55

I am, regrettably, increasingly aware of repetition in Whispers. First, the careless repetition of specific words and sources, but also the repetition of certain ideas and themes over and over again. True, in our world some ideas can never be thought about too often, but I fear I am excessive. Partly for this reason #55 is a little different than previous Whispers. The intent, here, is to have you pay attention not to my words, but to the words of a 6th century Irish monk.

The quoted passage is from a novel, Brendan, (a prose treat), by Frederick Buechner. The story is about a 6th century Irish priest who went to sea to look for Ter-na-n-Og, Hy-Brasil, the Country of the Young, the Land of the Blessed, where Christ’s people went after death. Brendan embarked on his voyage to do penance and find forgiveness for what he thought was a terrible sin of betrayal. He kept a log during his voyage, a powerful account of his outer and his inner journey, of the beauty and the power of the sea and the heights and depths of his seeking heart. 

 “I [Brendan] set them to stowing it all shipshape wherever it best fits. They lash down water skins. They lay the oars trim along the center of the hull.  I make sure the anchor’s on top. You need tidiness to hold onto in a stormy world. A monk needs the lauds and prime and tierce of his tidy prayers. A woman needs her cups lined up straight on the shelf. Is it not why Thou madest light the first of all things, my dear, knowing we’d take fright else with everything formless and void and dark on the face of the deep as well as within our own faces?”   

His odyssey brought terrible suffering and found Brendan and his companions often close to death, but it also brought, eventually,  forgiveness and purpose.  In time, Brendan moved past his suffering and bitterness to understand that we are all “crippled as the dark world” and the purpose of life was to “lend each other a hand when we’re falling . . . .  Perhaps that is the only work that matters in the end.”  Brendan is a story about a primitive Irish monk, about you, about me, about everyone.