Sin in Storytelling

Last year I joined a local chapter of the national book club titled Well-Read Moms. (Disclaimer: I am not a literal mom, but I like to believe I live out the charism of spiritual motherhood through my students and my choir.)

 The club has been a really positive experience, and the books we read last year were enjoyable and edifying -- even Charles Dickens' Hard Times and George Eliot's Middlemarch... which I am still slogging through... but I digress. 

We are currently gearing up for the first book of the new year, a one-act play by Margaret Edson titled Wit (or W;t, depending on what edition you are reading). However, as we begin to delve into the work, one of the mothers in the group posited the following question: 

"In the play 'Wit', a character uses the phrase G--D--- several times. The character is not a Christian. One mother feels that Wit should not have been chosen since it takes the name of the Lord in vain. Her thought was that as a group for busy moms, the organizers of the club should have had a higher standard and found a different work on the same topic. What do you think?"

I was immediately reminded of the criticism that Flannery O'Connor received for her short stories. Although most of these stories are violent as well as dark, she always includes a moment of grace to which the main character must respond in some way, shape, or form. The main character may choose to reject this moment of grace, but it is there for the taking. 

Flannery O'Connor, 1925-1964.

Flannery O'Connor's stories portray the true order of the universe, for where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. God is ever reaching out to the human person in love, offering them moments to repent and to believe in the Gospel. At the Incarnation, God Himself entered into the sinful messiness of the human world, taking on flesh so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. But ultimately, it is the choice of the individual to accept His offer. 

When it comes to whether or not a book should be read and recommended by Catholics, the most important thing is whether or not the book proclaims the truth about the human condition and the spiritual order, for while there is sin, there is also grace. Both forces are at play, but the grace of God always prevails. 

There are plenty of books in great literature that contain sin, whether or not it's taking the Lord's name in vain or committing murder or adultery. Crime and Punishment is about a homicide. Does that mean we shouldn't read it? Solzhenitsyn's famous short story, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich also contains profanity and blasphemy, but it honestly and brutally portrays life in a gulag, as the book gives a concise but brilliant testament to the evils of the Communist Regime in the Soviet Union. 

In sum, while it is possible for the portrayal of sin in storytelling to become gratuitous or over-the-top, it's important to portray the world honestly, and honesty requires the acknowledgement that we live in a fallen world, where sin and evil manifest themselves in various forms. However, evil must be counter-balanced by a poignant moment of grace. 

I am eager to see how the two forces are at play in Edson's Wit. 

Resurgam Reassessment 2019

Hello, friends!

Happy New Year! Last year I made a resolution to attempt to resurrect this little blog. While I wish I had managed a post per month, I managed about 9 posts this past year, which is a far cry from anything I managed on here in the past few years.

My second resolution for 2018 was to read 12 books and, thanks to the help of my friends and the book club I joined back in September, I have been able to accomplish this goal. I used to read for pleasure quite a bit in high school, and unfortunately during my college and graduate studies reading was no longer a means of leisure and enjoyment and so I fell out of practice. It has been refreshing to cultivate the habit once again. I am a much slower reader than I used to be, but I have found that in many respects I prefer this method. I like to take my time with a book as I get to know the author's style and the characters, and I like to ruminate on the stories with which I choose to engage.

Book List for 2018

Catherine of Siena by Sigrid Undset
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis (The Space Trilogy, Book III)
An Immovable Feast: How I Gave Up Spirituality for a Life of Religious Abundance by Tyler Blanski
Made for Love: Same-Sex Attraction & the Catholic Church by Fr. Mike Schmitz
Compassionate Blood by St. Catherine of Siena, ed. by Fr. Romanus Cessario, O.P.
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A Bloody Habit by Eleanor Bourg Nicholson
Flannery O'Connor: Spiritual Writings, ed. by Robert Ellsberg
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
The Grace of Enough by Haley Stewart
A Christmas Memory, One Christmas, & The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote
The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander

Some of my favorites this year were:

1) Catherine of Siena, a biography about the life of the Italian saint by Sigrid Undset, an author who is not only a brilliant historian but also has a beautiful and honest understanding of the Catholic faith.

2) The Brothers Karamazov, which is very long but incredibly worthwhile and proved to be a perfect companion as we walk through this difficult time of scandal in the Church hierarchy.

3) An Immovable Feast was a delightful tale of the conversion of Tyler Blanski, a spiritual-but-not-religious man who eventually found his way to the Catholic faith via Anglican seminary. His conversion story was a joy to read, not only because of the content but also because of the style. His way with words is absolutely beautiful, and he is a die-hard romantic in the Chestertonian fairy tale sense -- like I said, a true joy to read!

4) My Name is Asher Lev is a heavier, darker novel but intriguing and beautiful as it tells the story of a Hasidic Jewish boy who aspires to become a painter in spite of the misgivings and occasional animosity of his parents and community. This book was probably the most thought-provoking of the books I read this year, and turned out to be quite a page turner at the end!

And last but not least:

 5) The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander, which is a beautiful series of reflections on the life of the Blessed Mother, and was a perfect meditation during the preparatory season of Advent. Disclaimer: I read most of it during the second half of Advent into the Twelve Days of Christmas. As a church musician, Advent is not an easy season for me to keep. I will have to be more intentional about it next year!

My resolutions for the new year: 1) to blog once a month, or to at least produce twelve blogposts this year; 2) to read at least nineteen books; 3) to cultivate the habit of practicing regularly at least three days a week, and to learn one organ piece by J.S. Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude, and Louis Vierne. It's difficult to make time to learn new music as a music director (odd I know, but true), but I miss it and I notice my skills are getting rusty!

It is the time of new beginnings: a blank canvas, filled with possibilities. To quote Bilbo Baggins, "Only one way to go: forward. On we go!"