I like how in Telling the Truth, Buechner claims that true joy is something we only catch glimpses of, as if it is "beyond the walls of the world." It reminds one of Oscar Wilde's "The Selfish Giant" and how the children are locked out of the wondrous garden where they once had been. That garden had filled them with joy, but now they can only remember, and they cannot feel that joy again in its fullest until they get back into the garden.
Buechner also claims that fairytales provide a glimpse of joy. The wondrous, fantastic stories that are so outrageously amazing that they must somehow be true allow the readers to feel something that they long for. They feel joy, but it does not last. The only place where joy lasts forever cannot be found in this world, and that is why outlandish ideas, or outworldish, make us long for something we don't have. That is why we want to fall into the pond that takes us to another world.
He continues to say that church-goers tend to seek the everlasting joy at church, where they will least likely catch a glimpse of it. Yes, it is still important to go to church, specifically to learn about Jesus and how to follow him so that we will one day experience that everlasting joy. However, our thirst for Christ and his gift to us does not come from church. It comes from fairytales, which I will define as the wondrous things of this world that show us something, or evoke something so extraordinary and fantastic that we want to believe it is true.
I believe that a flower can be a fairytale just because a vibrant flower standing in the sunrise evokes a feeling of wonder and a belief in me that somewhere, things are as blatantly beautiful as this tiny living thing that dares to be so awesome in front of me.
I will say that I have experienced feelings of wonder and joy in church, but it usually happens during music. When it is beautifully played, music, as an art, speaks to my soul. What it usually tells my soul is a fairytale.
Buechner also claims that fairytales provide a glimpse of joy. The wondrous, fantastic stories that are so outrageously amazing that they must somehow be true allow the readers to feel something that they long for. They feel joy, but it does not last. The only place where joy lasts forever cannot be found in this world, and that is why outlandish ideas, or outworldish, make us long for something we don't have. That is why we want to fall into the pond that takes us to another world.
He continues to say that church-goers tend to seek the everlasting joy at church, where they will least likely catch a glimpse of it. Yes, it is still important to go to church, specifically to learn about Jesus and how to follow him so that we will one day experience that everlasting joy. However, our thirst for Christ and his gift to us does not come from church. It comes from fairytales, which I will define as the wondrous things of this world that show us something, or evoke something so extraordinary and fantastic that we want to believe it is true.
I will say that I have experienced feelings of wonder and joy in church, but it usually happens during music. When it is beautifully played, music, as an art, speaks to my soul. What it usually tells my soul is a fairytale.
That was beautifully said. Wonder/joy is fascinating topic, I could literally talk about it for hours because it's impacted me in a huge way and I just get excited about it. Something about wonder that seems quite lovely to me is how many different avenues there are to enter into these 'glimpses'. Like how for you it usually happens in music, but maybe for another person it could be paintings, or sunrises, or the way the light catches the dewdrop on a flower. Really I could go on about this forever but I won't, so I'll just thank you again for the post and shut up now.
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