Friday, March 14, 2008
Companions on the Journey
I am sitting here today with an amazing book in my hands. It’s a modern “translation” of a work by the great 17th-century religious mystic Thomas Traherne, entitled Waking Up in Heaven. This posting is an invitation for folks to join me as I read this book, to read it along with me and leave comments, etc. The ISBN of the book is 0-9721602-1-3 and it can be purchased from Amazon by following this link .
I discovered Traherne in a rather unusual manner, via a horror novel. The novel, the first in a series chronicling the adventures of a female vicar-exorcist named Merrily Watkins, is by Phil Rickman, and is entitled The Wine of Angels. (The ISBN for this book is 0-330-34268-1, Amazon information at this link ) In the novel, Ms. Watkins and her daughter move into the vicarage of a little Herefordshire U.K. town called Ledwardine, and as Merrily is the local exorcist (her bosses prefer the term “deliverance” expert) as well as the vicar, strange and disturbing things begin happening literally in her backyard. She delves into the life of a 17th-century vicar of Ledwardine, Will Williams, who had been a good friend of Traherne. The town and the character of Williams are fictional, but Rickman does a splendid job intriguing his readers about Thomas Traherne.
And so, my invitation to come along on my little journey. Comments are welcome, and I would love to hear if others have already found Traherne, etc.
I discovered Traherne in a rather unusual manner, via a horror novel. The novel, the first in a series chronicling the adventures of a female vicar-exorcist named Merrily Watkins, is by Phil Rickman, and is entitled The Wine of Angels. (The ISBN for this book is 0-330-34268-1, Amazon information at this link ) In the novel, Ms. Watkins and her daughter move into the vicarage of a little Herefordshire U.K. town called Ledwardine, and as Merrily is the local exorcist (her bosses prefer the term “deliverance” expert) as well as the vicar, strange and disturbing things begin happening literally in her backyard. She delves into the life of a 17th-century vicar of Ledwardine, Will Williams, who had been a good friend of Traherne. The town and the character of Williams are fictional, but Rickman does a splendid job intriguing his readers about Thomas Traherne.
And so, my invitation to come along on my little journey. Comments are welcome, and I would love to hear if others have already found Traherne, etc.
