Intro: Last week, in part 1 of my missions trip story, I explained that I am not at liberty to reveal the country nor details of what activities transpired as I traveled with my church to try and make a difference for children in need. Part of that mandate is easy for me. In my blog, The Confessions of a Westchester Christian Housewife, it is policy to change the names of people and certain identifying characteristics in order to maintain some anonymity.
This blog is a spiritual diary that I share with you, my friends, as we all try to cast a spiritual light on this life we live. To do that I have to give frank portrayals of things that have actually happened. It has been a spiritual lifesaver for me. So, how do I begin to express the depth of pain that I have touched upon in this my latest missions trip without giving some salient features of that trip? How do I do honor to all those whom I have met and honestly tell their story without certain details?
The answer that I have come up with, is to explore the world of the allegory. That secret world that writers have created to host ideas and lay out commentary. The allegory has kept the writer safe from persecution throughout the ages. The allegory is a deep dive by the reader into a topic, sort of a brain teaser of truth.
Today, I am exploring my inspiration from literature of one of the great allegorical writers of all time, Dostoyevsky. As I pulled our my old "dog-eared" copy of his book, The Brothers Karamazov, and started to re-read it; I realized that there were many parallels between things that I wished to express and what he captured in his novel of ideas and emotions.
Inspiration: The Brothers Karamazov-
They all came from the same father. Yet, no unity existed. It had been many years since they had all been together as a family, when Providence would bring them all back together in their small ancestral village of Skotoprigonevsk. This is the place that it all started for these men, it is the place they were all born. The Brothers Karamazov all had business to attend to, but no uniformity of purpose or vision for their families' future.
They all had somehow survived their wreckage of a childhood. Poor Dmitri's mother died and he was sent away by his father to live with other family members who would raise him. He eventually joined the military. There is a sort of metaphor that emerges when you contemplate the career paths of all three sons. Would Dmitri be strengthened enough in the military to stand up against his biggest foe, his father?
Would Ivan ever find the reason behind all that had happened in his family life through his philosophical and intellectual explorations or a path to God? What of Alyosha? He was studying to become a monk under the spiritual Father Zosima. What a sharp contrast father Zosima is to his biological father Fyodor in every way. Is that the point?
These men were all quite different how would they ever come together as a family? What other situations exsisted for these brothers which would come to bear upon their situation. One such circumstance was about to come upon the scene. A situation exists in the way of a scene stealer : another brother will emerge.
Conclusion: The total outcome of any situation will equal the sum of its' participating parts. So, here we have our allegorical equation. The situation as envisioned by Dostoyevsky is dire. Evil exists and explodes in our lives and in the pages of this novel. It is huge too: lust, greed, narcissism, and even murder.
However, the theme of redemption beats ever present throughout this mess. There is light, truth, and grace, many of the characters in this novel are in a allegorical quest for this prize, like the medieval knights of old. Some of the characters are not!
Next week: Conclusion: Queen Esther and my Missions Trip
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