Duels

He had said the worst thing that could be said; and it seemed accepted and ignored like the ordinary second best of the politicians. Everyday his blasphemies looked more glaring, and everyday the dust lay thicker upon them, it made him feel as if he were moving in a work of idiots. -G.K. Chesterton

This is my second reading of G.K. Chesterton's The Ball and the Cross. It is a story about a duel between an atheist and a Christian, who encounter each other in London, just outside St. Paul's Cathedral. (The ball and the cross at the top of St. Paul's is where the title comes from) The Christian, MacIan, is enraged by a newspaper article written by the atheist, Turnbull, so he breaks his shop's window and challenges him to a duel. The men purchase antique swords from a shop and begin to fight. They are convinced they must fight to the death for what they believe. Their dueling is interrupted, though, and they are sent running through the London streets, away from the police. They debate with each other as they go, escaping into the country. Their swords clash in the grassy hills , but again they are interrupted by someone who is so lackluster, they work together to be rid of him. 

The two duelists soon realize that they have more in common than they ever thought. As they run through the English countryside and encounter more strange people, they realize their enemy is not each other, but the world that has grown cold and has no place for both of them, who are so passionate in their beliefs that they are willing to fight for it. 

Reading Chesterton is like a theological and philosophical feast with lines that are simultaneously humorous and serious, and that go deeper if you let them. His subtle, and blunt methods of hiding some thought-provoking debates within the scenarios of his characters is intriguing. My second reading is so enjoyable.

To me this whole strange world is homely, because in the heart of it there is a home; to me this cruel world is kindly, because higher than the heavens there is something more human than humanity. If a man must not fight for this, may he fight for anything? -G.K. Chesterton