J.D. Salinger died yesterday of natural causes according to his son, who is the only connection we have had to the great reclusive American author for the last twenty years.
It was about ten years ago that I found myself wondering through the stacks at the Lexington Public Library looking for something to read. I ended up with ‘The Catcher in the Rye.’ Mesmerized by Salinger’s explosive writing, I went the following week to the High School Library (I was teaching there) and pulled down ‘Franny and Zooey.’ These two short stories literally changed my life.
Franny is a young college girl having an existential crisis and her brother, Zooey, is her Zen master leading her through the haze of philosophy and phonies. Zooey tells her that her goal of rectiting the Jesus Prayer should not be undertaken for the benefit of proving society wrong; but it is undertaken for the development of Christ-consciousness. That phrase hit me, literally, in the gut.
Ten years, two beards, thousands of pages of text, hours of meditation, books of writings, walls of paintings, the raising of four children, and many other events later, I am still in search of the path to developing a Christ-consciousness of my own.
Goodbye, Mr. Salinger. Thanks.
When I was a child, my favorite place on earth was the home of my Great Uncle and Great Aunt. When we were allowed to spend the night, which was quite often, I slept in the ‘yellow room,’ which was also known as ‘Jerry’s old room.’ The room, as I remember it, was painted yellow, with yellow curtains and a yellow bedspread. When I laid on the bed, I could look out the window and see the headlights of the occassional car as it zipped down Mallard Creek Road.