Finally season 5
I may have mentioned to you that I am a fan of “the Sopranos”. For those of you unfamiliar with it, over the last six years HBO has been showing a series on an Italian ‘mafia” family headed Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini. The Sopranos really is Tony’s story, of how one is a husband, father, son, friend and … mafia don; a story the delicate interplay of forces in one man’s life. When season 5 finally appeared in my local video store on Tuesday, I was there at 11AM to rent it. I’ve been watching the 13 episodes ever since.
What is my fascination with this story? What is our fascination with stories like this one in movies and on television, in books and on stages since art and literature became part of our cultural experience? What is it about stories, this story, all stories … my story?
Stories are an expression of my homesickness. Novalis, the 18th Century poet philosopher said “Art and story is really homesickness, it is the urge to be home everywhere.” The telling and re-telling of stories and the urge to hear stories is our desire to find our place somewhere, anywhere. Everyone of us is homesick. We are mythically on a journey away from some primal Garden of Eden as we first begin to lose our cherished experiences of lost childhood, move through a life of alienation constantly seeking in the words of William Wordsworth “God, who is our home”.
Stories are the way in to one another and to that mystery I call God. When I watch Tony Soprano struggle with his fears, his guilt and shame; when I see the choices he makes I am forced to say with Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, Mary, Jesus, ‘Here I am.” Art and Literature make me present to myself … to my surroundings …to Spirit …to Spirit present as me and as you.
There is a famous quote from scripture that says “Be still and know …” Sunday I'm really going to get into the role of story in my and it's funny that it leads me back to a spiritual practice inspired by the Centering Prayer of Dom Thomas Keating; a Dom and a Don … all in one blog. Well … you gotta admit I’m eclectic
"Wha ya gunna do?"
What is my fascination with this story? What is our fascination with stories like this one in movies and on television, in books and on stages since art and literature became part of our cultural experience? What is it about stories, this story, all stories … my story?
Stories are an expression of my homesickness. Novalis, the 18th Century poet philosopher said “Art and story is really homesickness, it is the urge to be home everywhere.” The telling and re-telling of stories and the urge to hear stories is our desire to find our place somewhere, anywhere. Everyone of us is homesick. We are mythically on a journey away from some primal Garden of Eden as we first begin to lose our cherished experiences of lost childhood, move through a life of alienation constantly seeking in the words of William Wordsworth “God, who is our home”.
Stories are the way in to one another and to that mystery I call God. When I watch Tony Soprano struggle with his fears, his guilt and shame; when I see the choices he makes I am forced to say with Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, Mary, Jesus, ‘Here I am.” Art and Literature make me present to myself … to my surroundings …to Spirit …to Spirit present as me and as you.
There is a famous quote from scripture that says “Be still and know …” Sunday I'm really going to get into the role of story in my and it's funny that it leads me back to a spiritual practice inspired by the Centering Prayer of Dom Thomas Keating; a Dom and a Don … all in one blog. Well … you gotta admit I’m eclectic
"Wha ya gunna do?"
posted by Rev-T at 7:17 AM
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