Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Have you read this book???? Have you?? You really must if you haven't! Life of Pi by Yann Martel is amazing! I've shared this book with a number of people - all have loved it (well, all but one). My husband's sister (another book junkie) gave us this book. Well, technically she gave it to my husband as a gift, not know that he would probably never read it as it has nothing to do with current events or isn't a newspaper! But it kept calling to me, and the call worked. I began to read it a couple of days after we got it and couldn't put it down. Almost everything else stopped until I was done. Fortunatly I was done in just a couple of days. Please, go read this book, especially before you read further in this post!! WARNING: Spoilers ahead!! And you don't want to spoil this book, believe me!

Okay, warnings are out there. Now on with it.

Life of Pi is the story of a young boy (about 16) from Pondicherry, India. His family owns a zoo there, which he loves. Due to difficult times, his father decides to move the zoo and the family to Canada. While at sea - people and animals and their home on a large freighter - the ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone on a life raft, in the middle of the Pacific ocean, with a Bengal tiger. Yeah, really. Or really??

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is devoted to Pi's life in India. Not a typical life for any teen given he lives at a zoo and his full name is the French word for pool - piscene. (Well, maybe somewhat normal. Exasperating older brother, all the nuances of family life, the hassles of trying to fit in with school mates, you know.) The zoo is somewhat of a refuge for Pi, but he finds greater refuge in religious exploration. Pretty amazing for an early-teen to go investigating the three major religions found in his area - Hindu, Christianity and Islam. I don't know of many people that age who are thus inclined - I know I wasn't! But investigate he does - and he finds something truly wonderful within each religion - something that he really connects with. And then he blends these prime essences together into his daily spiritual practice. Now, be aware, the three men with whom he studies from each of these groups are totally unaware of Pi's interest in the other two religions! This sets Pi and the three spiritual leaders up for a VERY interesting encounter at the zoo one day. An encounter that is perhaps, sadly, reflective of reality of ingrained, traditional religious opinion - that every aspect of what they do is right and nothing that the others do has merit. Oh, well!

Part 1 ends with Pi and his family on their way Canada - zoo and home packed up. Soon into part two, in the early morning hours the ship is foundering. Pi is able to make it to a life boat along with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and that Bengal tiger. Eventually it is only Pi and the tiger. With the help of what he has learned from the zookeepers at his father's zoo, Pi is able to come up with solutions that protect himself from the tiger. It is a long, arduous drift across the sea from there. You feel Pi's struggles, his ups and downs, rejoice with his little victories.

I found myself frustrated through some of this section of the book though, mostly because, after all that set up in part one where Pi is learning about God and how to relate to him, Pi never prays (accept for a couple of calls out to Allah or Vishnu). Religion seems cast aside. What was all that point from the first part? To me, the answer to this question is revealed in the third part of this book. Pi has come to shore somewhere in Mexico. He is found by natives and eventually makes it a hospital. When he is recovered enough to tell his story, agents from the shipping company come to visit him in an effort to learn about what happened to their freighter. Pi tells them his story - tiger and all. And, not surprisingly, they don't believe him in the least. After many questions and prying to get more out of him, Pi fianally tells them a different story. He wasn't the only human survivor from the shipwreck. Three others join him in that lifeboat - his mother, the ship's cook and another who I can't remember (and the book's still on loan!). The cook was ruthless and soon kills the other two and would kill Pi. But Pi is able to outwit him enough to stay alive. The cook eventually is killed by Pi, and Pi is alone, drifting towards Central America in a life boat.

So how does this second story answer my question about Pi's religious convictions? Here's what I am thinking - essentially both stories are true (and this is the question those with whom I've shared the book have asked - which story is the real story?). Perhaps, on the surface the latter/part 3 story is the real one, but in a spiritual context, the second one is equally true. Pi was able to see each individual in that boat as an animal quality in a sense. This view of the situation helped to protect him from what could be an extremely psychologically traumatic and potentially damaging experience. In essence, he saw the tiger as the killer of the hyena, not hiimself as the killer of the cook. So his religious learning helped him discern the difference in the real nature of the individuals around him, separate from the animal natures that wanted to surface in response to the dire situation.

It also dawned on me recently that perhaps this seeming lack of God is kind of like the book of Esther in the Bible. I don't know if you are familiar with this book, but in it, God is not mentioned at all - not once, nada, zilch. His name is never said, evoked, referred to, nothing. But, really, that doesn't mean he was left out of the book. (I wrote a paper on this in college - Old Testament course - so, bare with me!) God really was present in the good and moral acts that Esther and others do in this book. Their love and trust of God enabled her to take the steps she needed to do to save her people. And that, I think, is the case for our friend Pi adrift on the ocean. God is there with him (well, I believe that God is there with everyone all the time anyway, but that aside...) protecting him, giving him the wisdom he needed to survive, sustaining him. His view and love of God sustain him on that ocean. What he learned through his prayers, etc. in part one lifts his thought above the awful picture before him. This saved him. A good lesson for us all - whether we are adrift on the ocean or just feel like we are!

So, I would love to hear what you thought about this book! Please let me know! Perhaps you have further insights on it or another perspective. Would love to hear it.

Dearest Daddy

This weekend I faced a first in my life - suicide. My brother's father-in-law committed suicide Saturday morning. I have never been so close to this type of situation. It was - is - truly devastating to his whole family, immediate and extended.

I didn't have the privilege of knowing him, Andy, very long. My brother and sister-in-law have only been married 5 1/2 years and I was living in another state for most of that time. So our contact was minimal - a few holidays here and there. Never really got any sort of 'tradition' established for the extended family. But knowing Andy was a privilege. And I know that he was - is - a great guy. He loves his family intensely. They are all so important to him. And, essentially, this is why he did what he did. Though I am also sure it is not the answer his dear wife, wonderful daughters and sons-in-law and sweet grandchildren would have picked to respond to the difficulties they seemed to be facing.

I think that this past Saturday will be one of those days that I'll always remember, even as sort of remote as the impact really is for me. My brother called late morning asking if I could come watch their kids. I could hear some quality in his voice so knew something wasn't right (and he's a police officer, so it kind of takes a lot any more to shake him up). He blurted out the basics of what happened and so my husband and I scooted out the door and drove to their home as fast as we could. It ended up being a long day with the kids - almost 3 and almost 2 respectively, - midnight before we got home. I am so grateful I could be of some help to my brother and sister-in-law in the immediate aftermath. And it was a good way to spend the day - plenty of opportunity to pray for all concerned - Andy, his family, all individuals who feel they are in such a desparate situation that they contemplate this act - while we did puzzles, played games and read books. That helped me immensely and I feel confident that it is helping everyone in some way, too.

I still have much more praying I need to do about all of this, I am sure. One thing I've noticed over the years, though, every time your life is touched by death in some way - the passing of a loved one or whatever - the issues are unique. It is not always, at least for me, about praying about what life really is or means. There are other new ideas that need to be learned and understood. So I know there are more lessons here.

Okay, so, this blog post is supposed to be related to Bible study. How is that fitting in here? Well, Sunday was kind of a long day as well - mostly filled with waiting. Waiting to see if or how we could help further. By the end of the day, I was pretty tired, so I climbed into bed with my weekly Bible study guide. (I use the Christian Science Weekly Bible Lessons as one of my Bible study tools.) The lesson topic for this week is "Are Sin, Disease and Death Real?" Wow, how appropriate! I was very grateful for this - knowing that I'd find some answers to help me think through the previous day's events.

After I read it, I put the booklet aside and laid down. I was suddenly and totally overwhelmed with tears. I just felt this agony for Andy's four precious grandchildren - the youngest about 9 months and the oldest almost 3. I knew that, in one way, they are so protected by the ages they are at right now. They aren't experiencing the drama of the situation. They'll get to be untouched by the immediate impact of it all. But I still ached for them in that they wouldn't have this wonderful grandfather to grow up with (and my brother's two will not have any grandfather as our father passed on 12 years ago). That is, or at least can be, such a special relationship! And, having seen Andy with these children, you couldn't miss how much he cherished each of them. Oh, how overwhelmingly sad it felt to think of these dear ones not having that love and lavish attention from their grandpa!

As I lay there crying and calling out to God from some help, the words "Abba, Father" came into my thought. [These words are used a three times in the New Testament. Their use in Paul's Epistle to the Romans 8:15 was part of this week's Bible lesson, that I had just finished reading.] Abba is a term that essentially means Daddy. In this part tof Paul's letter, he is talking about our sonship with God, and our right and privilege, by adoption into His family, to call Him Daddy. The tenderness of that word, the closeness it evokes, is really wonderful and warming. As I thought about these words in relation to Andy's grandchildren, I realized that all the love and tenderness Andy expressed to them had its source in God in the first place, and those kids are never going to lose the love God envelopes them with! They'll still be loved, cherished, cared for, lavished with attention - just what our dear Daddy does for all of us - it will all just be coming from other people in their lives (grandmothers, aunts and uncles, etc.). They can't miss out on good - no one really can.

These ideas brought me such comfort. The tears soon stopped and I just felt so grateful for God's care and all of his wonderful ideas. Since then, I have not felt an inkling of that distress and continue to love and cherish those children and that whole sweet family in my thought (as if I wasn't any way, just seems like this needs to be turned up a few notches right now!). They can all continue to feel the love their human father and their divine Father expresses toward them. (I know I'll be listening for ways to help them feel it!) And they all will certainly keep the memory of Andy alive for each other over the years. Thank you dearest Daddy, Father!

• Here's a thought from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy that reflects this thought: Page 332:4-5
  
  "Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation."