Beginnings are always somewhat vague...

“So how did he come to be here, at the beck of the crow and the call of the stars? If he had been asked, the Visitor would have simply smiled, knowing that beginnings are always somewhat vague, and it is only at the end that clarity begins. Today, things would become clear.                      
 Pg 6  The Visitor”

This blog picks up the narrator speaking on behalf of the Visitor on page 6, answering a question posed to the reader, but answered by the narrators interpretation of how the Visitor may have answered.  This is the first "intermediate" deep-dive of the blog interpretations.  The deep dives prior to this one have been beginner level.  Here, the reader will get the first taste of what The Visitor really is about.  There are clue's sprinkled throughout, but it will take a complete literary paradigm shift to understand, that on the many levels of this story; it is the duality of the Visitor's nature, and the duality of the chapter subject matter which frames the essence of understanding. 

Most readers who might try to ascertain the meaning behind the three sentences on page 6 might well focus on the crow, or the stars.  While the images of the crow and the stars are symbolic; the real meaning is to be found in the words which slip by unnoticed.

To be sure there is a lot happening here in these three sentences.  It is hard enough to wrap your mind around the idea of the various forms of communication that are happening.  The narrator asking the reader a question; the narrator claiming to know the answer asked to the reader by imposing thoughts onto the Visitor, and in the Visitor's assumed answer without a word from the Visitor, but rather an answer of silence portrayed by a smile assuming knowledge.  All this finally wrapped up by an assertion of the narrator that "Today, things would become clear".  But clear to who?  The Visitor, the reader, the narrator?  

At this point, most readers will actually have lost track of the question, which is simply..."So how did he (the Visitor) come to be here?"   It is the notion of "here" that will become clear.  

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Remember that this novel takes place after the death of the Visitor.  So is here a geographical location?  No, that is explained in depth that the Visitor leaves the city with his Beloved and returns only the eve of his death.  We know geographically, more or less where he is.

So is the "here" being referenced something else? A state of mind, of peace, or awareness? Most readers will not even question this.  However from the perspective of the "author" the here being referenced is closer to a state of "awareness", but also one of acceptance (eve of death), but yet more to the point...a state of "Grace".

That is there "here" being referenced.  Remember, the Visitor already argues against the existence of "time" being anymore than a physical notion.  And time and space to the Visitor are relative.  What the Visitor talks about more is "the procession of life" from the body housing the seed of the Spirit - and about growth through Love.  The "here" is really referring to a "state of Grace".  

So the real question is..."How did he (the Visitor) arrive at a state of Grace (here)?.

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From page 2 in the chapter Corvus we already are aware that the Visitor’s state of Grace is not due to any unearthly personal attributes.  The Visitor could have been anyone. In fact, he would have argued he was everyone…more or less. He was not extraordinary, he was certainly no angel, and he was far from a saint.

As such, any such state of Grace the Visitor is in would seem to be attainable to anyone or possibly even everyone. Perhaps a hint to how he came to this state of Grace may be found in the chapter on Prayer.  In that poetic parable (the story within the story) we hear the Visitor’s recorded words as:

Words are not required to speak to the spirit.

If you forget how to pray, then be still.

Stay silent and listen - and your soul - you may hear it

Faith like Grace, is more than free will. 

This idea that Grace is more than free will takes us to the notion that you can’t simply “want it” or “make it happen”.  It is more than free will.  So, this state requires something outside of personal control (or free will).  If the reader can hold the entire context of the novel at once, then within the idea of “Grace, and awareness, and acceptance” you might refer to the poetic parable on Knowledge, where the Visitor shares:

That being said, understand what I say

Your prayers - they are still being heard.

So, let no man ever stand in your way

Of accepting or rejecting the word. 

Simply put…the idea that your prayers are being heard (even if your may wonder if that is the case) is contrasted with the idea of never letting any man stand in your way of accepting or rejecting.  So the idea of knowledge, attached to prayer, being heard is outside the realm and control of others… if you don’t allow others to interfere.   This is reinforced again in the central message when you take stanza six on the poetic parable on Prayer into consideration.

I wish I could teach you how to pray in words,

But God listens not to your muttering,

Except for the times He Himself can be heard

Through your lips at the time of His choosing. 

Here is the connection the “your prayers being heard”…but now the tricky part in describing “the state of Grace”.   Here the Visitor states that God listens not to your mutterings…except when He Himself (capitalized therefore referencing God) utters them through your lips at the time of His choosing. So it’s more than freewill.  There is intervention to attain this “state of Grace”.  You can’t simply choose it to happen.  Yet, your prayers are being heard…but not necessarily through your words or at the time of your choosing. Sound familiar?

Romans 8:26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

So all that said...we might now understand that what becomes "clear" is "how the Visitor arrived at this state of Grace"...but we still don't know how he actually arrives there.  Even with this interpretation, we only understand the question - not the answer.

To understand the answer requires the reader to digest the full Corvus Chronicles. Remember, The Visitor is only the beginning of the Corvus Chronicles - and as already stated clearly...'Beginnings are always somewhat vague".  So while the answer may not yet be revealed, at least now you understand the question.

Until next time...Journey in Love

Michael Paul

The Truth is Out There

I could never quite figure out if he was admiring the night skies, or if he was just deep in thought or prayer. I asked him once, and his answer was simply, "Is there a difference"?

Today's blog is looking at one simple sentence on page 5 of The Visitor.  In this sentence, the narrator is providing the reader a glimpse into the thoughts of the Visitor.  But it is more complex than that.  Ready for the next deep dive into interpretation?

First off, I know that currently there are less than 75 people following this blog on and off.  And I am more than pleased with that.  If there is one person who one night finds something within this blog, than that is success.  And I can guarantee you that there is at least one person, even if that one person is me, the author of The Visitor and The Corvus Chronicles.

As I have explained to my wife, I am constantly struggling to interpret what I have written.  Over the 18 months it took to draft the first 90 pages which makes up The Visitor (one of the eight books which together make up The Corvus Chronicles) I tried to come to grips with a story that is much bigger than myself.  The story folds in on itself and has very many layers.  The easy part is understanding there are two separate stories which run parallel to each other at the same time.  A Love Story, and a Story of Love.  

The book itself is set up to deal with a procession of Life.  From basic needs, to family, to society, to values, to Faith and beyond this fleshy existence.  But even within the various sections, poetic parables, paragraphs and individual sentences there are interactions which are occurring which the reader will not notice.  Some are cryptic (such as actual names), some are illustrated by a change in font, some by a misspelling, some by a change in language or pattern of expected rhyme.  All those are the more apparent stumbling blocks which are meant to trip the reader up, to slow the reader down and to take note.

However, just as many instances occur that run so smooth they will not be noticed.  This is the case with the simple sentence - I could never quite figure out if he was admiring the night skies, or if he was just deep in thought or prayer. I asked him once, and his answer was simply, "Is there a difference"?

In this exchange, there are two people who are both in active in their own experiences.  The exchange of the question tells us they are "together", but prior to the exchange (the question and answer), both are in their own space.  We can assume that if the narrator is thinking, and the Visitor is in thought or prayer that prior to the exchange their is silence.

In the void of silence we are witness to what we all experience daily.  Our thoughts, and how they can be consumed by thinking about someone else, while someone else is not necessarily thinking about us.  In this case, the narrator is wondering what the Visitor is thinking about, (or even if the Visitor is thinking).  The Visitor while answering the question does not provide a direct or maybe even expected answer.  We know that it was never fully answered, since the entire novel is written after the passing of the Visitor, yet the fact is that the narrator is still saying, "I could never quite figure out.." 

Two different experiences, yet a shared experience.  To different perspectives yielded in one exchange.  How can we be so close as to have an intimate exchange yet still at the exact same moment be so alone that our interpretations of the event are not the same, nor even necessarily understood?

Even when we think communication and a shared understanding has been achieved, we are witness to the way the narrator tells the story that it wasn't.  Even after the death of the Visitor, he had still not figured out whether the Visitor was just admiring the stars, in thought, or in prayer.  Yet most readers will not notice this exchange is not complete, no common understanding is arrived at, and we really only get insights into what the narrator is thinking.  The Visitor's response is "assumed" to mean something, but what that means can differ greatly between different people.

Is there a difference between admiring the skies or praying?  Does it depend on the person and the situation? Can both be done at the same time?  Is there a difference between being deep in thought and praying?  Is there always a difference?  Can you be deep in thought while admiring the skies?

What is the connection, even symbolically speaking between using the term "the heavens" to describe the starry skies and "heaven" as it is used in religious dialogue?  

Stars themselves are referenced numerous times in the Bible, for example: Ishaiah 40:26

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

This line makes it pretty obvious that you can do all three things at the same time.  "Lift your eyes and look at the heavens (so looking at the stars).  Who created all these? (thought). Recognizing the power and the might and the strenghth (prayer).

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world…
— PSALM 19:1-4”

To the Visitor, it may very well be that there is no difference.  Admiring the beauty of the heavens, to think about the world, the universe and beyond, and to be amazed and in awe can all be the same thing as prayer, thought and admiration occurring simultaneously.  To the Visitor, it may very well be hard not to entertain all these things at once in almost a gestalt manner.

Can you separate the thoughts?  Can you separate your actions?  From the context of the Visitor, the argument would probably be no.  Proof for this comes in the poetic parable on Religion where the Visitor is quoted as having said -

Who can be true in their words and their ways
And separate their Faith from their actions?
Who can divide the moments of their day:
“This be for God, and this for my passions?”

The Visitor would argue that you can't separate Faith from your actions, and does not limit what those actions are.  Therefor those actions would include both thought and prayer.  This is one of the defining differences between "hope" and "Faith".  Faith is all consuming and cannot be divided between the moments of the day.  It is constant. 

If the narrator actually understood the Visitor's answer, he would have been able to understand, that to the Visitor, there is no difference, and if he truly understood what that meant, he would not still be wondering (or even have asked the question in the first place).

This explains part of the reason the Visitor questions whether he can be an instrument of the message, and whether anyone would ever understand what he is saying.  His doubt in relaying a message that people cannot hear is shared many times within the 90 pages of The Visitor.

Even as the author I still struggle with the simple exchange, so the narrator as a character of the story can hardly be blamed for not being able to fully understand.  As such, it may be even harder for the reader to fully comprehend this exchange.  Words are simply inadequate.  

But Faith is that someone, somewhere, someday will understand.  As Mulder would have said while looking up at the skys, "The truth is out there...or...I want to Believe."

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There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars…”— LUKE 21:25

Until next time....Journey In Love

Michael Paul