August Book Report: Pride and Prejudice

I’m a bit loathe to see the end of August.   For starters, the weather was simply glorious and such mild days in August seem like a treat to savor.  The close of August also marks the start of the school year and with full-time school days, the time I am able to devote to reading will be much reduced.  In the Summer, I can read a book every week or so.  Once school starts, I won’t be able to find such time.   For someone who loves books as much as I do, that’s a transition I don’t enjoy.

I read some good books this past month, including a re-read of Pride and Prejudice.  I’ve read the book dozens of times and always enjoy it.  

From the sparkling dialogue to the time spent with the thoughts of the very clever Elizabeth Bennet, this book never disappoints.  I fear that I love it so much because of the irksome characters.  Lizzy’s sister Lydia and her insipid mother, Mrs Bennet, could be enough entertainment for any reader longing to feel superior.  But then Mr. Collins and Catherine de Burgh turn up with their smug self-importance and the reader is treated to some of the most caustic commentary a narrator could offer.

It’s lovely.

There is much else in the novel to warrant its status as a classic but I’ll save the serious commentary for the English majors.  I love Pride and Prejudice for its commentary on the world of 1800 England, its clever dialogue, and its tidy happy ending.  It’s a re-read that always delivers.  

New and Improved Sin

Greed. Lust. Envy. Gluttony. Sloth. Anger. Pride.

The Seven Deadly sins. Serious business, these sins. According to the Catholic Church, commission of these sins will land your soul in mortal peril. That's hell, y'all, and I hear word that it's a rough neighborhood.

I note this because the Catholic Church is thinking of updating the Seven Deadly Sins. I heard a story about this on BBC World News and I must admit that it got me thinking. For one thing, the standard of the Seven Deadly Sins is pretty damned high. I think of myself as a fairly decent – dare I say, moral – person and I'm pretty sure that I commit one of these deadly sins on a weekly basis. Get your mind out of the gutter.........I'm speaking of anger, pride, and envy. I'd guess that most of us go down one of the seven deadly paths pretty regularly. So it strikes me that the update isn't necessarily a function of success as in, "Good news, folks. We've conquered the Seven Deadly Sins and it's time to up the ante." In other words, no one is making the argument that, having overcome the Seven Deadly Sins, we now require a new standard for good behavior. Thus the all-new, updated, Seven Deadly Sins.

But modern life demands progress and so......The new Seven Deadly sins are distinctly modern. In no particular order, they are:
- pollution
- obscene wealth
- drug abuse
- genetic modification
- experimentation on humans
- causing poverty
- causing social injustice

What is most striking about the updated Seven Deadly Sins is that they are thoroughly modern; sins not available in the 7th century world of the Seven Deadly v. 1. And whereas the original Seven Deadly Sins were largely about individual behavior, the updated sins are about community or group behavior. Because, unless I miss my mark, it's nearly impossible to cause poverty on your very own. Chances are good that no single one of us can be blamed for pollution, though we all likely contribute.

All day long as I thought about sin (and I wasn't alone.......what's the deal with Elliot Spitzer?), I wondered if the original 7 deadlies wouldn't be able to accommodate the new and improved sins. Isn't the sin of obscene wealth a function of greed, gluttony, and pride? At the same time, where does the good old-fashioned sin of lust fit in with the new list? Is lust no longer sinful?

Though I understand the impulse to update, I think that I'm just not persuaded that we need an all-new Seven Deadly sins. In fact, I think that the notion of sin may very well be the problem. So in my home we just use the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated. It's timeless, covers the individual and the community, and I think that it does the trick quite nicely.

Simple

There is an old Shaker hymn that sings "'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free. 'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be." I learned the hymn when I sang in my elementary school choir and I've never forgotten that line. It has often provided comfort to me in rough moments of life, reminding me what's truly important. When the Sunday Scribblings prompt this week was "simple" I thought about that hymn and the simple things that I most enjoy. And so I've made a list of my very favorite simple pleasures:

- the sound of my boy laughing
- sitting on my back deck drinking a warm cup of coffee on a cool morning
- the sound of the rain when it just starts to fall
- the smile on my boy's face when he does something well
- an ice cold glass of Coke
- the smell and feel of the dark woods
- my kittens curled up and peaceful at the foot of my bed
- holding hands with someone you love
- the sight of my son, freshly washed, in clean pajamas and asleep in his bed
- a new, soft cardigan sweater
- the dark, deep, green depth of the twilight in the spring