Grace (Eventually)

If you only read one of the two posts I've put up today, don't read this one. The previous one is much more important to my actual life.

Those of you who know me, know that I love to read Anne Lamott's writing. That she refreshes and encourages me in my encounter with faith and Jesus. I was quite delighted to learn about a month ago that she was releasing a new book of essays on faith (whose title I have unashamedly borrowed to title this post), and even more delighted when I discovered that the public library already had copies. As soon as I got my hands on it, I began to read, and what I found this time disappointed me. I think I mentioned that in a previous post. Instead of encouragement this time, I found what felt like mostly diatribe, the same sort of, "I'm right and everyone else is wrong" point of view that so frustrates Lamott about those of a more politically and spiritually conservative perspective than her own.

While I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as "Travelling Mercies" or "Plan B", there were still a few lines I flagged, lines that made me stop and take notice. I thought I'd share a few of those lines here.

"I wish that grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things; also, that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace’s arrival. But no, it’s clog and slog and scotch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark." (pg. 50-51)

"Lies cannot nourish or protect you. Only freedom from fear, freedom from lies, can make us beautiful, and keep us safe. There is a line I try to live by, spoken at the end of each Vedanta service: ‘And may the free make others free.’" (pg. 74)

"Reading and books are medicine. Stories are written and told by and for people who have been broken, but who have risen up, or will rise, if attention is paid to them. Those people are you and us. Stories and truth are splints for the soul…" (pg. 154)

There you have it, a few of the better lines from a book that don't particularly recommend, from someone who is generally one of my favorite authors.