Haunting but Good

"I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land." -Crooks, from Of Mice and Men-

I read Of Mice and Men yesterday. It had been a few months since I had touched anything by John Steinbeck and so in order to refresh my literary mind I picked up the short but brilliant work. Finishing quickly, I dwelt upon the notions of loneliness and how the American Dream is not as attainable as one would want to believe. Unfortunately many of us are wrapped up in lives that fall desperately short of where we would want them to be. This is not to say that fulfillment cannot be or is not found - just that the dreams we had/have continually lie just out of reach. Each of us feels a longing and loneliness from some sector of our lives. It may be that we lack the friends we want, the career we desire, the presence we crave, the materials we deem needed, or any other void that hits us deep within. These voids dig at our souls and eat away at our hope that the dreams we have can have actually be obtained. In the end we end up like George - in an inconsolable position stuck between being the dreams we have and the reality we know we must face. Perhaps this is where Christ plays one of His most important roles. For within Him, we find a peace and comfort that takes care of that darkness and void that Crooks so accurately painted in his pessimistic viewpoint aimed at crushing the spirit of Lennie. Perhaps it is true that "nobody gets no land" and we are to be faced with the shattered pieces of our dreams on a regular basis. But at least even in that, we have a God who cares for us and mends our broken hearts.