Marcia M. Kelly, The Lonliness of the Night Sentry, (Prologue)

Moschos Lagouvardos and Robert Lax were kindred spirits. Lax, an
> American writer and poet, and Lagouvardos, a Greek writer and poet met
> on the island of Kalymnos in 1968 where both lived at the time. They
> became close friends "... like father and son," and their exchanges
> and conversations during this time, and for years to come, influenced
> the direction of their spiritual lives and their writing.
>
> Lax speaks of the prayer in "The Way of a Pilgrim," saying, The
> repetition of the prayer " ... is to remind us constantly of what
> the whole goal of our journey is and to keep us going toward it ....
> to seek first the kingdom of heaven ... then all other things will
> come into line with our lives ..."* He says that when people see that
> your goal is the kingdom of heaven, whatever that means to each of us,
> it helps them understand who you are, and it helps them see that they
> can do that too. And this was the case with these two friends. They
> saw and understood they were both on the same path, striving for
> the same goal, and thus spoke the same spiritual language. The many
> years of their friendship allowed them to use the written word as a kind of prayer. A practice that helped and encouraged them both. Lagouvardos says that
> "My writing before meeting Roberto was aesthetic searching, and after
> Roberto writing became a way to make a new song to God, to understand
> that writing is prayer."
>
> The essays in "The Loneliness of the Night Sentry" reflect this
> lifelong journey. You can see the paths he has travelled in his search
> for understanding and completion, and the barriers he has met along
> the way. Lagouvardos writes in a personal and readable way about the
> deepest concerns and struggles of human existence, and uses his own
> life and views, and stories of his friends and townspeople, the
> stress of cities and modern life, to make his points. He cites Albert
> Camus on alienation, Herman Melville, Kostas Kariotakis and other
> major thinkers, using their views of society as examples and
> reinforcement for his outlook on life.
>
> But all isn't darkness and despair, as Portuguese song, Spanish
> Flamenco, compassion, wisdom and humor play a part in this book of
> essays. The doctor comes to visit. "What have I got, doctor?" he asks
> apprehensively. "Thoughts," he said. "You think too much." He also
> writes of reading, writing, dreams, gardens, nature, children, love,
> peace, and divine grace.
>
> There's something for everyone here. "Different people. Different
> principles. Variety is beauty," he says. "We don't all think the same
> way."

Marcia M. Kelly
New York
May/2010

Ετικέτες: Marcia Kelly, Robert Lax, Writing, Kalymnos, essays,prayer, alienation,