One Good Feast… in a Starved Life

Reading Twain, Wrestling with Truth, and Living Faithfully in a Loud World

Packing Up the Library

For some reason, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain, attracted my attention as I was packing up books from my remaining library. (I sent off 12 boxes to help a friend start a theological library in Tampa, FL., after leaving a third of my library at one church where I worked and another third at one before that.) It is an amazing fantasy story of a man who gets knocked out in a fight in Connecticut in the 19th century only to awaken in the 6th century with the living, breathing King Arthur in the region of Camelot, England.

Just an old story.... or maybe more....

The Boss and the Broken System

The storyteller comes to be called “the Boss” by those around him and he reflects on the similarities and differences between his century and this early one. The people live in classes—the powerful and rich, and the peasant and slave. He presents insidious incarcerations, punishments and cruelties pounded onto the lower class because the system is built against them. He speaks of how the rich have no concept of the experience of life lived by those they inherently impoverish by their lifestyles and thoughtlessness.

Barbarism and the Church

The depictions are barbaric, heartbreaking, and, unfortunately, they also include indictments of the church and those who lead it. The church brings a crushing experience rather than one that provides life. The distance between those with power and those without is seen in how they don’t share the same experience of life. He suggests that if the rich could live among the poor or even get legitimate jobs for a while, they would have more compassion and help in greater ways.

Liars, Tariffs, and the Need for Education

He exposes how the lower classes are misled by wandering voices—liars of every kind—who spread opinion without evidence. He tells how the people think that import tariffs will be hefted by the importers, not realizing that they, the people themselves, will be paying the difference in what they are charged. The need for education is held up everywhere.

A Movement of Hope

The Boss wishes for a change in the circumstances lived by most of the people, and so begins an underground movement of progress, creating a community of people who are doing something to change the world. The vividness takes hold, I think, when two men—the Boss and a peasant—share a moment of telling each other the truth about the system that surrounds them. The peasant says that just saying the words out loud are like “one good feast… in a starved life.” Truth-telling becomes a meal that changes life. Man… does that feel relevant.

The Challenge to Believers

As I read this, I wavered between feeling like nothing changes and there's something I need to do. Twain's story is a timely reminder of the challenge to live and to be experienced as a believer today. And what I mean when I write “believer” is as a Christ follower and not just someone who has a strong opinion. Too many of those who share their “opinions” today are more like the “liars roaming the countryside” in the book. They’re loud. They point fingers. But they don’t carry authenticity. Believers are called into action that provides hope, that challenges people to experience a life they didn’t realize existed, and that always makes a practical difference. I was pushed back into thinking “Who’s your Boss and how is he teaching you to live for others?”

Just an Old Story…

As I read, a friend jokingly commented, “I don’t know anyone choosing to read Mark Twain after it was ‘assigned reading’ in school.” Maybe that’s true, but my reading reminded me that Twain wrote to challenge people to live differently. Others of Twain’s books have been banned recently, so maybe it’s time to pull this one off the shelf before someone decides it’s too dangerous to be read.

Is there a library near you?