tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170814845771372625.post2604087571415687090..comments2024-02-08T10:33:22.915+13:00Comments on Available Light: The TraitorKelvin Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682322819567886400noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170814845771372625.post-3868316601843680412016-04-19T14:48:27.311+12:002016-04-19T14:48:27.311+12:00Excellent analysis. It clarified some aspects abou...Excellent analysis. It clarified some aspects about the song that confounded me. And, it's truly insightful to take the metaphors and symbolism of love and romance and hypothesize that love and sex themselves are possibly metaphors for other goals. RThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12839360630529589800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170814845771372625.post-88718088922351689082012-12-05T22:24:51.803+13:002012-12-05T22:24:51.803+13:00From The Netherlands, for me The Traitor is about ...From The Netherlands, for me The Traitor is about an englishman who got the scarletfever and went to fight with the Reds in Spain against Franco. But this volunteer died when he lingered on her side (trench) and is kissed by mustard gas. He is not able to tell the other soldiers in the trench nor the ones in the lands of the mothers. Betrayed by politicians and betraying his own life with fatal daydreams.mhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170814845771372625.post-29016394837511720592008-11-29T22:11:00.000+13:002008-11-29T22:11:00.000+13:00Perhaps it has to do with meaning and/or purpose. ...Perhaps it has to do with meaning and/or purpose. Life is difficult, but it is not meaningless. If we can be convinced that there is purpose and direction then almost anything can eventually be borne. If there is no purpose or meaning then life is indeed harsh - even the temporary pleasures we use to fill in our futile livesKelvin Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682322819567886400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170814845771372625.post-62227109243094980732008-11-29T21:19:00.000+13:002008-11-29T21:19:00.000+13:00I wondered about harsh, but concluded that while c...I wondered about harsh, but concluded that while creation is good, humanity makes conditions harsh for enough for it to apply. Whilst reality may be harsh, we can still be comfortable in it, I think.<BR/>Peter RossAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170814845771372625.post-34801000655010717442008-11-27T23:12:00.000+13:002008-11-27T23:12:00.000+13:00OK. It is a crucial point. Harsh too, now thqat I ...OK. It is a crucial point. Harsh too, now thqat I come to think of it? Reality is often (usually?) hard, but harsh?Kelvin Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682322819567886400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170814845771372625.post-25552507699039125072008-11-27T21:28:00.000+13:002008-11-27T21:28:00.000+13:00Hi Kelvin. I think I need to take "meaningless" ou...Hi Kelvin. I think I need to take "meaningless" out of Satre's view for me to be comfortable with it not compromising my (our?)Christianity.<BR/>Peter RossAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170814845771372625.post-36081474716828895302008-11-26T23:26:00.000+13:002008-11-26T23:26:00.000+13:00Hi Peter. We can agree with Sartre on this point a...Hi Peter. We can agree with Sartre on this point and not compromise our Christianity can't we? I love your phrase,<I>He wants me, not the plan.</I> and think this is pretty much what Leonard Cohen was driving at. I think we Christians are often overly prone to a virulent sort of perfectionism, thinking that the goal of sanctification is ours, not the Holy Spirit's to effect and feeling mildly guilty because we fall short now of what God has promised for us at some time in the future.Kelvin Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682322819567886400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170814845771372625.post-13772689348765783852008-11-26T22:49:00.000+13:002008-11-26T22:49:00.000+13:00It's a superb quote. My first thought on reading i...It's a superb quote. My first thought on reading it was that Satre would agree and suggest that it means much the same as the challenge to live authentically in the harsh and meaningless reality we find ourselves in. But, I'm a Christian, not an existentialist, so don't buy into that. However, I think it helpful in a specifically Christian context. I once thought God had a plan for me and my task was to find it, a view I come across often in Christian circles. I could (and did occasionally) expend substantial emotional effort on finding the plan, but I now think if God has a plan it is secondary to me in his eyes. He wants me, not the plan. I'm unsure if this realisation is the same as the failure as the goal you suggest, but that and the the thought of standing guiltless in our predicament are, I think, pointers to the best seat in our journey through life.<BR/>Peter RossAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com