1636 The Devil’s Opera – Snippet 53
“The first thing you must know, young Simon, is that all men, even the greatest of heroes, have flaws. Only our Savior is without flaw or imperfection. Even the greatest heroes of the Bible have flaws. Why, King David . . .” Pastor Gruber stopped for a moment. “But then, you are asking about Samson, not David.” He coughed for a moment, a deep wet sound. “Let us just say that Samson was a good example of a flawed hero.”
         “But he was so strong, and so great, and so mighty,” Simon protested.
“The ancient Greeks tell us that the greater the hero, the deeper his flaws, the worst of which was arrogant pride, what they called hubris.” The old man raised a hand. “And certainly that seems to be true of Samson. I have often thought that Samson was not a very smart man, myself.”
Simon was stunned. He’d come to the church looking for answers, only to find that the pastor had some of the same thoughts he had. That left his mind reeling for a moment. “But Delilah…” he finally said.
“Ah, the harlot Delilah,” Pastor Gruber replied with a small smile. “How old are you, lad?”
“Twelve, I think.”
“Have you started looking at girls yet?”
Simon sat back, startled and embarrassed. It was strange to him. Girls caught his eye recently in a way they never had before. Not that any would look at him, not once they saw his arm.
“Never mind,” the pastor chuckled before Simon could respond. “If you have not yet, you will soon.”
The old man sobered. “The attraction of a man for a woman is a gift from God, but it is also one of Satan’s greatest temptations. For some men, women are a weakness. They cannot stay away from them, especially if they are not their own wives. Samson was that way, if I read the scriptures correctly.” He sighed. “A man who has a weakness for women is disarmed when he meets one who is a subtle schemer and conniver like Delilah.”
“So why didn’t God tell Samson to leave her alone?”
“But he did, Simon. Samson was what they called a Nazirite, and he had rules that he was supposed to live by.” Pastor Gruber clicked his tongue. “He knew what God wanted from him. But Samson was a very proud man, so he did what he wanted.”
“Why didn’t God stop Samson from meeting Delilah?”
“You will have to ask God that question some day, young Simon, for I have no answer.” The pastor chuckled again. “In fact, I have my own list of questions. But consider Samson’s end.” He closed his eyes and quoted from memory.
 “And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.”
“What do you mean?” Simon asked.
“At the end,” Pastor Gruber mused, “after he had failed, Samson remembered what God had called him to do. He called out to God, and God rewarded him for it.”
“Rewarded? Being killed is a reward?” Simon’s questions were impassioned.
“All men die, Simon.” The old pastor pointed out the door of the church. “Kings die, merchants die, soldiers and generals die, doctors and lawyers and farmers and bakers all die. Even old pastors die.” He laid a hand on his own chest. “No one escapes death, not even our Savior. Cheating death is never within our grasp, as much as some people try to do it.” He lowered his hand. “No, lad, what matters is how you die. Sometimes that matters even more than how you live. That was certainly so in Samson’s case. ‘So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.’ Despite his arrogant pride, it is not a bad epitaph for a hero who died defending his people.”
Simon sat back, slumped. “I . . . I don’t know. I never thought of it that way. It just seemed so . . . so stupid, the way things happened.”
Pastor Gruber gave his gentle smile. “But scripture says that the ways of the Lord are foolishness to men.”
They sat in silence together for some time. The old pastor seemed to know when to quit talking, letting the boy’s mind work through everything that had been given him. At length, Simon straightened.
“I need to think about this.” He faced Pastor Gruber. “Can I come back and talk with you again?”
Again the gentle smile bloomed in the middle of the white whiskers. “Of course, young Simon. I am here most days. The senior pastors don’t let me preach much these days . . . my voice isn’t what it used to be, I’m afraid, and I am a bit absent-minded at times. But they do not mind my spending time here where I can be a hand and a voice for those poor souls in this part of the city. And if there are weddings or such scheduled, we will find a quiet corner, you and I.”
Simon stood and awkwardly bobbed his head. “Thank you, Pastor Gruber. I think you have helped me.”
“The Lord helped you, lad. I am just an old man waiting for my days to end.”
“Well, thank you anyway.” Simon walked to the doorway of the church, then turned to look back. Pastor Gruber stood in another beam of light from a window and raised a hand in farewell. Simon waved back, then plunged back into the streets of Magdeburg.
I’m wondering if this foreshadows a heroic death for Hans.
Very nice handling of the boys/girls delicate issue.
Good point! Simon is clearly just entering puberty and one of the things he’s going to realise soon is that Han’s sister, Ursula, is very pretty (Despite her injuries) in a whole new light.
In an earlier snippet, Simon noticed how pretty she was the first time he saw her.
I know that I don’t think he’d noticed her in the way a pubescent boy would.
Gruber got that right.
Corinthians 25—28:
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are:
Just in case you haven’t realized, you can buy the whole book now from Baen or Amazon, etc.
http://www.baenebooks.com/p-2011-1636-the-devils-opera.aspx
It’s actually cheaper on Amazon than on Baen.
I ordered it from Amazon, but the estim8ed delivery date is october 7-11. It may come before the 7th, but not likely on the 1st. So it will be a week or a week and a half between the last snippet and the hardcover, but oh well, can’t afford faster shipping (combined it with Treecat Wars for free shipping).
Sorry, I was referring to the e-version.
I only like to buy the Hardcopies.
How the priest described the male / female thing in terms of temptation and the devil, while accurate to the attitude of the times is how men justified hating, fearing and discriminating against women for millennial, and still do. It lends itself to the belief that a women has no control and naturally becomes the tool of the devil so you must not trust them and that you must be in command. From that you also get the attitude that “it’s her fault that I’m attracted to her, so I have to punish her”. The ‘rule of thumb’ was the law that said a man could beat his wife/daughter with any stick no bigger than his thumb,
I agree with what you’re saying and it demonstrates the underlying misogyny of christianity and judaism, if an uptimer had been present who was of even moderate feminist persuation had heard that explaination. S/he would have confronted the old man and corrected Simon about that explaination.
Melissa Mailey and Gretchen would have made it very…interesting.
Gruber was more balanced than I would have expected for the time. He started with “The attraction of a man for a woman is a gift from God…â€
That’s a long step up from St. Paul’s take on men who can’t achieve blessed chastity. “It is better to marry than to burn.â€
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