Sunday, July 23, 2006

Coming off the High (Mountain)

(EDIT: I realize there are certain people who are not MHers, or Not technically, or are no longer, who I mean also. You know who you are. This is for you too.)

So I'm back from the Feast. After twenty-six hours of bus/car riding, I am home. It feels good to be home, although I miss all the MHers I met in Colorado...

(Trail-off)

Please forgive me as I wax poetic. Perhaps I should go to bed, and allow my thoughts to clear, but oh well.

One of the most beautiful, yet bittersweet passages I have come across in literature comes (I think) from Le Morte D'Arthur, tho I've seen similar pieces elsewhere. It goes something like this: A knight and his squire are doing the Errant-thing, and they are lured by a beautiful singing voice. They soon find themselves crossing the threshold to a foreign land, a land more beautiful than any they've ever seen. They are led to a castle, whose lord tells them they are in the land of Faery. They are fed a meal more delicious than any they've eaten.

The King talks to them, telling them that they have to leave this land. He further tells them that after being here, all earthly lands will seem pale and even ugly. They will travel alone, unable to tell anybody what they have experienced, for it cannot be understood.

"Then," says the Faery King, "One day you will find another. You will know from the look in his eyes that he has been here, and he will know you, and it will be as the meeting of long-lost brothers."

There are a lot of things this could apply to, one of them being our lives as Christians. We have seen beyond the veil, however dimly, and life here on earth seems pale in comparison. But meeting other Christians, we share something unspoken and indescribable. And this was what it was like meeting MoutherHousers at HT. Like coming across a whole group of lost siblings. (Or something like that.) We share something special, and unspoken, and that's all I'm going to or can say about it.

Please forgive me if this is dripping with sap. I shall write something about the actual conference soon, but now I believe it's time to go to bed.

Rath de Ort (Peace of God),
Ethan

13 comments:

Aaron.D.Nemoyer said...

You always seem to have a low opinion of your posts. I think that is a very good comparision. A very good way to put it. It fits the HT conferences. It's such an amazing time, so fulfilling and substantial, that day to day life seems a bit boring. Yet you form deeper friendships with the people there, and when you talk to these people later, you can relate with them better and have something more that you share with them. It becomes even more so as you see them year after year at the conferences. I might reference your post later in a post I'm writing.

Aaron.D.Nemoyer said...

You always seem to have a low opinion of your posts. I think that is a very good comparision. A very good way to put it. It fits the HT conferences. It's such an amazing time, so fulfilling and substantial, that day to day life seems a bit boring. Yet you form deeper friendships with the people there, and when you talk to these people later, you can relate with them better and have something more that you share with them. It becomes even more so as you see them year after year at the conferences. I might reference your post later in a post I'm writing.

Aaron.D.Nemoyer said...

Hey look. It got posted twice somehow. I guess some computer along the line really liked my comment. :P

Aaron.D.Nemoyer said...

I think Heidi has it lucky. She's busy for the three weeks after The Feast.

Ethan said...

Thanks. Thing is, I wrote it at about midnight, and I never can tell if things I write then are coherent or not.

You put it very well. Feel free to reference my post, but you have to give me a percent of the profits. ;-)

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Ethan,

Don't worry about your posts "dripping with sap." Sap is good, just don't eat it. ;-)

I agree with your comparison. I'm always sad that such good friends have to live so far away from each other...Why can't there be one city filled with MouthHousers? Someday we'll live with each other in heaven, but until then...It's off to Higher Things conferences (In North Carolina). :-)

Rachel

Anonymous said...

Ethan,

Don't worry about your posts "dripping with sap." Sap is good, just don't eat it. ;-)

I agree with your comparison. I'm always sad that such good friends have to live so far away from each other...Why can't there be one city filled with MouthHousers? Someday we'll live with each other in heaven, but until then...It's off to Higher Things conferences (In North Carolina). :-)

Rachel

Anonymous said...

Whoa, my comment got posted twice too. Aaron, what's wrong with us?? :-P

Ethan said...

Thanks, Rachel. Certain people on Friday (perhaps instigated by me) were saying that, Luther's objections aside, we should all move into a monastery together.

It might have to be in the middle of nowhere, so our music/partying wouldn't wake the neighbors........

I think my comment page has a stutter.

Heidi said...

Yes, Ethan, you and I agreed that we should move into a monastery in the middle of nowhere. :D

I have to agree with the others. I really liked your comparison. That's how I felt.

It might be a couple weeks before I'm able to get around to writing on my blog...

Anan said...

A monastary in Sweden! Hehehe! (The Lutheran country...)

Ethan said...

Heidi: Glad you liked the post. :D Stone monastery, tho, none of this modern plastic and steel stuff.

If you want, I'll leave alot of pointless comments so your blog doesn't feel lonely. ;)

Anna: Interesting prospect. A bit cold, tho.