Sárospataki Füzetek 2. (1998)

1998 / 2. szám - Dr. Frank Sawyer: Star of the Nativity

-2)r. Granit lawyer: Star >>jthe l^jalii/itij

And, even as rafts float down a river,

So shall the centuries drift, trailing like a caravan,

Coming for judgment, out of the dark, to me.

So the last poem refers to Christ. This was an amazing way to end such a novel written in Russia at a time when all such thoughts were anathema. Pasemak says: Christ shall judge the centuries. This is a clear challenge to all ideologies and to political leaders. Pasternak, pushed to the limits of the possible choices, says: history docs not function by a materal dialectic alone, but under the grace and judgment of Christ. So it turns out that the star of Bethlehem, the advent of Christ, announces the greatest meaning, the greatest joy and freedom, as well as the greatest standard (judgment) for human life and history. There was a kind of ideological death and resurrection which Pasternak saw taking place in Russia. He dared to say that there is a divine secret to history: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

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