Literature & Spirituality

Literature is defined as "imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value." Spirituality is defined as "the quality or state of being concerned with religion or religious matters." The purpose of this podcast is to examine how these two subjects intersect with one another and how they relate to our lives.

Spirituality as Quest, Pt. 21 -- Augustine's "Confessions"; Reading a Story, Pt. 25 -- How Much Does a Narrator Know? 08/07/2016

Spirituality as Quest, Pt. 21 -- Augustine's "Confessions"; Reading a Story, Pt. 25 -- How Much Does a Narrator Know? Our passage from the Word of God today is Luke 1:63 which reads: "And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all." Our quote today is from Ezra Pound. He said: "Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree." In this podcast, we are using as our texts: "Literature and Spirituality" by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt, and "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing" by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Our first topic for today is "Spirituality as Quest, Part 21" from the book, "Literature and Spirituality" by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt. Today, we will continue reading a selection from Augustine's "Confessions." This selection is from Book I - Childhood / Chapter 6 - The Infant Augustine Still, dust and ashes as I am, allow me to speak before thy mercy. Allow me to speak, for, behold, it is to thy mercy that I speak and not to a man who scorns me. Yet perhaps even thou mightest scorn me; but when thou dost turn and attend to me, thou wilt have mercy upon me. For what do I wish to say, O Lord my God, but that I know not whence I came hither into this life-in-death. Or should I call it death-in-life? I do not know. And yet the consolations of thy mercy have sustained me from the very beginning, as I have heard from my fleshly parents, from whom and in whom thou didst form me in time - for I cannot myself remember. Thus even though they sustained me by the consolation of womans milk, neither my mother nor my nurses filled their own breasts but thou, through them, didst give me the food of infancy according to thy ordinance and thy bounty which underlie all things... ... Our second topic for today is "Reading a Story, Part 25" from the book, "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing" by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Today, we will continue taking a look at How Much Does a Narrator Know? In the objective point of view, the narrator does not enter the mind of any character but describes events from the outside. Telling us what people say and how their faces look, he or she leaves us to infer their thoughts and feelings. So inconspicuous is the narrator that this point of view has been called "the fly on the wall." This metaphor assumes the existence of a fly with a highly discriminating gaze, who knows which details to look for to communicate the deepest meaning. Some critics would say that in the objective point of view, the narrator disappears altogether. Consider this passage by a writer famous for remaining objective, Dashiell Hammett, in his mystery novel The Maltese Falcon, describing his private detective Sam Spade. ... /episode/index/show/literatureandspirituality/id/4572962

Spirituality as Quest, Pt. 20 -- Augustine's "Confessions"; Reading a Story, Pt. 24 -- How Much Does a Narrator Know? 07/31/2016

Spirituality as Quest, Pt. 20 -- Augustine's "Confessions"; Reading a Story, Pt. 24 -- How Much Does a Narrator Know? Our passage from the Word of God today is 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 which reads: "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart." Our quote today is from W. H. Auden. He said: "A real book is not one that’s read, but one that reads us." In this podcast, we are using as our texts: "Literature and Spirituality" by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt, and "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing" by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Our first topic for today is "Spirituality as Quest, Part 20" from the book, "Literature and Spirituality" by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt. Today, we will continue reading a selection from Augustine's "Confessions." This selection is from Book I - Childhood / Chapter 5 - Augustine's Prayer Who shall bring me to rest in thee? Who will send thee into my heart so to overwhelm it that my sins shall be blotted out and I may embrace thee, my only good? What art thou to me? Have mercy that I may speak. What am I to thee that thou shouldst command me to love thee, and if I do it not, art angry and threatenest vast misery? Is it, then, a trifling sorrow not to love thee? It is not so to me. Tell me, by thy mercy, O Lord, my God, what thou art to me. “Say to my soul, I am your salvation." So speak that I may hear. Behold, the ears of my heart are before thee, O Lord; open them and “say to my soul, I am your salvation.” I will hasten after that voice, and I will lay hold upon thee. Hide not thy face from me. Even if I die, let me see thy face lest I die. ... Our second topic for today is "Reading a Story, Part 23" from the book, "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing" by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Today, we're taking a look at How Much Does a Narrator Know? The all-knowing (or omniscient) narrator sees into the minds of all (or some) characters, moving when necessary from one to another. This is the point of view in "Godfather Death," in which the narrator knows the feelings and motives of the father, of the doctor, and even of Death himself. Since he adds an occasional comment or opinion, this narrator may be said also to show editorial omniscience (as we can tell from his disapproving remark that the doctor "should have remembered" and his observation the the father did not understand "how wisely God shares our wealth and poverty"). A narrator who shows impartial omniscience presents the thoughts and actions of the characters, but does not judge them or comment on them. ... /episode/index/show/literatureandspirituality/id/4553955

Spirituality as Quest, Pt. 17 -- Augustine's "Confessions"; Reading a Story, Pt. 21 -- Point of View 07/09/2016

Spirituality as Quest, Pt. 17 -- Augustine's "Confessions"; Reading a Story, Pt. 21 -- Point of View Our passage from the Word of God today is Revelation 1:3 which reads: "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand." Our quote today is from Gustave Flaubert. He said: "An author in his book must be like God in His universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere." Our first topic for today is "Spirituality as Quest, Part 17" from the book, "Literature and Spirituality" by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt. Today, we're taking a brief look at Augustine. Augustine (354-430) lived during the decline of the Roman Empire. His pagan father ensured that Augustine received an excellent education. Beyond this fact, his father's influence on Augustine seems to have been marginal. However, his mother's influence was very powerful. She was a Christian who over the years, became very strong in her faith. Perhaps her spiritual growth can be linked to her prayerful struggles with God over the destiny of her rebellious and confused son. Born and educated in northern Africa, Augustine eventually taught rhetoric (effective speaking and critical thinking) in Rome and Milan, Italy. After his conversion to Christianity, he returned to North Africa and served as an influential bishop and a defender of orthodox Christian doctrines. ... Our second topic for today is "Reading a Story, Part 21" from the book, "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing" by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Today, we're taking a look at Point of View. In the opening lines of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain takes care to separate himself from the leading character, who is to tell his own story. It begins: "You don't know about me, without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly." Twain wrote the novel, but the narrator or speaker is Huck Finn, a fictional character who supposedly tells the story. Obviously, in Huckleberry Finn, the narrator of the story is not the same person as the "real-life" author. In employing Huck as his narrator, Twain selects a special angle of vision: not his own, exactly, but that of a resourceful boy moving through the thick of events, with a mind at times shrewd, at other times innocent. Through Huck's eyes, Twain takes in certain scenes, actions, and characters and - as only Huck's angle of vision could have enabled Twain to do so well - records them memorably. ... /episode/index/show/literatureandspirituality/id/4502810

Spirituality as Quest, Pt. 16 -- Gospel of Luke; Reading a Story, Pt. 20 -- Thinking About Plot 06/29/2016

Spirituality as Quest, Pt. 16 -- Gospel of Luke; Reading a Story, Pt. 20 -- Thinking About Plot Our passage from the Word of God today is Exodus 32:15-16 which reads: "And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." Our quote today is from Arthur Schopenhauer. He said: "Without books the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are the engines of change, windows on the world, ''Lighthouses'' as the poet said ''erected in the sea of time.'' They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print." Our first topic for today is "Spirituality as Quest, Part 16" from the book, "Literature and Spirituality" by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt. Today, we're reading a selection from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, Three Parables About Losing and Finding (Including the Prodigal Son). "Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing..." ... Our second topic for today is "Reading a Story, Part 20" from the book, "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing" by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Today, we're taking a look at Thinking About Plot. A day without conflict is pleasant, but a story without conflict is boring. The plot of every short story, novel, or movie derives its energy from conflict. A character desperately wants something he or she can’t have, or is frantic to avoid an unpleasant (or deadly) event. In most stories, conflict is established and tension builds, leading to a crisis and, finally, a resolution of some sort. When analyzing a story, be sure to remember these points: Plotting isn’t superficial. Although plot might seem like the most obvious and superficial part of a story, it is an important expressive device. Plot combines with the other elements of fiction - imagery, style, and symbolism, for example - to create an emotional response in the reader: suspense, humor, sadness, excitement, terror. ... /episode/index/show/literatureandspirituality/id/4479767