The piece was extracted adapted from a chapter in a (forthcoming) novel. I'd say you're quite the perceptive reader. And, thanks so much for commenting.
Ron > -----Original Message----- > From: Tom Matkin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 11:07 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [ZION] Beholder of Zion > > > Ron, > > I'm not familiar with your work, but I get the feeling from this short > piece that the boy didn't really love SLC. At least not with his whole > heart. It is fascinating to him, eating at him, part of him, betraying > him, shaping him, annoying him and clinging to him like a familiar odor, > but he doesn't seem to love it. It's full of memories bigger than life, > distorted by a confusion of perception and reality, and he can't quite > ever seem to square the circle in his own mind. He's a *beholder* of > Zion, after all, not a *belonger*. Of course maybe that was the point, I > have no idea what Cee's love of Manhattan was really like either. > > Tom > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Ron Scott [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: November 5, 2003 5:36 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: [ZION] Beholder of Zion > > > > At the present, I'm editing some short stories, columns, poems etc. > for an > > proposed anthology. I thought some of you may enjoy this short piece, > > relevant somewhat to our discussions today. > > > > A BEHOLDER OF ZION > > By RB Scott > > C2003, 1986 > > > > > > Cee's love for her Manhattan was not unlike Jed's for his Salt > Lake. > > As a > > youngster he lived near enough to walk to the center of the city after > > school and on weekends. Often, he would sequester himself in the back > of > > the > > vast oval Tabernacle on Temple Square while Alexander Schreiner's > fingers > > worked their magic over the five keyboards on the console of the > massive > > pipe organ. At times it seemed as if the performance was intended > > specifically for Jed, hiding out, alone with his imagination in the > upper > > balcony. There was something positively uplifting, calming about the > > haunting tones and accompanying reverberations that emanated from > those > > towering Sequoia-like pipes. > > > > On occasion, he slipped up the tight circular stairs that led to > the > > choir > > seats, which spread out like a hillside meadow between the forest of > > massive > > pipes and a furrowed valley of wooden pews, each one planed and sanded > by > > the callused hands of Jed's ancestors and their brethren. Sitting on > those > > benches, as he regularly had for general conference in April and > October > > and, later, for concerts by the Utah Symphony Orchestra, he imagined > > Paradise, communing face-to-face with one departed ancestor or > another, > > that > > God lived up the hillside, there in the hollows of those majestic, > > euphonious trunks of native pine. > > > > Four blocks from home, he played out a different, if equally > > fulfilling > > fantasy. On the gridiron in the stadium at the University of Utah: > five > > seconds left in his mind, he would race down the field, cut left > across > > the > > grain, dive as his outstretched arms crossed the goal line, snaring > the > > pass > > with his fingertips. The fans would be going crazy as his teammates > > hoisted > > him onto their shoulders; he had lived righteously, fought the good > fight, > > and now God, being just, had blessed him with a winning touchdown > catch -- > > against BYU! > > > > Deeper into the sprawling campus he'd roam the university's old > > cavernous > > library, pulling books with strange-sounding titles from the shelves, > > selecting one or two of them to take to the his hideout in carrels > > sequestered, entombed deep in the stacks, reading for hours as if he > was a > > diligent graduate student gathering research for a Master's thesis. > > > > It was there he read that babies need not be cut-out of their > > mother's > > bellies; that Benjamin Franklin had been an incorrigible womanizer; > that > > his > > church's original prophet, Joseph Smith, opened a tavern in his > family's > > manse in Nauvoo, Illinois, and that his successor, Brigham Young, and > > members of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles once made regular use of > > spittoons, > > stationed like sentries at doorways leading to the holiest sections of > the > > temple. And, that many actually thought New York City was a quite > > wonderful > > place, not at all the horrific den of thieves and murderers and > hookers > > his > > parents and the local newspapers made it out to be. > > > > Right then and there he learned that perceptions often bear no > > resemblance > > to reality and that reality has everything to do with how one beholds > it. > > > > ???? > > > > > //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > // > > //// > > /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// > > /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// > > > //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > // > > /// > > > > > > ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > //////////// > /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// > /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// > ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > /////////// > > > > > ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. 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