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<DIV>In a message dated 9/12/2007 9:56:15 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
JBarach@aol.com writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
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<DIV>The cherubim tells the three that he will bring them again to the sun,
but that it will not be for Gene's sake and certainly not for Mark's (and he
looks disdainfully at Mark, which again suggests to me that he may be
a fallen angel), and not even for Joe's (and he speaks to Joe "more
kindly," which again suggests to me that Joe isn't human or angelic
and may therefore be ... an animal?). It appears
to me that Joe and Mark get to enter the Garden and play, but Gene, seeing the
cherubim's other faces, flees. He is not (yet) allowed to enter
into the Garden. You have to become like a little child in order to
enter the kingdom, Jesus says.</DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>In this connection, I should also point out that the narrator, Gene, is
reminded of the three Magi following a star and coming to Christ, which (I
should think) is a pretty good hint about the meaning of their quest.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Note, too, that Joe's attempt to dive through the window (i.e., commit
suicide) is an attempt to reach Paradise, but that it's not the right way, and
so Mark rescues him. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It's interesting to me, too, to see how Wolfe has grouped the stories in
Innocents Aboard. Like "Slow Children at Play," "The Old Woman Whose
Rolling Pin Is the Sun" is also about the winter solstice, the darkest time of
the year.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And like "The Friendship Light, "Slow Children at Play" was, according
to Wolfe's Introduction, "based in part on an actual light -- a mysterious
light, in this case -- which I saw once and have never seen again." It
sounds from that statement that both of them were based in part on the same
light. At any rate, they have the light theme in common, except that in
"The Friendship Light" the light's flickering seems to attract demons and
results in evil, whereas the beacon in "Slow Children" draws men, angels, and
... whatever Joe is, in a way that is intended to be good (though not understood
as such by Gene).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>John</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%</DIV>
<DIV>John Barach (541) 531-2906</DIV>
<DIV>Pastor, Reformation Covenant Church (CREC)</DIV>
<DIV>706 Beekman Avenue</DIV>
<DIV>Medford, OR 97501</DIV>
<DIV><A title=http://barach.us/
href="http://barach.us/">http://barach.us</A></DIV>
<DIV><A title=http://rccso.com/
href="http://rccso.com/">http://rccso.com</A></DIV></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>