The Real Man Of La Mancha
Stories
Contents
“The Real Man Of La Mancha” by Frank Ramirez
“Non Sequitur” by C. David McKirachan
The Real Man Of La Mancha
by Frank Ramirez
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
…but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger… (2 Corinthians 6:4-5)
The image is everywhere. Whether or not you’ve read the book, if you’ve seen art depicting a tall, thin, old man with an ill-fitting helmet on a horse, holding a lance, his ragged beard hanging straight down, accompanied by a short fat man on a donkey, you don’t need a windmill to know you’re looking at the mad knight Don Quixote and his faithful servant Sancho Panza.
The book “Don Quixote” is an enormous volume, telling the story of a country squire who has read too many novels of gallant knights and fair ladies and foul monsters and evil villains and who finally in his old age imagines himself one of those knights. He sets off with his faithful companion to seek adventure and he finds them, most famously when he tilts with a windmill.
Many consider its author, Miguel Cervantes (1547-1616), to be the inventor of the modern novel. “Don Quixote” is acclaimed as one of the greatest books of all time and Cervantes is acknowledged not only as the greatest author in the Spanish language, but one of the greatest in any language. Hundreds of years after its author’s death, the book is still read and cherished to this day.
Just who was this man who wrote such a memorable work? Was his a quiet life dedicated to refining his craft of writing? Hardly. Even a quick examination of his life will reveal more adventures, more danger, more roller coaster ups and downs, than many lives contain.
Miguel Cervantes was born in Spain and though little is known of his childhood, it is believed he fell passionately in love with a girl whose father disapproved of him, forbidding her from seeing Cervantes again. He later fled Spain for Rome because he wounded another man in a duel. While in Rome he studied the arts, and eventually joined the Spanish Navy. During the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571, at which the Navy of the Ottoman Empire was defeated, Cervantes refused to stay below decks despite an intense fever and insisted on fighting. He received three bullet wounds, leaving his left arm useless for the rest of his life. Despite this he continued to fight valiantly in a series of battles over the next few years.
Later he was captured by Barbary Pirates, and was a slave for five years from 1575-1580, failing at four escape attempts, before he was ransomed by his parents with help from certain church officials.
After his release he worked in banking and tax collecting, published his first novel, and at one point served time in jail when the accounts did not add up.
Finally he achieved lasting fame with the publication of the first half of “Don Quixote.” The second half was published shortly before his death eleven years later. In the interim he wrote sixteen plays, and many other comedic works.
Even in death -- he died of type-2 diabetes -- there were adventures. His grave was lost for many years after the convent in which he was buried underwent a renovation in 1673. In January of 2015 a board with the initials M.C. was discovered beneath the convent, and that led to the discovery of 33 possible graves. His remains were finally identified because of that damage to his arm during the sea battle, and the remains of a bullet wound to the chest. He was given a final burial in June of that same year.
A recitation of the many adventures endured by Cervantes is reminiscent of Paul’s record of innumerable difficulties during his ministry as well.
* * *
Non Sequitur
by C. David McKirachan
Job 38:1-11
I don’t know about you, but over the years the one question I’ve gotten the most has been ‘Why me?’ Rarely in my experience of looking for answers from the Bible have I hit a simple answer. Here it is folks.
Why me?
Well dummy, where were you when I made the universe? Suck it up and deal with it.
Yup. Simple as dirt. But I don’t like that answer. I asked why me and I get an answer that doesn’t really address my issue. I wanted to know, exactly, what I did that left me with the short end of the stick. What did I do to deserve this hole that I’m sitting in? Why is my biopsy positive? Why is my kid an addict? Why is my wife fooling around with her boss? Why won’t my insurance cover my medicine? Oh, that’s after insurance. Then, why is the pharmaceutical company ripping me off?
Suck it up and deal with it.
I’ve wanted to use this any number of times in my pastoral experience. I really have. It is biblical. And sadly it is true.
We have little or no concept of the universe that we can see. But what is beyond our sight? What dimensions of reality are totally beyond our ken? What causalities exist in the mind of God? This is an ancient rendition of the modern question, leading to other modern questions that leave us in the parched and barren world of cynicism and despair. As Satre said, “Ce ne rein.” Our questions are futile, our cries and tears are childish.
But in spite of my periodic moments of darkness, I’m stuck with this Good News stuff. It demands that I reach beyond such dead ends.
The meaning of the original question, “Why me?” lies beneath it. We don’t want to understand. We want to express our pain. Our tears may not matter on a cosmic scale, but they do matter to us. Our pain may be of small significance to the universe, but it still hurts.
The Joe Friday approach to truth, “Just the facts ma’am” may be real, but it is totally unsatisfactory to us when we come up against the sharp edges of reality that leave us bleeding. At such moments we want more than cold hard reality. We don’t care if it’s real. It hurts.
In the midst of pain we need an answer that is not simple. It doesn’t follow. It’s a non sequitur.
I like science and history and facts. I really do. But it becomes increasingly clear to me that they aren’t enough. Truth is bigger than any or all of them. We do need to be grown ups and deal with the truth. To ignore reality is to live in a world of denial and delusion. Besides, though there are all kinds of things that don’t go my way, life in all its silly and sometimes bitter moments is full of glory.
But in the midst of living I want my tears to matter, to someone. Otherwise I am left alone to face the darkness and the cold hard edges of living and dying. Some would say such a wish is sentimental and weak. Perhaps. Perhaps such attitudes have kept us from jumping more readily into the universe. Perhaps.
But I know this. I know that of all the glories of my life the ones that have offered hope in the midst of despair, healing in the midst of pain, and glory in the midst of banality, all of them have risen from my assurance that I am loved.
I know that my redeemer liveth.
And that’s a fact.
*****************************************
StoryShare, June 24, 2018, issue.
Copyright 2018 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
“The Real Man Of La Mancha” by Frank Ramirez
“Non Sequitur” by C. David McKirachan
The Real Man Of La Mancha
by Frank Ramirez
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
…but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger… (2 Corinthians 6:4-5)
The image is everywhere. Whether or not you’ve read the book, if you’ve seen art depicting a tall, thin, old man with an ill-fitting helmet on a horse, holding a lance, his ragged beard hanging straight down, accompanied by a short fat man on a donkey, you don’t need a windmill to know you’re looking at the mad knight Don Quixote and his faithful servant Sancho Panza.
The book “Don Quixote” is an enormous volume, telling the story of a country squire who has read too many novels of gallant knights and fair ladies and foul monsters and evil villains and who finally in his old age imagines himself one of those knights. He sets off with his faithful companion to seek adventure and he finds them, most famously when he tilts with a windmill.
Many consider its author, Miguel Cervantes (1547-1616), to be the inventor of the modern novel. “Don Quixote” is acclaimed as one of the greatest books of all time and Cervantes is acknowledged not only as the greatest author in the Spanish language, but one of the greatest in any language. Hundreds of years after its author’s death, the book is still read and cherished to this day.
Just who was this man who wrote such a memorable work? Was his a quiet life dedicated to refining his craft of writing? Hardly. Even a quick examination of his life will reveal more adventures, more danger, more roller coaster ups and downs, than many lives contain.
Miguel Cervantes was born in Spain and though little is known of his childhood, it is believed he fell passionately in love with a girl whose father disapproved of him, forbidding her from seeing Cervantes again. He later fled Spain for Rome because he wounded another man in a duel. While in Rome he studied the arts, and eventually joined the Spanish Navy. During the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571, at which the Navy of the Ottoman Empire was defeated, Cervantes refused to stay below decks despite an intense fever and insisted on fighting. He received three bullet wounds, leaving his left arm useless for the rest of his life. Despite this he continued to fight valiantly in a series of battles over the next few years.
Later he was captured by Barbary Pirates, and was a slave for five years from 1575-1580, failing at four escape attempts, before he was ransomed by his parents with help from certain church officials.
After his release he worked in banking and tax collecting, published his first novel, and at one point served time in jail when the accounts did not add up.
Finally he achieved lasting fame with the publication of the first half of “Don Quixote.” The second half was published shortly before his death eleven years later. In the interim he wrote sixteen plays, and many other comedic works.
Even in death -- he died of type-2 diabetes -- there were adventures. His grave was lost for many years after the convent in which he was buried underwent a renovation in 1673. In January of 2015 a board with the initials M.C. was discovered beneath the convent, and that led to the discovery of 33 possible graves. His remains were finally identified because of that damage to his arm during the sea battle, and the remains of a bullet wound to the chest. He was given a final burial in June of that same year.
A recitation of the many adventures endured by Cervantes is reminiscent of Paul’s record of innumerable difficulties during his ministry as well.
* * *
Non Sequitur
by C. David McKirachan
Job 38:1-11
I don’t know about you, but over the years the one question I’ve gotten the most has been ‘Why me?’ Rarely in my experience of looking for answers from the Bible have I hit a simple answer. Here it is folks.
Why me?
Well dummy, where were you when I made the universe? Suck it up and deal with it.
Yup. Simple as dirt. But I don’t like that answer. I asked why me and I get an answer that doesn’t really address my issue. I wanted to know, exactly, what I did that left me with the short end of the stick. What did I do to deserve this hole that I’m sitting in? Why is my biopsy positive? Why is my kid an addict? Why is my wife fooling around with her boss? Why won’t my insurance cover my medicine? Oh, that’s after insurance. Then, why is the pharmaceutical company ripping me off?
Suck it up and deal with it.
I’ve wanted to use this any number of times in my pastoral experience. I really have. It is biblical. And sadly it is true.
We have little or no concept of the universe that we can see. But what is beyond our sight? What dimensions of reality are totally beyond our ken? What causalities exist in the mind of God? This is an ancient rendition of the modern question, leading to other modern questions that leave us in the parched and barren world of cynicism and despair. As Satre said, “Ce ne rein.” Our questions are futile, our cries and tears are childish.
But in spite of my periodic moments of darkness, I’m stuck with this Good News stuff. It demands that I reach beyond such dead ends.
The meaning of the original question, “Why me?” lies beneath it. We don’t want to understand. We want to express our pain. Our tears may not matter on a cosmic scale, but they do matter to us. Our pain may be of small significance to the universe, but it still hurts.
The Joe Friday approach to truth, “Just the facts ma’am” may be real, but it is totally unsatisfactory to us when we come up against the sharp edges of reality that leave us bleeding. At such moments we want more than cold hard reality. We don’t care if it’s real. It hurts.
In the midst of pain we need an answer that is not simple. It doesn’t follow. It’s a non sequitur.
I like science and history and facts. I really do. But it becomes increasingly clear to me that they aren’t enough. Truth is bigger than any or all of them. We do need to be grown ups and deal with the truth. To ignore reality is to live in a world of denial and delusion. Besides, though there are all kinds of things that don’t go my way, life in all its silly and sometimes bitter moments is full of glory.
But in the midst of living I want my tears to matter, to someone. Otherwise I am left alone to face the darkness and the cold hard edges of living and dying. Some would say such a wish is sentimental and weak. Perhaps. Perhaps such attitudes have kept us from jumping more readily into the universe. Perhaps.
But I know this. I know that of all the glories of my life the ones that have offered hope in the midst of despair, healing in the midst of pain, and glory in the midst of banality, all of them have risen from my assurance that I am loved.
I know that my redeemer liveth.
And that’s a fact.
*****************************************
StoryShare, June 24, 2018, issue.
Copyright 2018 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
