Yann Martel Quote
Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deept trust, a free act of love- but sometimes it was so hard to love. Sometimes my heart was sinking so fast with anger, desolation and weariness, I was afraid it would sink to the very bottom of the Pacific and I would not be able to lift it back up.At such moments I tried to elevate myself. I would touch the turban I had made with the remnants of my shirt and I would say aloud, THIS IS GOD'S HAT!I would pat my pants and say aloud, THIS IS GOD'S ATTIRE!I would point to Richard Parker and say aloud, THIS IS GOD'S CAT!I would point to the lifeboat and say aloud, THIS IS GOD'S ARK!I would spread my hands wide and say aloud, THESE ARE GOD'S WIDE ACRES!I would point at the sky and say aloud, THIS IS GOD'S EAR!And in this way I would remind myself of creation and of my place in it.But God's hat was always unravelling. God's pants were falling apart. God's cat was a constant danger. God's ark was a jail. God's wide acres were slowly killing me. God's ear didn't seem to be listening.Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression. I thank God it always passed. A school of fish appeared around the net or a knot cried out to be reknotted. Or I thought of my family, of how they were spared this terrible agony. The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on loving.
Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deept trust, a free act of love- but sometimes it was so hard to love. Sometimes my heart was sinking so fast with anger, desolation and weariness, I was afraid it would sink to the very bottom of the Pacific and I would not be able to lift it back up.At such moments I tried to elevate myself. I would touch the turban I had made with the remnants of my shirt and I would say aloud, THIS IS GOD'S HAT!I would pat my pants and say aloud, THIS IS GOD'S ATTIRE!I would point to Richard Parker and say aloud, THIS IS GOD'S CAT!I would point to the lifeboat and say aloud, THIS IS GOD'S ARK!I would spread my hands wide and say aloud, THESE ARE GOD'S WIDE ACRES!I would point at the sky and say aloud, THIS IS GOD'S EAR!And in this way I would remind myself of creation and of my place in it.But God's hat was always unravelling. God's pants were falling apart. God's cat was a constant danger. God's ark was a jail. God's wide acres were slowly killing me. God's ear didn't seem to be listening.Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression. I thank God it always passed. A school of fish appeared around the net or a knot cried out to be reknotted. Or I thought of my family, of how they were spared this terrible agony. The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on loving.
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About Yann Martel
Martel is also the author of the novels The High Mountains of Portugal, Beatrice and Virgil, and Self, the collection of stories The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, and a collection of letters to Canada's Prime Minister 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. He has won a number of literary prizes, including the 2001 Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and the 2002 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.
Martel lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with writer Alice Kuipers and their four children. His first language is French, but he writes in English.