#andy wimbush

[soracities]

How Samuel Beckett Sought Salvation in the Midst of Suffering, by Andy Wimbush, pub. Aeon [ID'd]

[soracities]

After some careful disclaimers about his lack of useful wisdom, Beckett makes the astonishing suggestion that [his friend] should move towards "the heart of the gales of grief", since it is there that these gales have "already … blown themselves out". His description suggests a place of stillness and peace in the midst of suffering, perhaps like the eye of a hurricane. Beckett’s solution is paradoxically both an escape [...] and also a courageous refusal to turn away from pain. He suggests that the movement out of pain is one that flies right into it, that embraces it whole-heartedly, that resigns itself and surrenders to it. Salvation is found, oddly enough, in a place of weakness, humility and lowliness, right in the midst of suffering.

Andy Wimbush,  “ How Samuel Beckett Sought Salvation in the Midst of Suffering”