic needs of humanity because humanity can be bent out of shape. But God has provided the way out if we take that path.

Half-finished

At the end of this week I read less of Dante’s Inferno and am listening to music. Inferno is still on my radar to finish because I just want to. I don’t like to say that I finished the book half-way through. That’s not even finishing it. If I stopped reading it, I would become a statistic, the half finishes statistic. Following through on reading the book is a must, but at my leisure.