The Lady of Shallott...

Have you read "The Lady of Shallot" by Tennyson? It's a narrative poem that tells the story of a woman who is locked in a tower with a curse placed on her. She must not look out the window of her tower, so she spend her days weaving, and the tapestry she weaves is what she sees in a mirror that reflects the scene visible from her window. She notices that there are other people in her tapestry as she weaves, and she recognizes a pattern: all of the people are in twos, until finally, Sir Lancelot rides by on his horse, and he is by himself. She immediately falls in love with him and is overcome by her desire to see him with her own eyes, rather than the reflection in the mirror, so she turns and looks out the window. The mirror cracks, she knows she's brought the curse on herself, so she leaves her tower (somehow? details don't seem to matter...), grabs a nearby boat on the river, paints "The Lady of Shallot" across the bow, lays down in the boat, pushes off from the shore, and dies as she floats down the river.

Pretty tragic, huh? Why? It's just the story of a crazy lady in a tower that spent a little too much time weaving, right? Maybe...

The story continues in the final stanzas. Everybody who sees the boat wonders who she is, and shrinks back in fear of her because she's a mystery woman nobody has seen or heard of coming down the river - dead - in a stolen boat. But Lancelot - the guy who she fell for - sees her and says, "She has a lovely face," and he prays that she'll find God's mercy in her death.

Switch gears with me. I've been reading John Eldredge's book, "Wild at Heart." It's actually a book about men and masculinity, so I'm not exactly the intended audience, but I think that neither masculinity nor femininity can be understood without at least a basic understanding of the other, so it's been an interesting read. But I have to admit, as I've been reading about men, sin, life, relationships, etc, I've been looking for where I come in to the story... You see, the book has been about men and there stories, but I really, truly believe that men and women were designed for each other (along with generally being designed for community); there's something about how God made us that illustrates that men need women and women need men in a special way.

So as I've been reading this book, I've been looking for what he has to say about MY role, as a woman, in the life of men. And I came across Chapter 10.

I won't repeat the chapter - you'll have to just read it yourself... I'm almost done, you can borrow my copy if you want - but I will mention that, at least from my perspective in my current position in life and what God has been revealing to me about myself, it is spot on. Eerily so. And even though Eldredge doesn't mention "The Lady of Shallott," I think it ties right in there with what he's saying... and reinforces why Tennyson's poem is SO tragic. It's the classic case of missed opportunities, unwise expectations, near misses, and realizations just a little too late... And as Eldredge points out, those might very well be indicators of the fact that we have an enemy, and he's out to destroy any semblance of peace, love, or joy that God has written into the script of humanity's history.

My response? It may seem a bit overly dramatic considering it's just an idea presented in a book and my overly-analytical connection to a famous literary piece, but I pray. I pray for God to help me understand masculinity and femininity and how He has designed us. I pray for God's protection on my marriage, if I ever get married. I pray for God's grace, strength, and wisdom to be with my husband, if I have one, both now and in the future. And I pray that we all - married, unmarried, men, women - would realize the subtle and not so subtle tactics of our enemy and stand firm in fighting him.



PS: I'm crazy about two songs from the Twilight soundtrack right now: www.myspace.com/twilightmoviemusic and check out "Esme's Song," and "La Tua Cantante." I don't think you'll regret it...