stumbling toward divinity

take this bread

  I ran across this book, and saw that Anne Lamott had written that she loved it.  I'm a fan of Anne Lamott, and the back of the book made it sound interesting, so I picked it up.  It's the story of a woman whose life is turned upside down when she experiences communion for the first time.

Raised by staunch atheist parents, Sara spends the first part of her life thinking that religion and Christianity have nothing to say that is of much worth.  She works a few years in restaurant kitchens, which sets the tone for the rest of the book and how her life revolves around food.  Then she spends some years in other countries, meeting all sorts of interesting characters and sharing food with them.

She ends up back in San Francisco and, for some reason, stumbles into the sanctuary of St Gregory's Episcopal Church during a service.  She goes through the line for communion, and in the act of eating and drinking the elements, her life is changed.  She ends coming back to the church over and over again, craving communion.

Her experiences there lead her to follow the words of Jesus when he says to the disciple Peter, "Do you love me?... Feed my sheep."  She starts a food pantry at St Gregory's, in the sanctuary, surrounding the altar, where they end up serving about 300 people a week.  She writes about the people, all sorts of people, who end up coming for food and end up sticking around as volunteers. 

It's a great story, though there was one thing in particular that rubbed me the wrong way.  Miles did not grow up in the church, and hasn't had much experience with the traditional church.  All of her references then, come from her time spent at St Gregory's.  She doesn't seem to have much use for other churches, often almost criticizing the way different churches do things, such as using wafers rather than bread for communion.

Overall, it was a good book.  I read it fairly quickly and enjoyed it.  Her vision of what the Church, the Kingdom of God, should be is radically inclusive and inspiring.  She is someone who is not afraid to allow her faith to move her into action and service for all people.  This is a good book, but don't take it from me!  Find out for yourself!!

the Gospel according to Harry Potter?

So, anyone who pays attention to anything has probably heard the news by now that JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, announced that Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts the school of witchcraft and wizardry, is/was gay.  I would link to a website or online article where it talks about that, but really all you have to do is do an internet search with the words "Dumbledore" and "gay" and you'll get about a million from which to choose.  It seems everyone has something to say about this announcement.

I haven't read much of what is out there.  And, up until this point, really haven't felt the need to comment on it.  I guess I just didn't see the big deal about it.  So what if he's gay?  It doesn't affect the story at all.  Sure, now that the news is out there, it causes one to read or consider parts of the story a bit differently, but it isn't necessary to the storyline at all.  Which is good, I think.  The person and character of Dumbledore is more important than his sexuality.

Which then begs the question of whether we needed to know this information at all.  What's the point of telling us this bit of news about Dumbledore?  If it's not necessary to the story, and the story has already been told, then why even bother dropping this little tidbit?

My decision?  It might not be necessary, but it's important.

Consider this:  In the Harry Potter stories, what the world holds to be important - the rich, the well-connected, the powerful, the pure-bloods, and those who desire to be like them - these are the ones who turn out to be evil or corrupt.  The Malfoys and the Blacks (minus Sirius, of course), with their wealth and their powerful, well connected pure-blood families.  Lord Voldemort who, while not a pure blood, changes his name to rid himself of his muggle heritage and becomes the biggest advocate of pure-blood primacy.  These are the bad guys, the villains, the corrupt.

Now, take a look at the heroes:  There's Harry, the orphan.  Hermione, the "mud blood," who comes from a Muggle family, Ron Weasley and his monetarily-poor family, Hagrid the half-giant, Remus Lupin the werewolf, Neville Longbottom the awkward, uncertain screw-up...  It's these people who have the strength and the determination to stand up against the great evil.  Not the wealthy pure-bloods who easily cave-in or are corrupted, not the families who seem to be so powerful.  It's the nothings, those who don't seem to matter, that in the end are the ones who really do. 

And now, we get to add to their number, the wise, kind, compassionate, gay Dumbledore.  In a society where the value of our gay brothers and sisters is constantly called into question, it might not be necessary to know that this hero is gay...  but I think it's important.  It's one more reason why one of the heroes of this story shouldn't have been a hero.

As I sit here and write this, I can't help but think of the Gospel lesson for this past Sunday.  The Beatitudes in Luke, where Jesus turns everything on its head.  All of the things and the people that we make out to be important in our world - the rich, the powerful, the persuasive - these are not the ones who are blessed.  It's the poor, the weak, the meek... THESE are the ones who are important in the Kingdom of God, THESE are the ones who will inherit the earth, THESE are the ones who receive blessings.

And this is the message we receive from a set of stories about a young wizard and his misfit friends... the Gospel in an unlikely place.

i've finished!

Well, I've finally finished my marathon (re)reading of all seven of the Harry Potter books.  I decided, a couple weeks before the seventh came out, that I was going to read them all straight through.  It would be a way to refresh my memory as it has been some time since I've read some of them, and so everything would be fresh in my mind as I read the seventh.

Don't worry... I'll talk about some things, but there will be NO SPOILERS!  Just in case you haven't read the book yet.

There were some things that I had hoped would happen, and they didn't.  Which, in the end, is better.  There are some things that are final, and it was appropriate that they were portrayed that way in the book.

There was something that I was afraid would happen, and it sort of did, but in a way that wasn't as cliche or predictable as I had feared.

Part of one of my hopes was fulfilled for this book, but no where near to my satisfaction.  There NEED to be more books!  I NEED to read more!  But, I think, there are some things that are final, and I'm afraid this is going to be one of those things.

And, well, I have to say I'm a bit sad.  I've really come to feel connected and invested in some of these characters.  Now there will be no more stories, no more adventures.  I'll have to reread these books when I want to revisit with all of these people. 

Also, without naming names, I have to say that J.K. Rowling has this uncanny knack of killing off my favorites.  There were two, in particular, that I really started to like... Well, one has been my favorite since The Prisoner of Azkaban and the other joined the ranks of my favorites in Order of the Phoenix.  But, really, I guess it doesn't matter because there will be no more books, so none of the characters will show up again.  Oh well.

Now I'll have to find some other books to start reading and some other characters to get attached to.  Though, I have to say that there was something unique about this series, to be involved in it as it was being created, to anticipating the arrival of the next book in the series, to have to wait for the next installment.  It made it something different, added something to the experience, I think.