i just finished reading life of pi by yann martel. it is an incredible book. my sister has read the book as well, and i echo her words, "it was one of those books that i didn't want to end."
the story itself is fictional, but there is a certain quality to pi's seclusion that seems familiar to me. the things we experience within ourselves cannot be understood by any one else, making us out to be castaways in a sense.
the plot is about a boy, a tiger, and the pacific ocean, but the book itself has very little to do with any of those things. the boy's experience spoke of both a person's strength in survival, and at the same time the need for something beyond one's self to sustain. whether that sustaining outsider was the tiger or a hoard of flying fish, Allah, Jehovah, or Lord Krishna- pi would not have survived his journey.
lately the subject of God has been a difficult one for me. i think every one, believer or not, goes through periods in their lives where doubt can be really overwhelming. but reading this book has given me new strength. there has been something that has kept me alive, kept me going. i can remember specific (and rather recent) moments when God did not seem like a reality... and those moments also brought about a deep depression that i was unable to hide from. in all reality, i should not have survived those moments... but i did. and i'm beginning to see where God was in those moments. he knew i didn't want him... that i couldn't face him. so he stood behind me.
it is good to know that i do not have to sustain myself. it is good to know that God is as unavoidable as a 450 pound tiger in a life boat. it is good to know that while God is capable of overpowering me, that he sees good in me and chooses to let me live. it is good to know that he doesn't mind being unseen or doubted or weak. it is good to know that he is willing to stick around because he knows of my need for his companionship.
i am not saying that life of pi has brought me out of this season of doubt... maybe it has... but i only just finished the book, so i don't know... what i'm saying is that even when i feel doubt in my heart, i don't need to worry. yes, the reality of a God isn't exactly likely... the bible calls it faith for a reason. no one has ever been able to prove God to anyone but themselves. but i think that what this book has taught me is that God will appear in unlikely places, and doubt has no power over some one once he does.
anyway... you should read it for yourself. in all in fictionality, it is utterly believable.
