Just finished reading an extremely thought-provoking book by Mitch Albom, he of the Tuesday Talks with Morrie. A Stranger in the Lifeboat is different. Nothing exciting, other than the fact that there are over a dozen people trapped on a compromised lifeboat, few supplies, all alone on a vast ocean vista. There are no sudden surprises, a rescuing ship, a sudden solving of a life-threatening problem, only the story of these shipwreck survivors and the side story of others involved even peripherally with and by this event.
I will not preview the ending for that might spoil the desire to read this book, a small one, easily done over a weekend even for a slow reader or one of us who now fall asleep after two or three pages of any reading material! But warning: this book and its contents can keep you up, thoughts circling in the mind, wondering which side of certain questions you will choose, though choosing is not necessary. Evidently there is much in this world that can be interpreted in so many ways; not always what you see is what you get. One's vision is often twisted, influenced by our own individual life experiences. Whose is right? Who has the correct vision? Who can save this world? Go figure it out, I challenge you to do so, for I am now up, wondering, questioning, thinking.
Into this lifeboat comes a strange figure, a man with no object keeping him afloat, a man who says little, but packs a punch when he does. When asked for his name, he responds "I am the Lord." When challenged, when pleaded with to save them if he is indeed the Lord, odd things take place. You, we, the reader and readers, must choose your own thoughts, make your own decisions. These decisions will vary, falling on this side or the other. From one side to the other and back again, rocked by thoughts of disturbing content, even as the raft is rocked by challenges of Nature.
This book challenges in a most disturbing way one's belief or lack of belief in the Lord, in a G-d, or a benevolent G-d. He reminds his fellow passengers that all prayers are answered, only sometimes the answer is 'no'. So, what do we do with our faith in the healing, loving, rescuing side of G-d as we have been taught? If we accept that premise, that it is not always the case, no apparent rhyme or reason for its volubility, for seemingly unfathomable endings, then what next?
We ask ourselves from whence does our needed, desperately necessary aid arise. We answer ourselves with advice to lift up one's eyes. To the mountains, to the heights, for G-d is nigh, above, on a higher level. That is where rescue originates, in the home of the Lord or whatever name is given to that entity or thought. Unfortunately, that rescue is not always the rescue we believed possible. It is not our choice; it always remains in the hands, so we are told, in the hands of The Lord, the stranger in the lifeboat. The Lord who drinks, eats, faces the same life challenges of the other survivors.
So....is this man deranged? But what about..... Has our ritual thinking been off kilter; must we redefine Lord and the connection - or disconnect - with that Lord? Can the Lord morph into some other being? What would that mean to our inner self direction? Is the situation, the 'human comedy' - truly a 'human tragedy'? How can we tell? How can we read the signs in life, know what to do? What changes if we are correct? What changes if we are incorrect? Are there even those categories and only those choices?
And of course, is there indeed a Lord, a G-d, an omnipotent figure or figment. If so, how involved is he/she with the individual? Can we base our life choices on such a shaky premise? What is the point, one asks? Do we believe, strive harder to interpret the desires and wishes of this Lord, try to insure and achieve the Lord's positive attitude and willingness to aid and rescue? If the rescue we believe in, so deeply require, is not quite the rescue we get, what then? How do we align these differences, these questions? Are we indeed alone here, an accident of Nature, or is there indeed something or someone else?
What does The Lord owe us, for if there are no believers then what gives, endows, him/her with power, for lack of belief is withdrawal of Power -or is it truly so? Have we, in fact, ignored, denied, misread, the signs of the Lord's anger and disappointment with us? What else is needed to gain our attention and acceptance of the truth of our current situation? Does it even matter at this point?
Have we in fact, actually crossed the point of no return. Think - how many volcanoes, how many disastrous fires, how many droughts and acres of desertification, how many floods, suffocating people under blankets of mud? How many things must go awry in Nature before we realize our errors, our grievous errors? Is there any point to it at all?
What is life all about? What do we do when our basic beliefs are challenged? Can we survive if these beliefs are rearranged and recategorized? Do we want to? Is there a Lord or not? Do we need a Lord for our own sanity in life? Not questions of if, but a basic building block of Nature, of life on Earth. How does one integrate events and beliefs with the end results and their commingling? Perhaps in ways which we cannot ever truly understand nor accept. Or must we accept. Must we blindly believe in the words and ideas we have been fed our entire life? Do we want to give up those ideas and teachings or must we keep them for our own sanity?
Read this book. Join a book club and discuss it. Think about it. Read it.
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