THE FOUR FRIENDS - POSTLUDE

The Postlude is now finally posted, bringing this tale; this dialogue of remembrance,  recollection and resourcement to a denouement; not a final end, but one of those moments when a transition or some kind of shift is sensed in one's being-in-becoming; in one's self and in relation to significant others.

This last scene -- at the Wickersfeld Railroad, on the first day of its first full weekend of renewed operation -- is like the four friends themselves; who came back together after thirty years and have grown and become strong with one another; in love's reign--holding love's reins.  

A quote that came to mind as I re-read the Postlude tonight just before posting are these words from the American Jewish Philosopher-Theologian Abraham Joshua Herschel (1907-1972) who said:

“The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living. What we lack is not a will to believe, but a will to wonder.”

As I wrote the story of these four friends over the last few years, I was cognizant of their openness to wonder, and I hope that the happiness they experienced in the moments of wonder expressed in this dialogue; in their own selves and in communion with each other -- shines herein; in this text--out of the journey that is theirs,  and theirs alone.   Only you as the reader can tell me if I have succeeded.

Theirs is a friendship at the soul level; it is -- I would characterize it as -- "True Friendship" in Aristotle's terms; which are explored by Octavia and her interlocutors in Act IV.  Being "four souls in one; and one in four," these words from the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus (c. 54- 480 BCE) came to mind tonight:

“You could not discover the limits of soul, not even if you travelled down every road. Such is the depth of its form.”

So mote it be! -- or Hurrahya! -- or Amen! _to that!  It is a journey worth taking, I believe.

Sincerely, Montague Whitsel

THE FOUR FRIENDS ACT IV -- "Returning to Deer Hill"

Act IV is now posted.  (https://montaguewhitsel-4friends.blogspot.com/2026/06/act-iv-returning-to-deer-hill.html)

Thinking about this last part of the story, I recalled these words by John Dunne in his old book The Way of all the Earth (1972), wherein he described a process in which people get to know one another--

“The technique of passing-over is based on the process of eliciting images from one’s own feelings, attaining insights into the images, and then turning insight into a guide of life.  What one does in passing over is to try to enter sympathetically into the feelings of another person, become receptive to the images which give expression to his feelings, attain insight into these images, and then come back enriched by this insight to an understanding of one’s own life which can guide one into the future.” (53)

This describes the art of listening, in which the four friends are engaged, and much more.  Attentiveness to the 'other' with whom you are engaged, the practice of empathy and sympathy, being aware of another; one anothering, and coming, in the end, through knowing another to a better knowing of your own self.

This is what I hope to have portrayed as going on throughout this dialogue.

Let me know what you think.

Sincerely,

THE FOUR FRIENDS, ACT III -- Breakfast at Robert's

Act III is now posted.  When I think of this Act and what happens, I am reminded of something Sallie Mc Fague said in her wonderful exploration of language and parable:

"We learn who we are through the stories we embrace as our own. ... The story of my life is structured by the larger stories (social, political, mythic) in which I understand my personal story to take place."

-- Sallie McFague Speaking in Parables (1975)

When I think of the story of a place they should not have gone, to which they regretted going, and the discussion that follows it, I am reminded of another quote from the same book:

Another possible epigraph to Act III: 

"There is no way, now or ever, to have strange truth directly."