The miracle occurred on page 162:
Rider (Bard's alter ego) came and found Mad Davey dead, Bard's best friend a few days after Brad had left on his pilgrimage. Rider filled his fairy bowl breathed into it and raised his rivener high over his head, he tuned his heart, his mind his spirit, his whole body to one soul's plea, and called down heaven's fire upon Davey's house.
A flash of searing light and heat...the concussion of blue sound..made the Rider and and the earth beneath him flinch and tremble....Davey,s house blossomed into a great flaming tower.
"Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (2 Kings 2:11)
"Give me my chariot of fire"
Monday, May 12, 2014
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Laurel
Laurel is a fictious place, but perhaps better said a state of mind (or spirit)
In the Southern Highlands rhododendron and mountain laurel are the two most common plants in higher elevations. Henry chose the name, 'Laurel' to refer to the area where 'God's chosen people' lived. A generation of good people lived in that area. But like Heaven there was two way traffic; some 'bad' people wanted to improve themselves so they moved to Laurel; and conversely some of the people in Laurel chose to drop to the majority and go with the flow. (to me this seems roughly comparable to the hardshell Baptist distinction between the Lost and the Saved; those is Laurel are saved while the others are Lost; the author likely had other things in mind when he made the distinction.)
(The author commented about Lizbet as follows:
Note on Lizbet (p.92): Lizbet's family live in the Laurel, down in the Dismal beside Dark Fork. There is some Shadow darkness in Laurel, too, although Light generally prevails over it there. See Map. http://thesummerboy.com/map.
In The Summer Boy the word 'laurel' is mentioned often, but it wasn't until Robberlee, speakng as the gray family at the ferry (Even their clothes were ashen beyond life) that it was used as a place:
"Robberlee chuckled, “I’m the only fool in the Laurel who ever wants to go the
other way.” (page 66)
The opposite of the Laurel is the Shadow; speaking of the 'gray people':
As the council proceeds it developed that Bard was thought to have come into the Laurel and caused the fear that others with wicked intent might find a way in to make havoc.
Like the on-going problem of illegal immigrants, it became the problem of immigrants per se; the 'good people of the USA' are thought to be confronted with illegal "wetbacks".
It's a place, but also a state of mind!
In the Southern Highlands rhododendron and mountain laurel are the two most common plants in higher elevations. Henry chose the name, 'Laurel' to refer to the area where 'God's chosen people' lived. A generation of good people lived in that area. But like Heaven there was two way traffic; some 'bad' people wanted to improve themselves so they moved to Laurel; and conversely some of the people in Laurel chose to drop to the majority and go with the flow. (to me this seems roughly comparable to the hardshell Baptist distinction between the Lost and the Saved; those is Laurel are saved while the others are Lost; the author likely had other things in mind when he made the distinction.)
(The author commented about Lizbet as follows:
Note on Lizbet (p.92): Lizbet's family live in the Laurel, down in the Dismal beside Dark Fork. There is some Shadow darkness in Laurel, too, although Light generally prevails over it there. See Map. http://thesummerboy.com/map.
In The Summer Boy the word 'laurel' is mentioned often, but it wasn't until Robberlee, speakng as the gray family at the ferry (Even their clothes were ashen beyond life) that it was used as a place:
"Robberlee chuckled, “I’m the only fool in the Laurel who ever wants to go the
other way.” (page 66)
The opposite of the Laurel is the Shadow; speaking of the 'gray people':
"Unchecked, their need to subdue and diminish all about them would have wrecked the whole
world. So they were set apart into Shadow until such time as there may be a Mending. But for the
Separation Maker has wrought, we who live in the Laurel would be vanished from the earth and there would be none here to sit in Council.
All of us are still in the world, but the Shadowfolk cannot see us and we cannot touch
them. To their minds we are not real, and to us, they are unfettered death." (page 85)As the council proceeds it developed that Bard was thought to have come into the Laurel and caused the fear that others with wicked intent might find a way in to make havoc.
Like the on-going problem of illegal immigrants, it became the problem of immigrants per se; the 'good people of the USA' are thought to be confronted with illegal "wetbacks".
It's a place, but also a state of mind!
Monday, April 28, 2014
The Higher Power
Mother is the word generally used in The Summer Boy, but the matter of gender at this point is complex. The Higher Power created the world and not until the nth day did man and woman come about.
Throughout the story 'Mother' appears as the Higher Power:
On page 48 we meet Callie, a very motherly type; she feeds everyone; she has a daughter, Elizabeth, who serves her faithfully (in biblical terms no less than Jesus Christ). Elizabeth appears frequently with help in case of need: "Mama told me to [something] provide every need. At the council she appears out of a tree and runs the proceeding.
Turn now to page 207: Lizzie says something about 'the Mother' eliciting a reply from Drum
"The Mother?" there follows:
"God, Spirit, Maker, Mover, whatever word you use, it names the one who is all."
"God is a woman?"
Lizzie smiled at his query, "Sometime She is; sometimes He isn't."
That's about as good an answer as can be given to the God question.
On page 218 we see a prayer that Drum raised on his own:
"Holy Father and Mother and Lover and Friend. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you."
On page 48 we meet Callie, a very motherly type; she feeds everyone; she has a daughter, Elizabeth, who serves her faithfully (in biblical terms no less than Jesus Christ). Elizabeth appears frequently with help in case of need: "Mama told me to [something] provide every need. At the council she appears out of a tree and runs the proceeding.
Turn now to page 207: Lizzie says something about 'the Mother' eliciting a reply from Drum
"The Mother?" there follows:
"God, Spirit, Maker, Mover, whatever word you use, it names the one who is all."
"God is a woman?"
Lizzie smiled at his query, "Sometime She is; sometimes He isn't."
That's about as good an answer as can be given to the God question.
On page 218 we see a prayer that Drum raised on his own:
"Holy Father and Mother and Lover and Friend. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you."
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Who Dat?
Page 170-71 has a section that some of us may find 'mystering': who is this old man and how did he get into the story at this point. A second or careful reading suggests that he is 'this old owl'. And who is this woman talking through the door? Third reading suggests it might be Calley.
Both of these people are 'spirit people', and maybe we're let in here on how this 'Summer Boy' world works. Finally we see that Beaverdam is a 'spirit place'.
Am I on square one here?
Both of these people are 'spirit people', and maybe we're let in here on how this 'Summer Boy' world works. Finally we see that Beaverdam is a 'spirit place'.
Am I on square one here?
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
A Personal Recollection
Happening upon 'Making Fire' brought forth a cloud of personal recollections. I was invited to pastor some churches around Hot Springs, NC. Big Laurel Creek is close by. My family moved from LA to Western NC to be near those mountains. I traversed most of The Appalachian Trail entire length of The Great Smokies. Reading Summer Boy I'm consistently reminded of those experiences shared to me by my friend Henry Mitchell.
We live now near the water in Florida, but we simply have to go back up there at least every year; in between those trips the next best thing is reading Summer Boy.
We live now near the water in Florida, but we simply have to go back up there at least every year; in between those trips the next best thing is reading Summer Boy.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Gifts
Someone said life is not made up of blessing and cursing, but of challenges.
Some of us are blessed with frequent if not continuous gifts.
Gifts may be said to come from the 'Holy Spirit' (or Calley).
It often, but not always, comes from Elizabeth with "my mama told me to..."
Pages cited here are those of the hard copy book, not the ebook:
Here are some of the gifts apparent in Summer Boy:
Little Bear's aunt gave him many gifts, treated him like a mother.
An early gift was made by Little Bear when he found a hawk with his beak
was imprisoned between two rocks when he was seeking his prey. a groundhog.
(page 22)
Soon after when he was very hungry he received a gift of food from Elizabeth.
"Mama said you would be needing these")
(By this we realize that Elizabeth was a 'spirit person' like her mother, Calley.)
(page 33-34)
This one can only be seen as a carnal gift--from Lizbet
"Mama wants to know what’s your name, boy.”
Her 'gift' was a poisonous dish followed by a knock on the back of his head.
See page 92ff.
This happens in a dismal place, presumably away from Laurel.
For extravagant gifts we move to Davey's Wood (106).
Davey was the soul of generosity; he gave Bard everything but the cloths on his back.
Bard referred to him as his best friend.
Davey's first gift was bread for the boy he called Pilgrim. He gave Pilgrim a room of his
life to stay in etc,etc, extravagant hospitality! He became a father (of the best sort!) to
Bard.
There are still many gifts to name, but these are the only ones who have met my eye so\
far.
It often, but not always, comes from Elizabeth with "my mama told me to..."
Pages cited here are those of the hard copy book, not the ebook:
Here are some of the gifts apparent in Summer Boy:
Little Bear's aunt gave him many gifts, treated him like a mother.
An early gift was made by Little Bear when he found a hawk with his beak
was imprisoned between two rocks when he was seeking his prey. a groundhog.
(page 22)
Soon after when he was very hungry he received a gift of food from Elizabeth.
"Mama said you would be needing these")
(By this we realize that Elizabeth was a 'spirit person' like her mother, Calley.)
(page 33-34)
This one can only be seen as a carnal gift--from Lizbet
"Mama wants to know what’s your name, boy.”
Her 'gift' was a poisonous dish followed by a knock on the back of his head.
See page 92ff.
This happens in a dismal place, presumably away from Laurel.
For extravagant gifts we move to Davey's Wood (106).
Davey was the soul of generosity; he gave Bard everything but the cloths on his back.
Bard referred to him as his best friend.
Davey's first gift was bread for the boy he called Pilgrim. He gave Pilgrim a room of his
life to stay in etc,etc, extravagant hospitality! He became a father (of the best sort!) to
Bard.
There are still many gifts to name, but these are the only ones who have met my eye so\
far.
Deliverance
In the chapter on Arrival we read how Harry, Ben's father took him to his aunt Mary's to spend the summer 'in the rough' in the Gap, a small community at the foot of large mountains; Ben (Henry?) secretly liked it as any healthy teenager likely would. (Most stories have a largely autobiographical dimension.)
Mary had two younger children of her own, which made things nice for Ben. The early pages of 'Summer Boy' display a strong (very common) tension between Father and Son; that theme runs through the story. (Boys and Girls in general find it necessary some time along their lives to forgive their parent, because in this fallen world there has never been an adequate parent; it occurs only in the Great Beyond.
They sat at the breakfast table; his Baptist parents would have required a "long and ornate blessing, but Mary and family confessed in unison "we receive unworthily" (much like a Scout blessing: 'good bread, good meat, good God, let's eat')
Harry was very strict with Ben, but Mary was permissive; she allowed (and encouraged) him to explore the mountains as he wished. Jokingly she called him a bear, the first of several names he was to acquire in the book.
Mary had two younger children of her own, which made things nice for Ben. The early pages of 'Summer Boy' display a strong (very common) tension between Father and Son; that theme runs through the story. (Boys and Girls in general find it necessary some time along their lives to forgive their parent, because in this fallen world there has never been an adequate parent; it occurs only in the Great Beyond.
They sat at the breakfast table; his Baptist parents would have required a "long and ornate blessing, but Mary and family confessed in unison "we receive unworthily" (much like a Scout blessing: 'good bread, good meat, good God, let's eat')
Harry was very strict with Ben, but Mary was permissive; she allowed (and encouraged) him to explore the mountains as he wished. Jokingly she called him a bear, the first of several names he was to acquire in the book.
Mary had a sort of neighbor who lived a long way up Mount Pinnacle: Ethan Owl was close to Mary and glad to see Ben; in fact as the story progresses he became a prime adviser; he was one of the 'spirit people' we may read about.
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