Well, I was waiting for the right moment to post a subtle, eloquent, and profound elaboration of my previous post but then I realized that in the meantime my thoughts were not crystallizing nor becoming any more subtle, eloquent, or profound. So, since I have a bit of time now, I will retch out my thoughts for you all.
The book was very poetic, and it described a certain kind of worldview, a very romantic and spiritual one. Certain bits of advice the prophet gives are quite practical (for instance, not to be overmindful of a trifling debt), but other things seem impractical (don't disdain those who sing for your goods--if I'm a fast food worker, do I give free food to a homeless guy?) (Can I be a fast food worker and still fulfill the Prophet's vision of the good life?)
And what was that whole thing about Houses and comfort being, like, bad? Call me a petit-bourgeois, but I'm a fan of comfort and things. And I don't think that makes me a prisoner.
Hm, what can I salvage here? If there is one thing, I like about the prophet it's that he succeeds, despite writing spiritual poetry about how to live one's life, in writing beautifully, sharply, and un-tritely. I'm just not so sure he writes very much rightly.
(See, I'm a poet, too!)
2 comments:
I was more of the impression that houses weren't bad--cities were bad. ("In their fear your forefathers gathered you too near together. And that fear shall endure a little longer," which I chose over some more apt passages because I feel it's the closest he comes to addressing war and patriotism and such.)
And his disdain for "comfort" I think is more related to a very common dislike of material culture, dependce on luxury goods and the like. The things we should value are not objects, but friendship and love and all that other crap ("for that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky").
A home and the ownership of objects is not a negative per se, but if you are oversome by a "lust for comfort," or if the desire for comfort and stability causes you to not live your life to the fullest, I think that is the point at which a house becomes a burden. ("you shall not fold your wings that you may pass through doors [...] nor fear to breathe lest walls should crack")
I think your analysis on the particulars is pretty right. But to turn things around on the Prophet while simultaneously re-expressing what I wanted to get across with this post: the idea of "living one's life to the fullest" is itself a burden, since it is an ideal which, in its vagueness and our weakness, we can never live up to.
("...an ideal, in its vagueness and our weakness, up to which we can never live.")
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