Literature can be a goldmine of applicable lessons.
Sometimes these lessons can be drawn from the narrative itself, where the
character’s actions and words provide a teaching point. An example of this kind
of lesson can be seen in the first post of this series that examined a
portion of Pride and Prejudice.
Other times, however, an author writing from a position of
complete knowledge about the characters and storyline (called an omniscient
perspective) will include an aside as commentary that often contains profound
nuggets of truth. One such authorial comment can be found in George Eliot’s Silas Marner, first published in 1861.
Let’s begin with a little context.
Silas Marner, the protagonist of the story, is a man who has
become obsessed with his gold and who would today be called a “loner,” though
he was not always one. But circumstances in his life and his own response to
them has caused him to reach the point where it can be said of him that “year after year, Silas Marner had lived in
this solitude, his guineas rising in the iron pot, and his life narrowing and
hardening itself more and more into a mere pulsation of desire and satisfaction
that had no relation to any other being” (68).
One day, to Marner’s horror, he finds that he has been
robbed of his precious coins, and he ventures out to the local tavern to make
the theft known to the community . . .
This strangely novel
situation of opening his trouble to his Raveloe neighbors, of sitting in the
warmth of a hearth not his own, and feeling the presence of faces and voices
which were his nearest promise of help, had doubtless its influence on Marner,
in spite of his passionate preoccupation with his loss. Our
consciousness rarely registers the beginning of a growth within us any more
than without us: there have been many circulations of the sap before we detect
the smallest sign of the bud (108, emphasis added).
Here we find Eliot’s moment of reflection as she displays a
truth about the nature of change. It’s easy to think of change as something
sudden, an abrupt shift in circumstances or attitude. But as this passage from Silas Marner explains, change is often
gradual and even imperceptible, particularly when it is internal.
This knowledge can serve as both an encouragement and a
warning, for internal change can be either for the better or for the worse. In
the case of Marner’s story, the change is a positive growth instigated by a
number of factors, one of which is his interaction with his fellow neighbors in
seeking their assistance. But negative characteristics can bud and blossom too,
and many times they do so in small, incremental steps or “circulations of the
sap” that we fail to notice if we are not vigilant.
Maybe you’ve woken up one day to realize that a friend that
you’ve been hanging out with has rubbed off on you in a negative way, changing
your attitude or outlook for the worse. Maybe you’ve overlooked slip-ups on the
“little things” time and time again to the point where you’ve fallen into a
strong trap of sinful thoughts or behavior.
Those of us who are followers of Christ should be reminded
that we must be alert and mindful that even small decisions can have a powerful
and cumulative effect on our growth in holiness and our relationship with God
and others. Thankfully, we don’t have to try to “manage” ourselves on our own
(although we do have responsibility in the matter). We have the Holy Spirit
within us who convicts us when we go astray and has the power to strengthen us
so that we can be alert and can
resist the little (and big) temptations that come our way.
Even those that do not know Christ for themselves have God’s
gracious gift of a conscience that provides internal signals concerning right
and wrong, and the same Holy Spirit brings conviction to them, as well, of “sin and righteousness and judgment” (see
John 16:8-11).
But there is the other side to the equation, too; not all
internal developments are negative. As we saw with Silas Marner, the result of
gradual change can be positive as well. Indeed, positive change often is gradual.
Believers especially can find encouragement in this truth, knowing that
sanctification (i.e. the process of becoming more like Christ) is a process.
When discouragement is knocking at our door and we feel as
if we are not growing in holiness at all, we can remember that God “who began a good work in [us] will bring it
to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, ESV), and we
can be confident that God is always at work “circulating the sap” to produce
the buds of holiness and the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
Citation: Eliot, George. Silas Marner (New York: Penguin, 1985).
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