Mark Twain with a Pistol to His Head

I’m sliding it across the table to you. It came from a friend who wants to remain anonymous, and the farthest I’ve traced it is to The Knowledge Archivist. It’s too good for you and me to ignore —

Mark Twain held a pistol to his head.

But he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger.

So, he put down the pistol and picked up a pen….

Many textbooks portray Mark Twain as poised, self-assured, and composed.

However, the Twain described in writings from 1865 and 1866 is far from that man…

At that time, Twain was living in San Francisco and earning $100 a month writing 2,000-word columns, 6 days a week for a newspaper called the Territorial Enterprise.

The 29-year-old Twain was struggling immensely. He was drowning in debt. The local pawnshops owned nearly all his possessions.

In a letter from 1865, he wrote to his brother:

“If I do not get out of debt in three months – Exit Me, a pistol or poison-for-one.”

And he nearly took the first option.

There are many stories about what exactly made him change his mind:

One story describes how his eyes met a bill for coal he had received. The wording on the bill was so peculiar for such a low sum of requested money that it made him do a double take. It supposedly brought about a chuckle and he reflected on the oddity of life, putting down his pistol.

Some accounts claim that when he brought the pistol to his head, he couldn’t bear to pull the trigger out of his thoughts of cowardice.

Whatever the truth may be, we do know that the great literary figure had some very dark days in his lonely San Francisco apartment.

Shortly after this incident, Twain hit his first home run. He finally leaned into his inclinations of humor with The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. It was a humorous work and was published by the New York Saturday Press on November 18, 1865. It brought him his first taste of international fame.

And the rest is history!

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE:

• The Brightest days often come right after the darkest nights.

Life is very strange. In many ways, it is like a video game, in the sense that it is full of tests. Things get extremely hard in life and as long as you hang on and keep pushing, you will make a breakthrough and get to the next level. It’s always hardest right before a significant breakthrough. Then things are great for a while but eventually, the pattern repeats itself. The tests vary in difficulty but they all push the individual to ascend to higher levels of consciousness and character.

This story of Twain’s dark days displays the idea perfectly. He was in just about the lowest place a person can be, yet he didn’t let go of himself and as a result, very quickly got his first big win.

I’m sure you can relate to this story in some way – reflecting on your own difficult times. Hopefully, the video game analogy provides you with a greater awareness of the pattern.

So, when things get dark, hold on, keep pushing and bright daylight will come soon enough.

— If this Mark Twain piece resonates loudly for you, please do what Wilson Philips sang decades ago and “Hold on for one more day.” And then another. Please.

There are people who want to help you do that. And more.

This coming Sunday, you and I will begin walking through the Season of the Gospel (thank you for that phrase, Don Saliers) called Advent.

It’s the four weeks leading up to Christmas. We’ll remember God’s promise of the Christ, and the subsequent birth of Jesus, and our anticipation of the Second Coming of Christ and what we’re to be about in this meantime where and when we live.

It’s also a time of new beginnings with the One who says in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Please.

And thank you.