Sunday 10th March

 Binge watching 'boxed sets' - watching all the episodes of a TV show - in one go - is very popular. As is reading all the books in a series one after another.

I'm just embarking on the third of the Elizabeth Goudge books about the Eliot family, having read the other two in quick succession over the past few days. I reckon I will have finished it by tomorrow, abandoning knitting, sewing, everything (except food) to give myself up to reading. 

  

This is my second time through; looking at one of my Commonplace Books from 2020-2021 I noticed that I had copied a lot of passages that had caught my attention. I'm reading the books on my kindle, which means that everything I high-lighted last time is still there. This time, there are other paragraphs and trains of thought that I will be noting down. It interests me to see how a book changes focus in the light of multiple readings and the passage of time.

There's a strong theme running through all three books, which is hard to write down in a few words. In the first two books, several of the characters have had to commit to ending a passionate relationship with another person in order to behave in a way that is morally right; to keep their marriage vows, to preserve the happiness of their children. (Although moral and social values do change over time - I wonder if the Wallis Simpson / King Edward VIII business provoked the whole series of books) 

The lesson in the books is that if you wholeheartedly try and behave in the right way, even though you can't feel that way to begin with, you will eventually learn to become the person you are trying to be. It's certainly a different way of thinking to the 'me, now, first and foremost' way that is so prevalent today. 

And - as a musician and piano teacher - I know that constant repetition of the right way of doing things will eventually result in them becoming second nature. 

I have found this repetition of the right way to be true in life as well when I have found myself slipping into impatient, grumpy, lazy, bossy, or unwilling attitudes. 

Because of the strong Christian thread running through the series, they do make perfect Lent reading. And the romance of the story and descriptions of the beautiful houses and countryside are a bonus!