tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15302273.post115143503204721546..comments2023-10-08T04:31:20.162-04:00Comments on The Secret Thread: Literature & Spiritual Life: The Impact of a NovelDuke Altumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17494561267128023739noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15302273.post-1151504148310224382006-06-28T10:15:00.000-04:002006-06-28T10:15:00.000-04:00This is the kind of post we're proud to feature on...This is the kind of post we're proud to feature on TST... excellent job Mutt, on a topic that couldn't more relevant to our concerns here... these reflections got me thinking about the novels that have made the most impact on my own thinking about various topics and issues. For example, Shusaku Endo's <I>Silence</I> got me to think deeply about the cost of faith, and about how far I'd be willing to go to affirm my own belief in Jesus Christ. Ivo Andric's magnificent epic <I>The Bridge on the Drina</I> got me thinking about the nature and value of community, something we tend not to think about very often any more in this culture. And very recently, of course, T.C. Boyle's <I>The Tortilla Curtain</I> prompted me to explore my own views on the immigration question, and about social justice in general.<BR/><BR/>Of course, I could go on and on, as I know Mutt could.<BR/><BR/>It's always exciting to hear about how a person's thinking, or even their very life, may have been changed through reading a great work of literature. Mutt echoes the work of the great Dr. Robert Coles in these reflections, who has made a name for himself (besides his winning the Pulitzer Prize for his famous books on sociology, the <I>Children of Crisis</I> series) teaching the classics to medical and business students at Harvard. Coles has known for a long time that great literature applies to all walks of life, because it contributes to our understanding of what it means to be human. And profound wisdom and truth can come to us from many sources, not all of which are necessarily expected. To be a serious reader of literature is to be a student of the world. Such an idea may sound lofty, but I believe it is the truth, and that is what I want to be.Duke Altumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17494561267128023739noreply@blogger.com