Still Here

[rowyn]

Talk to me,
Won't you tell me your story?
--Marillion

I'm marking time to the end of the day now, a little less than two hours to go, once I get back from lunch. Then it's off to the airport. Whee!

I should be writing something else--a story, you know, does it matter which one?--but really I just want to hear someone talk to me. I want to write something quick and interesting enough that it'll prompt a response from someone. That's a bit pitiful, isn't it? Mmm. Now, what can I use as bait for comments?

I'm reading The Oath by Frank Peretti, and there was an exchange in it that I felt as though I were missing the cultural context on. A dispirited pastor, Ron, is talking to one of his more devout parishoners, Levi.

Ron: "Obey God--fine. So where is He?"
Levi couln't believe what he was hearing. "Ron, you haven't figured that out yet?"
Ron's abundant patience was running low. "Levi, not now."
"All right. But you asked."

Levi repeated that line, "you haven't figured that out yet?" later in the same scene. I felt like I was missing something; that this line was supposed to mean something to me, specifically, but I don't know what.

Maybe one of you can explain it to me?

Comments

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

What is the single most important thing for the average human?

Sex?
Food?
Water?
Shelter?
pets?
what kind of mustard to put on the hotdog?
What's on TV?
Who will win on Survivor?

Discuss :)

[rowyn]

Yay! A comment!

Um.

I vote for food. Food with sufficiently high fluid content can stand in for water, and it's more interesting.

[prester-scott.livejournal.com]

On first reading and without further context: I'd say Levi expects Ron, who is supposed to be his spiritual father and teacher, to have a firmer handle on God than he does...which seems fair.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

There's also a general Christian shibboleth that God is everywhere, in everything.

[prester-scott.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but he's talking about obeying God. He is not "looking for God" in that sense. "Where is God?" means "How do I know what He wants me to do?" And you would expect a pastor to have a better answer to that than a layman.

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

It's been a long time since I've read The Oath myself, so I'm not really sure if this is enough of the text to give me the context I need to hop back into things ... but, yes, that's what I'm generally assuming here. "What? You mean, that's an issue for you?" (Boggle!) I do not assume from this context that he's trying to say, "What? You mean, you haven't figured out what even children and their dogs already know?" ;)

[rowyn]

OK, I didn't think Levi meant to be patronizing, exactly. :) I think I was expecting something on the lines of what Tufty said -- some kind of call-and-response pattern that I wasn't familiar with. But, apparently not. :)

[rowyn]

I guess this must be it. Reading the rest of the book didn't provide me with any other interpretation of it. :)