Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. I’m finishing up A Column of Fire, the third book in the Kingsbridge series by Ken Follet, and a piece of fatherly advice stood out to me that I wanted to share and discuss.
Follet does a masterful job in all of his books of making historically significant events come to life through the interwoven and tangled lives of his fictitious characters. The Kingsbridge series follows multiple generations of different families across southern England and uses the historical pretext to comment on present problems.
A Column of Fire takes place in the late 16th century discussing the major historical events of western Europe at that time. The overwhelming theme of the book is the back and forth between religious zeal and tolerance.
The book’s central protagonist Ned Willard, is separated from his teenage sweetheart Margery due to religious differences and family politics. Margery is a staunch Catholic and Ned is a tolerant Protestant employed in the service of Queen Elizabeth. He later has a child with Margery and is unable to acknowledge the child because Margery is married to the Earl.
It is Ned’s fatherly advice to his biological son, (who regards him only as a family friend) that struck me as especially appropriate to our current societal needs.
Ned’s son Roger is asking him about Queen Elizabeth’s religious tolerance. Why does she hate Catholics? (an issue which he is particularly sensitive too being raised by his staunch Catholic mother). Ned tries explaining the intricacies of international politics to his inquisitive 10 year old who comes back with rebuttals far too advanced for his age. Ned ultimately ends the conversation in defense of Queen Elizabeth, and his own actions, saying “There are no saints in politics, but imperfect people can make the world a better place“
Trying to make the world a better place is all that can be asked of any of us. There are no perfect people and there are no perfect places. Everyone and everywhere has problems, but that imperfection need not be damning. Especially as people, and places, grow and evolve, their past imperfections do not represent the whole of their being or their current intentions.
I hope that I am able to embody that message for my sons. To pass it on not only in words but in actions. I hope to set the example of an imperfect man trying to make the world a better place for them, so that they may go out in the world one day and do the same.
To quote Remember the Titans, “Now, I ain’t saying that I’m perfect, ’cause I’m not. And I ain’t gonna never be. None of us are. But we have won every single game we have played till now. So this team is perfect. We stepped out on that field that way tonight. And, uh, if it’s all the same to you, Coach Boone, that’s how we want to leave it.”
I’m not a perfect father, (or a perfect anything for that matter), but if I can pass that lesson on to my boys, I will be happy to step off the metaphorical field that way.
Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.
