God Laughs & Plays
by David James Duncan
“God Laughs & Plays” is a collection of essays by David James Duncan, a writer known for his love of fly-fishing and for two previous books, “The River Why” (another essay collection) and “The Brothers K” (a novel). This particular collection is subtitled “Churchless sermons in response to the preachments of the Fundamentalist Right”. Fear not, though. The book is neither dry theology, nor ranting polemic. Instead, it is indeed exactly as the title says- a discussion of a happy God, and the creation of that same God.
In “God Laughs & Plays” Duncan repeatedly says he is not Christian, but makes it very clear that he loves Jesus. He also displays a tremendous knowledge of the Christian faith, and a greater understanding of the faith than most Christian congregants and many Christian preachers. Duncan was raised by Seventh Day Adventists, with an occasional visit to church with one Presbyterian grandmother (He calls worship there “banal”. Ouch!)
Duncan’s two main passions are peace- particularly his anger over the war in Iraq- and environmentalism. He is critical of the religious right and the political right, but what makes his writing different (almost uniquely different) is his understanding of the need to love those he criticizes. In a delightful essay titled “What Fundamentalists Need for Their Salvation” he quotes St. John of the Cross: “Have a great love for those who contradict and fail to love you, for in this way love is begotten in a heart that has no love. This is how God acts with us: He loves us that we might by means of the very love that he bears toward us.” (p. 49)
Essay number 10, “Romeo Shows Jamey the Door” is actually a short story about a man and the death of his dog. The book is well worth purchasing for this story alone, which has to be one of the finest short stories in the English language. Preachers who want to reach about heaven will find it well worth reading. “He didn’t understand now. He just sensed, without understanding, that the darting of Romeo’s life out of this world was not the opposite of Lilly’s (his daughter) birth, but its twin. Whatever or whoever made Romeo Romeo was no more dead than Lilly was in the moment before her birth.” (pp. 160-161)
Readers not attuned to mysticism will find a few of the essays difficult to follow, not because they are highly technical (they are not) but because they are a different type of literature than we are accustomed to reading, but even those essays have gems worth gleaning.
This is sure to become a book that I read over and over again because Duncan artfully anchors theology to the earth, and weaves it beautifully into deep solid relationships with friend and foe alike.
George R. Pasley
Showing posts with label anthology of essays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anthology of essays. Show all posts
Thursday, August 7, 2008
GRACE (EVENTUALLY)
GRACE (EVENTUALLY)
A Review by George R. Pasley
New York, Riverhead Books, 2007
Hardbound, 253 pages. $24.95
Anne Lamott never disappoints, and her new book proves the point.
The prelude to GRACE (EVENTUALLY): Thoughts on Faith tells about a horrible time in her pre-Christian life, when she was dumped by her lover and, as she puts it, “still drinking.”
In the story she meets up with her ex, spends the night with him, and then gets physically ill when he leaves his apartment to go back to his new girlfriend. But on his nightstand she discovers a book: The Only Dance There Is, by Ram Dass.
There was nothing new in the book, but it was told by a vulnerable person, with humor, and she could not put it down. It was one step on the way to finding Jesus. So Anne’s latest book, told with the memory of another book, is about learning how to dance- how to walk with God, and learn the steps of grace.
The best thing to do is first remind you that if you have any sense of humor at all, you will laugh with Anne. The second best thing to do is tell you to lay aside any predilections you have towards holiness. They will only get in the way of appreciating Anne’s writing, and if you appreciate her writing, you will be on the path back towards a wholesome sort of holiness.
The final thing that I can do is give you a snippet. After describing how her son, at the age of ten, weaned himself from sleeping in his mother’s bedroom by sleeping on the floor every night, slowly moving out of her bedroom, down the hall, through the living room and into his own bedroom, just a few feet at a time, over a period of weeks, Anne writes:
“That’s me, trying to make any progress at all with family, in work, relationships, self-image: scootch, scootch, stall; scootch, stall, catastrophic reversal; bog, bog, scootch. I wish 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 scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark.
“I suppose that if you were snatched out of the mess, you’d miss the lesson: the lesson is the slog…”
Anne is particularly and uniquely adept at learning the lessons of grace. When she writes the lessons, she goes one step better. Every word is graceful. Enjoy!
George R. Pasley
March 23, 2007
A Review by George R. Pasley
New York, Riverhead Books, 2007
Hardbound, 253 pages. $24.95
Anne Lamott never disappoints, and her new book proves the point.
The prelude to GRACE (EVENTUALLY): Thoughts on Faith tells about a horrible time in her pre-Christian life, when she was dumped by her lover and, as she puts it, “still drinking.”
In the story she meets up with her ex, spends the night with him, and then gets physically ill when he leaves his apartment to go back to his new girlfriend. But on his nightstand she discovers a book: The Only Dance There Is, by Ram Dass.
There was nothing new in the book, but it was told by a vulnerable person, with humor, and she could not put it down. It was one step on the way to finding Jesus. So Anne’s latest book, told with the memory of another book, is about learning how to dance- how to walk with God, and learn the steps of grace.
The best thing to do is first remind you that if you have any sense of humor at all, you will laugh with Anne. The second best thing to do is tell you to lay aside any predilections you have towards holiness. They will only get in the way of appreciating Anne’s writing, and if you appreciate her writing, you will be on the path back towards a wholesome sort of holiness.
The final thing that I can do is give you a snippet. After describing how her son, at the age of ten, weaned himself from sleeping in his mother’s bedroom by sleeping on the floor every night, slowly moving out of her bedroom, down the hall, through the living room and into his own bedroom, just a few feet at a time, over a period of weeks, Anne writes:
“That’s me, trying to make any progress at all with family, in work, relationships, self-image: scootch, scootch, stall; scootch, stall, catastrophic reversal; bog, bog, scootch. I wish 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 scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark.
“I suppose that if you were snatched out of the mess, you’d miss the lesson: the lesson is the slog…”
Anne is particularly and uniquely adept at learning the lessons of grace. When she writes the lessons, she goes one step better. Every word is graceful. Enjoy!
George R. Pasley
March 23, 2007
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