THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Potok and Paul
HE was born in the Bronx district of New York almost eighty years ago, into a Polish immigrant family.
The family were devout Jews, and after a brilliant academic career Chaim eventually became a chaplain to the U.S. forces serving in Korea.
Literature, however, claimed his life, and one of his novels, 'The Chosen' was made into a successful film. His name was Chaim Potok, and he died in 2002.
The thought that Chaim might be a writer was not what his parents had in mind. They wanted him to be a brain surgeon. The arguments rumbled on and eventually there was an explosive exchange.
The view of his parents was easily expressed: "Chaim, you're wasting your time. Be a brain surgeon. You'll keep a lot of people from dying. You'll make a lot of money." The young man was quick to counter: "Mama, I don't want to keep people from dying. I want to show them how to live".
The young man's answer carries with it the thought that mere longevity is not really life, in anything other than a biological sense.
It was no new thought. Henry David Thoreau, the 19th century New England philosopher remarked: "Most men live lives of quiet desperation."
It has become a neat summary of his outlook, as "I think , therefore, I am" is a distillation of the views of Rene Descartes. Likewise in Shakespeare's Scottish play, Macbeth laments "To-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day."
Life for many is not a beach, but drudgery!
In the much-visited Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, a headstone reads, "Born a man, and died a grocer." The implied criticism is that someone, made in the image of God, with a mind to think God's thoughts after Him, should end up merely concerned about the price of coffee, tea and sugar.
By contrast, in the catacombs at Rome, those underground tunnels and caves, where early Christians lived, died and were buried, archaeologists have found a wide selection of grafitti.
Among the names of loved-ones, and fond farewell greetings, there occurs most frequently one single word, 'Vita', meaning 'Life'. In Christ these people had found a reason for living, a reason which transcended this earthly expereicne, and took the sting form death, separation and the grave.
The Lord they worshipped had said "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full " (John 10;10).
One man who had it to the full was Paul, the persecutor turned missionary. To his Christian friends at Philippi he revealed his secret "For to me to live, is Christ" (Philippians 1; 21). Jew though he was, I think that was what Chaim Potok was getting at!
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Weather for Coleraine
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 5 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 32 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 9 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
