Joseph's Story

If Joseph's story as presented in the first two chapters of the Gospel of St. Matthew were to be diagramed in the Grand Argument Storymind model, how would it look?

We will need to identify four journeys, or points of view.  These can be described as the Objective Journey, the Main Character Journey, the Impact Character Journey, and the Subjective Character Journey.

We will need to identify the drivers of the story and the passengers of the story.  The drivers make the story happen.  The story wouldn't exist without the drivers.  The passengers can be described as the skeptic (questions, doubts), reason (needs or provides quantifiable answers), emotion (goes by feelings), and the sidekick (often the comic relief but more importantly the bearer of hope, belief, and faith).

We will need to identify the protagonist (or hero), the contagonist (the manipulator), the guardian (the protector--who is always weak), and the antagonist (or bad guy).

Finally, we will need to plug all these into the Mythological Cycle of the Journey Story.  The cycles are as follows...

1. The hero crosses a threshold--a point of no return.  Identify the threshold moment.
2. A helper comes -- there is a call to adventure.
3. A prize is gained -- this could be change or growth of the hero.
4. The hero crosses a threshold return.  The real story is not over yet.  This is where the prize becomes useful.
5. There is a return to the world, or what has become of the world in the hero's absense.
6. There is another prize gained.
7. A helper, or helpers, appear again.
8. There are tests.

As I am no expert on any of these points there is ample room for disagreement on any or all of my suggestions.

Let us say that the birth of Jesus is the Objective Journey.  The story would not exist without this event.  This event is what made everything in Matthew 1 & 2 happen.  Now the question is who is the Main Character and who is the Impact Character in this account?  If it is indeed Joseph's story, then wouldn't Joseph be the main character?  It is Joseph's choice that allows Mary to live and give birth.  It is Joseph's choice that provides a tribal lineage for Jesus.  It is Joseph's choice that provides a nuclear family for Jesus to be brought up in.  It is Joseph's choice that took them to Bethlehem.  It is to Joseph that the angel appeared in this telling of the birth of Jesus. 

If Joseph is the main character then Mary would be the impact character.  It was Joseph who allowed her to live, give birth, make the journey, etc. 

If we are seeing the story objectively through Joseph's point of view we are outside the story.  The Subjective Character Journey would put us inside the story.  We would see as they saw, feel as they felt, etc.  The subjective character journey then is the story of Joseph and Mary together.

There is no mention in Matthew 1 & 2 of Caesar's decree or a journey to Bethlehem to be a part of a census or to be taxed.  There is mention of King Herod and his concern of a popular or prophetic challenge to his right to the throne.  I am going to identify Herod as the story's driver.

Now to address the various passengers and their roles.  Joseph, I will say, is the skeptic.  His lawfully betrothed was found to be expecting a child and he knew he was not the father.  For him to believe her claim of a virgin conception would require a leap of faith beyond all reason.  Nothing less than a visitation by an angel could dispell his doubts.  Later he receives warning after warning and instruction followed by instruction to protect and provide for the infant Jesus.  Yes, Joseph would be the skeptic.

The reasonable characters in this story would be the chief priests, the scribes and the wisemen whose search of scripture and knowledge of prophecies lent legitamacy to both Mary's claim and Herod's irrational fear of a supposed newborn King of the Jews.

The emotional character would be Mary.  Afterall, it was she who would have died without Joseph's mercy towards her.  It was she who would have born an illegitimate child and thus suffered life-long disgrace.  It was she who was the one who stood to suffer the most in travel and travail.  It was she who was dependent on the intervention of angels at each turn of the tale.

The sidekick character, the one who remains ever hopeful, ever believing, ever faithful would be the angel who appears repeatedly to give witness, instruction, and comfort.

The protagonist, or hero, is Joseph in this particular account.  The antagonist is Herod and Herod's son   Archelaus--definitely the bad guys.  Then who would be the contagonist and who would be the guardian?  Is the angel the manipulator or is the angel the protector?  The protector is always weak.  The angel is weak in that he is only a messenger.  He can take no action.  But the angel is also the one who manipulates Joseph to make choices that have no grounding in reason.  I will say that the wise men from the east are the guardians.  The are weak for a number of reasons.  They were ignorant of Herod's own ignorance and of Herod's plot to destroy the very person they have come so far to homage.  They are weak because their only recourse to protect the infant is to leave secretly by another route.  They protect by bringing another witness as to the veracity of Mary's claim and the angel's proclamation.  They protect by providing valuable goods with which the destitute couple can barter to provide a living as long as would be needed til they could provide for themselves.  This leaves the angel as the contagonist or manipulator.

Can two chapters comprised of a mere forty-eight verses or sentences by diagramed in the mythological cycle of the Journey Story?  Let's try.

Where would Joseph have crossed the threshold or point of no return?  This account begins with Joseph, describing himself as a just man and therefore not willing to make of Mary a public example for being found with child, being of a mind to put her away privily.  This would have been the orthodox or accepted thing to do.  There would have been no shame for Joseph and no physical injury to Mary.  Their lives would have proceeded according to custom -- injured of heart and reputation but without permanent repercussion other than Mary being forever dependent on her parents or becoming a beggar and her child forever a bastard outcast of society.  I would say that Joseph crossed the threshold when he took Mary to wife as he was  instructed to do in a dream.  He crossed the threshold when he believed the words of the angel which confirmed Mary's claim that the child in her was conceived of the Holy Ghost.  He crossed the threshold when he accepted the counsel to name the baby Jesus, which means "he shall save his people from their sins."  What exactly Joseph thought that to mean is not given here -- whether this would be a physical or a spiritual redemption or both.  The only explanation given here is that it was a fulfillment of a prophesy recorded in the book of Isaiah in the fourteenth verse of the seventh chapter.

The call to adventure is given by the angel  in a dream to Joseph, telling him to arise and flee into Egypt.  The help came from the wise men who unwittingly provided the where-with-all to make the journey.  They might have heard from travelers of Herod's merciless strike at the innocents of Bethlehem and all the surrounding coasts.  The prize Joseph gained would have been their very lives.  The prize Joseph gained might have been the faith he gained from being sustained during the flight and subsequent days of political refuge.  The prize might have been Mary's growing confidence in his ability to recieve and follow personal revelation which blessed her, the child, and the family with safety.  They learned to believe and trust in the providence of their God.

The Threshold Return experience would then be when they returned to the land of Israel.  His attainment of the prize might have been his patience in awaiting further direction from God.  The help that he again received would be the angelic message in a dream to "take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life."  After doing so Joseph was again helped by heavenly messenger as to his choice of location -- "he turned aside into the parts of Galilee".   All along these were tests to Joseph's faithfulnees, submissiveness, and mercy.

Wow!  Joseph's story does indeed fit the Mythological Cycle of the Journey Story as described in the Storymind model.  Amazing.

Thoughts on Matthew's Story of Christmas

My father had invited all his children to read the first two chapters of Matthew and join with him on a conference call to share what thoughts may have come to us.  Our call was scheduled to happen the Sunday after Christmas.  Christmas was on a Saturday this year so the reading of these chapters took place, most appropriately, on Christmas day itself. 

My first thought about "Matthew's Story of Christmas" is that he actually put it in writing.  He wrote it down and then, by great sacrifice and effort through the ages--most unknown to me--it is here in the New Testament.  Two thousand years after this miraculous event it is preserved in a book which enjoys wide publication.  Not only that, I am priveleged to live in a literate society and I, a woman, have the ability to read the story myself.  I think of all the ages where workers like me had to depend on the paintings on the church walls and ceilings and  stained glass window art to know the stories of the bible.  I think of all the ages when church services were not even conducted in my native tongue!  Oh yes, I am priveleged.  What I take so for granted--each little part--was bought at such a price.  I owe thanks to Johannes Gutenberg and to Martin Luther and to William Tyndale, to name a few, and to so many others whose names are lost in the annals of time.

I find it fascinating that Matthew could quote forty-two generations of genealogy of Jesus Christ!  Not many children born today can lay claim to forty-two generations preceding their birth.  I also find it interesting that these forty-two generations were divided into fourteen-generation segments.  Matthew handily summarizes this for us (Matt. 1: 17) saying there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David and fourteen generations from David to the generation which was carried to Babylon and fourteen generations from Babylon to Jesus Christ. 

The implications of these numbers are certainly lost on me. I wonder whether Kabbalistic Jews would extract greater significance from this passage of scripture than I do. 

Matthew quotes the generations of Joseph, Christ's father by marriage or adoption, so this is the TRIBE of Jesus.  I understand that Mary was a cousin to Joseph so this would also be her tribe.  However, as it is written it is Joseph's lineage.  With Abraham this tribe was named or established.  With David this tribe entered its golden age.  When carried to Babylon this tribe was lost.  With Jesus Christ this tribe was redeemed.  Through adoption all people's of the earth can receive the blessings of Abraham and his tribe.  This is possible through the priesthood ordinance of baptism into the family of Jesus Christ. 

Here is a pattern of birth, growth, loss, and redemption.  Examples of turnings such as these can be found among all peoples in all times and even in individual lives.  How would we describe times of birth, growth, loss, and redemption in our own lives?

In less than fifty verses Matthew mentions the power of a dream five times!  God communicates to man through dreams.  Be mindful that dreams of this nature refer only to those aspects of our lives over which we have stewardship.  Note: Matt. 1: 20...the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying...   Matt. 2: 12...and being warned of God in a dream...  Matt. 2: 13...the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying...   Matt. 2: 19... an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph.... and Matt. 2: 22...being warned of God in a dream....

Just as remarkable as the dreams was the immediate action taken by those who had these dreams to obey the council given in the dreams.  Here are some of the action words given in the dreams: "fear not", "take unto thee Mary thy wife", "warned ...not [to] return to Herod", "Arise" and "flee", "Arise" and "go into the land of Israel", and finally the warning to "turn aside... into ...Galilee". 

How many examples of "Arise and flee" are found in the scriptures?  In a sense Adam and Eve were instructed to do so when they left the garden.  Moses fled the palace and later led the Israelites in their flight from Egypt.  Abraham fled the priest who was to sacrifice him.  Lot and his family were instructed to flee Sodom without a backward glance.  Joseph fled from the wife of Potipher rather than yield to temptation.  Are there times in our lives when we have or should "arise and flee"?

Any one of these admonitions recounted by Matthew would result in social condemnation, inconvenience, punishment, and even the possibility of perishing.  Joseph would have been looked down upon for taking Mary to wife.  Mary had apparently exercised infidelity to Joseph and so could have been punished to the most severe extent of the law.  The wisemen could have been jailed for mocking the king by not returning with promised information.  At the very least they were inconvenieced to leave by a different route than the one they came by.  The scriptures are silent as to their fate.  They might even have suffered death, for all we know. 

By heeding heavenly counsel Joseph and Mary became homeless, without income, with little or no means to obtain food, lodging, clothing--anything!  Add upon that they were strangers in a strange land--speaking a different language, worshiping a different God, ethnically set apart from neighbors while in Egypt.  For all we know they traveled alone on roads beset by thieves and murderers.  When they were instructed to return they were not able to live among former family and friends.  Again they were strangers, having to reestablish a livlihood in parts unknown to them.  They did not know what perils they escaped--the blood bath of Herod's "murder of the innocents", for instance.  They had to do all they did in complete faith and without support of any loved ones.

How many of us would "Arise" and immediately leave all we knew or owned, even under cover of darkness?  This is what was asked of the parents of the infant and youthful Jesus.

When my children were young their name for King Herod was King Horrid.  This ruler, at the height of power, was obsessed with eradicating challenges to his supremacy.  He consulted all the best tools that the arm of flesh could provide -- the source of knowledge (priests and scribes) and the source of power (swords and the military).  Who was his nemesis?  An infant.  Herod, in a futile attempt to retain his dominion struck at the hearts of his subjects by slaughtering the infants and toddlers in Bethlehem and the surrounding regions.  Herod's legacy of selfishness and fear remains even to this day as countless lives are snuffed out before they draw breath. 

What part does Egypt play in the preparation of key prophets, I wonder.  Abraham spent time in Egypt.  His life was threatened there.  Was he educated there?  Did he learn astrology and mathematics and writing there?  Joseph spent time in Egypt.  He was instructed there, imprisoned there, and finally became wealthy and influential there.  Even the children of Israel who were led out of Egypt were civilized there for many generations. 

It is not clear how long Joseph, Mary, and Jesus found sanctuary in Egypt.  Afterall, King Herod's death is recorded to have been 4 B.C. (or four years before Christ's birth) and Archelaus was supposed to have ascended the throne at 18 years of age or 3 B.C. (more or less).  Archelaus made himself unpopular due to extreme brutality and so was deposed at 6 A.D.  This makes the use of historical calendars and events problematic as the dates to not sinc with Matthew's account.  The family's time in Egypt could have been a matter of days, weeks, months, or even years.

How would we describe our own place and time of preparation and education?  Have we found ourselves ever to be strangers in a strange land?  What motives have prescribed our choices?

In a way the account of the nativity found in Matthew is the story from Joseph's point of view.  It is the story of Joseph's conversion, of Joseph's forgiveness and subsequent actions.   It is the story of Joseph's commitment to this unforseen turn of events in his life that changed everything for him.  It is the story of Joseph's humility and submission to God's will for him.

Feast or Famine in the Wilderness

Hunger adds flavor to any meal.

I am fasting this morning.  I am fasting in prayer that Heavenly Father will help me and each member of my family to open all the doors of possibility and that He will push us through the right ones;  that He will help us to take any needful action on our part that is necessary for Him to do His part; that He will help us to find the path and pur our feet upon it.

I have been ill for several weeks.  On Friday morning I made a journal entry in which I expressed I held no hope for relief from my present life situation.  On Saturday morning I received an e-mail post which held out to me a baton of hope.  This happened just fifteen minutes short of twenty-four hours when I had no hope.  This is how I came to realize how tightly my physical health is bound to my spiritual health.  I felt the weight of worry and despair that I have been carrying leave my body particle by partical.  I was exhausted.  I gave mental thanks for being able to breathe.

And so I came to see that I have been having what I will call a "wilderness experience".  I am coming to see that this experience has been necessary and that it was necessary that it be NOW.  In this context let me introduce Babbette.

Babbette's life was good, and yet it was unbearable--even in the time of her being surrounded by all that she needed to become and be the artist that she was in the finest kitchen in Paris.  The very wealth and oppulance which drew upon her gifts smothered the lives of her friends, neighbors and family.  She was part of the "resistence" which overthrew her clientele and made it necessary for her to flee France.  A string of events that happened years earlier brought her, penniless and ill,  to the threshold of a pair of devout spinster sisters.  These sisters were persuaded to keep her in their service by a letter of introduction which Babbette presented them.

Babette began her wilderness experience.  Not one soul in this tiny community understood her great ability.  Indeed, they could not even guess.  In this remote and simple village Babbette gave freely what she could, never complaining, never demanding, never correcting.  She quietly went about rendering service and using what simple means she had at hand to make life more pleasant for the sisters and their little flock of fellow believers in their austere congregation.  Their pastor father, long since deceased, had relied heavily upon the help of his two young and beautiful daughters while he was alive and highly regarded among the faithful.  Both daughters gave up opportunites of love, fame, and fortune to remain by their father's side.

Two events brought to Babbette an opportunity to both honor the sisters' charity to her and to give her an opportunity to bless others while at the same time releasing the long hidden gifts of the artist she truely was.  One was her receiving 10,000 francs and the other was the sisters' desire to honor their father with a little feast at the 50th anniversary of his passing.  Babbette persuaded the sisters to allow her to prepare the menu and the feast, all at her own expense.  They reluctantly agreed.  Their reluctance grew to anxiety as they watched the ingerdients parade into their kitchen.  They sectretly visited their congregants, desiring of them that the meal be attended but not accepted. They feared that this meal would usher in damnation of a sort.

Luckily for them all a former suitor of one of the sisters who had found worldy success and acclaim had returned to visit his grandmother who was among the sisters' invited guests.  He was added to the list, bringing the number of diners up to twelve.  It was this man who recognized Babette's genius and interpretted it to the other guests.  He even had an ephiphany of the savior's grace which he shared with the little group.

 Meanwhile, the feast had worked it's magic upon all around the table.  Over the years petty slights and arguments had festered among them to the point of excluding harmony within their hearts and among their association with one another.  Somehow the elgance of the dishes, the table decorations, the fine wines, the delicate dishes, all combined together to soften their hearts and open their minds to a higher truth.  Whether they understood or agreed with the little speech on grace, they did feel it.  They were each transported to a happier place in ther memories -- to a time before their perceived suffereing.  They opened up and laughed and forgave -- forgave themselves and forgave one another.

This is grace--the miracle of forgiveness. 

Man is that he might have joy, and have it more abundantly.

It is better that we pass through sorrow, that we might recognized the good.

There must needs be an opposition in all things.

Conference Call Notes: Babbette's Feast by Isac Dineson (will correct spelling of author's name later)

I really enjoyed our discussion last night and got way more out of the story as we talked. Below are the notes I took and transcribed. I was distracted at the start so I missed some of what we talked about in the opening comments. If anyone has anything to add, please do so.
Natasha
"Babet's Feast"

November 28, 2010

Discussion Notes



Brief Summary:



An austere pair of sisters opened their home to receive a French refugee, Babette, who volunteered to be their servant, taking no other compensation than room and board. The sisters instructed Babette to prepare only simple food for they felt "luxurious fare was sinful." Babette did all that was asked of her and managed to "miraculously reduce" their living expenses and produce soup-pails for the poor that had a "mysterious power to stimulate and strengthen" the sick.



The two sisters' father was a "Dean and a prophet" of a Lutheran sect. Their father could not part with them in their youth, so they stayed by his side instead of following their suitors. Years after their father's death, they continued faithfully to tend their father's flock, but were saddened by the discord among his disciples.



After twelve years of serving the sisters, Babette won a lottery of 10,000 francs and persuaded the sisters to allow her to prepare a feast with her money. The sisters were upset to see the ingredients Babette ordered arrive from France so they consulted their dinner guests and asked them not to say a word about the meal. There were twelve at the table, including one outsider, a General who took a fancy to one of the sisters in her youth. The General recognized the feast for what it is: the best cuisine France had to offer. The other people responded as if it was everyday-ordinary fare. The General gave a spontaneous speech about grace—how it is infinite, "demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude." The others at the table weren't as aware that they'de been blessed by grace, but they still benefited and healed their differences.



The sisters were amazed when they learned that Babette spent her whole 10,000 francs on the meal. They said she shouldn't have done that for them. Babette insisted she did it for herself as an artistic expression. The sister who was musically gifted better understood the depth of Babette's sacrifice when she quoted a mutual friend (the singer who taught the sister): "Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost!"



This is a powerful story of grace—with greater depth than even the author probably realized.



Gwen & Vivian Babette chose to stay in Norway.



Velinda All the people who could value her art (the French cultural elite) were gone and she had helped to destroy them so she wouldn't go back to France.



Dad The people ate the feast without sensing the power of grace.



Velinda/LNW They were still blessed and healed by the grace (even though they didn't recognize it).



Vivian The General was an interpreter of the food.



Velinda He recognized the dish "Cailles en Sarcophage" which is an allusion of the resurrection.



Vivian There were twelve at the table, an allusion to the Last Supper.



Velinda How are we like the people at the table?



Dad A prayer answered



Dawna Not recognizing the greatness of people around us.



Viv The people got past their feelings by going back to a time of purity, like a second birth. As they did this, they became pure and transcended their bad choices that had injured them. This allowed them to "tesseract" past the wounds.



Lutherans felt every pleasure must be denied and Babette invited them to enjoy their senses. They didn't overdo it—there was no feeling of heaviness. (French diners take 3 5 hours to consume a full-course meal.)



What is the calling of an artist? The sister who sang was an artist thour her only audience was her congregation. The famous singer her trained her felt she chose well to remain with them because he was largely forgotten by his audience.



People are satisfied with second-best-effort, but the artist is not.



Women tend not to acknowledge their greatness. An example is women denying their creativity.



Dad "My impression is that people evaluating didn't recognize creativity when they saw it because they didn't have a standard to go by." Dad shared his example of creatively figuring out a shoveling problem in his work.



Velinda The author could've been expressing her own wonderment on giving a full effort in her art.



Gwen Babette was enjoying the meal from the kitchen and she was glad the General was there to appreciate her efforts.



Viv Babette gave everything she had to give to provide the feast, and in that sense she is a Christ-figure.



Tara Gave the example to illustrate how, if Vance had gone ten years without being able to play the guitar and then was given one last chance to perform a concert, wouldn't he want to do all he could to perform to his very best ability?



Dawna Mom holds onto dreams and ideas—exemplified by her passion to do the salt-dough projects, the salads for family gatherings, the decorations for holidays, hollyhock dolls, crafting her afghans.



Velinda Mom is very creative; she fixed sewing projects.



Dad Babette was approached as bigger than life.



Velinda Summary/challenge: Be looking for grace and recognizing it, and seeing (even if in hindsight) how we are blessed by it even when we don't recognize it.

Transition from "What If" to "What Is"

I credit the following thoughts to my sister, Natasha Boren, who shared them on a conference call.

Thesis involves Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

Ethos is about extablishing credibility. 

• I introduce myself and my credentials. 
• I am answering the question, "What is your authority on this subject?"

Pathos (passion) is what the author does (what I do) to engage the reader emotionally. 

• This is extremely important. 
• The writer must make the reader CARE before information is thrown onto the page. 
• This is what gives the writer (or speaker) power to lead an audience.

Logos is the use of logic and reason. 

• Be aware that logic can be used to support anything.

 
There are four proofs of logical reasoning

• historical example
• personal or human experience
• logic & reason
• inspiration or revelation

A perfect example of the use of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos is "The Gettysburg Address".
(It goes from the past to the present to the future).  Another example is the Lord's prayer.

Feedback from Natasha:

This looks very good--except for fix the spelling of "establishing" on your ethos line. And following the statement "be aware that logic can be used to support anything," you might want to clarify: 'so keep yourself well-grounded in your source of truth (core book)' or 'so protect yourself from being "taken for a ride"' or anyway that you can think of to add significance to the statement.




This info comes from Tiffany Earl through the Leadership Education Mentoring Institute (LEMI), so you should probably credit her. The only part I added was the idea that the Gettysburg Address is a perfect example. I think Dad added the Lord's Prayer. Since you asked, Liber Communities is what LEMI is calling the three adult scholar projects. You don't need to reference that.

WHOLES, Being my thoughts about Louis Sachar's HOLES

It all began with a dream.
Elya Yelnats fell in love with a beautiful young girl. 
He who hesitates is lost.
Elya Yelnats asked the girl's father for her hand in marriage.
Let's fight the war from here.
Elya Yelnats was told that she was already spoken for.  Her price?  A hog.
She would be a one-hog wife.
So, Elya Yelnats sought wisdom. 
When the student is ready the teacher will appear.
Elya was told by the gypsy Zeroni to carry a pig up the mountain where the water ran uphill, and while letting it drink sing it a song...

"If only, if only, the woodpecker sighs,

"The bark on the tree was just a little bit softer." 

While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,

He cries to the moo--oo--oon,

"If only, if only." 

But he must promise in the end to carry Madam Zeroni up the hill, let her drink, and sing her the song.  Otherwise, his family would be cursed forever. 

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

Gypsy Zeroni tells him the solution to this riddle is to begin with a piglet and carry it up the mountain every day. 

This he did faithfully.

Faithfully.  Consistentley.  Without fail.  Thinking of the girl and his future happiness as he did so.

He delivered his pig on the appointed day.  His pig weighed the same as the other suitor's pig.  In the meantime, Elya had grown strong.  To his dismay, the girl of his dreams made no distinction between him (with his youth, his good looks, his ardour) and the middle-aged-overweight-unschooled competitor.

Sour grapes.

Elya left, leaving the pig as a wedding gift (making her a two-hog wife) and, alas,  forgetting the final part of his promise-- to carry Madam Zeroni up the hill--boarded a ship to the promised land.

Fast-forward a hundred years or so.  Elya has a son who he (palindromically) names Stanley -- S t a n l e y  y e l n a t S.  His son's son is Stanley the II.  His son's son's son is Stanly the III.  His son's son's son's son is Stanley IV.  By now Elya has become a family icon-- "the dirty rotten pig stealer".  Each generation in turn blames Elya for their bad luck.  All because Elya did not fulfill his promise to "carry the gypsy up the hill".

Stanley IV is an easy target for bullies at school.  He is overweight and without friends.  On the day of his arrest he had been delayed at school when his attempt to retrieve his stolen notebook ended up with his having to fish it out of the toilet--thus causing him to miss his bus.  He ended up walking home.  There he was minding his own business when a pair of shoes fell from an overpass into his path.  These shoes were odiferous and so he collected them to present to his father, whose avocation was to discover an elixir that would sweeten soles. 

The fateful shoes were to be the catalyst that would change the course of all their lives.

Stanley was found to be in possession of shoes that had been donated by a celebrity athlete to be auctioned to raise money for a homeless shelter.  Stanley was indicted, tried, and sentenced to a year at a Camp Green Lake--where his character would be built be daily digging a hole 5 feet wide and 5 feet deep.

Camp Green Lake, which we will find was indeed once a lake surrounded by a prosperous frontier community, was now desolate, remote, and (dare we say) cursed.  The camp's warden is bound by the golden handcuffs of hidden treasure a - a bequest handed down to her by her father, grandfather, and so forth to her progenitor who wreaked havoc upon all he knew through his pride, jealousy, and hate.

Coincidentally, a boy known as Zero is at the camp.  Zero is good at digging and maintaining a low profile.  He is also the one who stole the shoes that brought Stanley to the camp.  Zero offers to dig Stanley's holes in exchange for reading and writing lessons.

A series of events compells Zero to strike out on his own across the desert.  Stanley deliberates a day before deciding to do the right thing -- search for Zero and bring him back.

Charity never faileth.

Like Elya before him, Stanley is now strong and fit as a result of his consistent daily discipline.  Stanley finds Zero.  They orient themselves to a distant mountain that resembles "God's thumb".  Stanley wondered if this was the same sanctuary where the family story says that the first Stanley Yelnats found refuge after having been robbed and left for dead.  Stanley carries Zero up this mountain where they find a stream that runs up hill.  They drink and eat wild onions and Stanley sings the lullaby "If only, if only." 

As it turns out, Zero is a descendent of Madam Zeroni and Stanley's rescue of Zero has fulfilled his family's obligation.  As Zero and Stanley retrace their steps to Camp Green Lake Stanley trusts Zero's sense of direction and uncanny mathematical ability to set their course.  They end up finding the hidden treasure, which is in a trunk inscribed with the name Stanley Yelnats.

The story is circular, which completes one great whole.

Matthew 5: 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.


This scripture has always had the ring of the impossible to me.  That is until my daughter suggested to me that another interpretation of the scripture could be "Be ye therefore whole, even as your Father in Heaven is whole."  She described for me a sphere, complete except for one sliver (like a three-dimensional puzzle).  The sliver is Jesus Christ.  The sphere is me.  I cannot be whole, or complete, without Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is one with The Father.  As I direct my life to be one with Jesus Christ, or more accurately, invite Jesus Christ into my daily life I move towards completeness, wholeness, perfection.

My daily thoughts and actions either invite or dismiss the gift of the Holy Ghost .

***

At what point did Elya's family blame everything on him?  Did he begin it himself?  Did he sigh, "If only, if only"?  Did it begin with his "dirty-rotten, pig-stealing" self?  Did his son blame every turn of misfortune on his father?  "It's all because of my dirty-rotten, pig-stealing father."  Did his grandson bemoan, "it's all because of my dirty-rotten, pig-stealing grandfather."?

Blame and complain.

Which begs the questions...



Where am I on this continuem?

Where do I want to be?

Where do I want my children to be?

And my children's children?  And my children's children's children?

The choices I make, the promises I make, the desires that direct my energies, the way I respond to conditions over which I have little or no control-- this is the script I write. 

This is my bequest.



Is there anything that I want enough to change my behavior to get?  Am I filling my "dream tank"?  How can I create enough desire to overcome the law of inertia? 

A body at rest tends to stay at rest.  A body in motion tends to stay in motion.

I have found that blaming and complaining gets me nowhere.  I have found, like Elya, that breaking a task down into smaller pieces allows me to chip away at my mountain of intentions and turn them into commitments.

Blame and complain are the shackles of servitude.  As long as a person, a people, a tribe, a culture, a nation is in "blame and complain" mode he, she, they will remain in bondage.

Each of us must carry the gypsy up the hill. 

Who, in my family, carried the gypsy up the hill?  Every one of my progenitors played a part in my having what I have, being who I am.  I am grateful to each of them.

Our family motto is "To the last generation".  When making choices, when shaping our lives, we ask, "How will this effect my children, my grandchildren, my great grandchildren"?  "What am I giving them permission to do if I do this?"  We know we do not exist in a vacuum.

Post Script...
My 21 year-old daughter, my husband, my 13-year old daughter, and myself recently found ourselves in an esoteric conversation about string theory and Einstein's theory of relativity and the concept of time.  We acturally have little knowledge of any of these and so were simply playing with "supposes".  We postulated that time is not linear like this: __________________ but may be linear like this: . (in other words you take the line and turn it so you're looking at it as if it is a tunnel.  In this way there is no dimension "time" -- all time exists at once.  My 21 year-old related a conversation she had while in high school with one of her friends.  He said that any choice we make not only effects the future, but also effects the past.  Choices which hurt the present also hurt the future and hurt the past.  I don't know how this could be, using my logical mind.  And yet, this is exactly the idea which Louis Sachar brilliantly explored in his book Holes.  This idea transitions Holes to Wholes.  Eternity is a Whole.  It is where all time is connected, all choices are connected, all consequences are connected, and all can be healed.  All can become whole.

HOLES: White-board Notes from Conference Call

• Your choices DO make a difference to your descendents
• digging holes builds charachter
• the setting is bleak
• liked how it all tied together
• zero = nothing OR 0 holds a place of value mathematically
• children of Israel  / Stanley is a Christ archetype (thorn in palm)
• generations cursed for sins of the fathers
• Stanley = everyman (no outstanding qualities)
• how self-confidence is gained
• watershesd moments (learned could do hard things
• cultural literacy (Zero had no "hook" for "Old Woman in the Shoe")
• parallels:  Elya & Stanley were strengthened dailey doing small insignificant tasks which produced small incremental changes in them / climbed out / river ran uphill / went up God's thumb (giving thumbs up)
• realizes he likes himself
• tunes out trouble by thinking of mother (the family is of value -- the parents a comfort)
• the whole story brought you to the point of Stanley carrying Zero up the mountain
• journey he had to make--glad for events that happened rather than cursing them
• once at this point he gets inspiration to make a plan
• the whole message of getting the strength by doing something every day
• allegory / analogy / metaphore -- blessing family forward ;& backward in time
• even with the hard luck they are philosophical, have a lot of love, a strong family -- they are good people / gonna do good things with this
• you have to figure this out as your'ed reading along
• good children's literature teaches without being preachy
• decision about the direction they're going (when retracing their steps back)-- Stanley said go one way, Zero said go the other.  The wrong decision would lead to death.  Yet Stanley trusted someone smaller and less educated than he was. 
• I like that the inspiration was the "Thumb of God".  Usually Stanley couldn't see anything in the distance.  He would get little tiny glimpses.
• In the middle of the day we are caught up with our lives.  We are more likely to be reflective in the morning or the evening.  At these moments we can orient ourselves as to our direction.  (prayer, meditation)
• We must prepare ourselves and do the work ourselves.  We must "carry the gypsy up the hill".  (As Christ carried his cross up the hill).
• It was about sacrificing to save this one person.
• theological feature: "I found refuge on God's thumb" (or in God's hand).
• a goal is something to reach

Natasha's summary and notes transcription:

Synopsis: This is a multigenerational allegory of two families, climaxing in the multigenerational setting of God's Thumb.


A family's tradition of good (unity) and ill (blame and complain) gets passed along with the family name from father to son. All the family's bad luck gets blamed on the great-grandfather who failed to keep his promise to carry a gypsy up a mountain. His son's bad luck was to be robbed by Kissin' Kate Barlow, so he was left to survive by seeking refuge on God's Thumb.
Two generations later, Stanley Yelnats finds himself digging holes (to improve his character) at a camp for juvenile delinquents (thanks to the family's perpetual bad luck) near God's Thumb. He befriends Zero, a fellow camp resident, who runs away from his horrible mistreatment at camp. Stanley tracks him down and rescues him by carrying him up the mountain to seek refuge on God's Thumb. They return to camp and find the treasure the camp owner's family has been searching for for generations (the real purpose for digging the holes). It turns out the treasure found was the case belonging to Stanley's ancestor for whom he was named. So Stanley's family got the treasure.

What is more, the friend turned out to be the gypsy's descendent, so when Stanley carried him up the hill, he broke the family curse. His dad made a breakthrough discovery. And Stanley became confident and learned to like himself.
The history of family and place is woven artfully into the present day story. We learn, although Stanley doesn't, why the deadly poisonous lizards don't bite Zero or him: they've been eating onions with an amazing preventative healing quality—originally grown by Kissin' Kate Barlow's dear friend, Sam, who could fix any trouble.
Discussion insights
Vivian: Stanley Yelnats and the story are both palindromes.
Tara: Your choices make a difference to your children.

Your descendents face the consequences of your choices.
Natasha: Zero is not equal to nothing, but rather it holds a place of value (mathematically and allegorically)
Holes is about a place carried forward through history and a family carried forward through history. It is allegorical to the Children of Israel whose story is also about a place and family carried forward through history. And the children are cursed for the sins of their fathers. In the end the Christ archetype (Stanley who carries his burden up a hill and gets a thorn in his palm) heals both his family and his friend's family.
There is a reference to the importance of cultural literacy when Zero can't relate to a common reference (the Old Woman who lived in a shoe) due to his lack of education.
Stanley is "every man" because he has no outstanding qualities and anyone can relate to him and his struggles.
Tara: Through his struggles, Stanley is transformed and gains confidence.
Dawna: The last night Stanley is up in the mountain, he's so happy for no apparent reason. He reviews his life and realizes that this is the first time he really likes himself.
He tunes out his troubles by picturing himself with his family. He keeps thinking about his family the whole time. There is a strong sense of family connectedness.
In the end, he was grateful for all the trials that brought him to the point he met his destiny—to carry his friend up the mountain.
Gwen: the whole story is to bring you to the point of his trial—to carry Zero up the mountain.
Velinda: The gypsy's lesson of carrying the pig up the hill to grow stronger every day, digging holes to grow a little stronger every day, and Sachar writing the book a page and a half every day all illustrate how we can manage little daily steps that, over time, amount to big things happening in our lives.
Strong families also carry us through our difficulties.
Reiterate Tara's comment that we can bless our families forward and backward in time by our actions today.
Gwen: Holes is an intriguing mystery. Good literature teaches life stories without being preachy. It teaches through adventures.
Dawna: Stanley trusted Zero to lead him in the right direction back to camp, even though Zero had far less education. Zero was intuitively good at math.
Vivian: The big journeys—the ones that really count—have to be done by the person facing the mountain. It can't be done for them.

Gwen: Likes that the "Thumb of God" was the inspiration that guided and directed Stanley's life.
Velinda: Stanley got only occasional glimpses of God's Thumb at the beginning and end of the day because he couldn't see through the haze during the day.
Gwen: In life, we are more reflective at the start and end of the day because we are busily occupied with our daily business throughout the rest of the day.
Sachar was inspired in writing this book. His other books don't have near the depth of this one.
Vivian: Olivia says his book is applicable.
Gwen: It is an allegory of Christ carrying His cross up the hill
Dawna: Big Thumb, God's Thumb, Thumb of God are all different titles for the symbolical God of this book, just as we have many different titles for God in life.