Apr
22
Written by:
host
4/22/2010 7:00 AM
The library in the church where I spent my teenage years didn't have many books—and practically none that were intended for teens—but since I was a voracious reader I polished off a few of them one year. They would have fallen into a category I'd call “faith memoirs,” and they were stories of persons whose evangelical faith had been the driving force as they worked with gang members, were imprisoned in a dark prison cell in some Asian country, or survived the Holocaust. Thinking back on those books now, I realize that they played an important role in shaping my theology at that time. After all, I thought, the people in those books actually seemed to live their faith in profound ways, not just go through the motions like many of the adults I knew.
My theology has changed quite a bit since then, but not my love for reading. The faith memoir genre—and memoirs in general—have not been high on my reading list for some time, though. Nonfiction books seem to capture my attention the most these days, but I still love the power of a good story. When I realized I'd saved three memoirs to my Amazon wish list, I knew it was time to give the genre a go again, so in a bit I'll share three brief reviews with you of three really great memoirs.
Memoirs are a sub-genre of autobiographies, and the primary difference is that they tend to focus on a smaller time-slice of a person's life. The faith memoir tends to contain not only recollections about particular events, but it also reflects on the spiritual significance of those events. Thus, it's common in faith memoirs for there to be long sections of theological reflections which surround the personal stories. These reflective passages, I find, tend to keep my interest in the book higher because I find the author's stories to relate more to my own life.
I would encourage you to look through the faith memoirs in your church's library and do a bit of evaluation of what's there. If no new memoirs have been added to the collection or some time, it's time to give this section both some attention and some promotion. Faith-related memoirs will appeal to some members of your congregation far more than a work of theology or a biblical history might, and they can help to give words to the faith experiences one might otherwise be reluctant to articulate. For that reason, they can make great reading for many small groups on occasion, since it's hard to argue with another person's story. Here are three great ones any progressive-friendly library should have, plus a few more I've either read or had recommended to me by Different Voice readers.
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle
I often judge how much I enjoyed a book by how many dog-eared, highlighted, or bookmarked pages there are after I'm done with it. In this case, just about the only thing that kept me from marking up every page was the fact that I was reading a borrowed copy!
Tattoos on the Heart is by a Jesuit priest who is in ministry to gang members in Los Angeles. Boyle founded Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention program in the country, and the book is filled with stories of the people Homeboy has helped. It's frequently heartbreaking; things end sadly or tragically for far too many of the people chronicled in the book. But the book's power lies in the way Boyle will not let us get caught up in statistics, stereotypes, or gang activity. Instead, we glimpse the real humanity and goodness of people who are living in very difficult circumstances and who are trying simply to live and to make their lives better.
Tattoos is simply filled with quotes and insights you'll want to write down and remember, and for that reason it's a book definitely worth purchasing. His theology is highly incarnational; that is, the stories describe how he finds God in the poor and what he has come to understand about Jesus through the “homies” he works with. He writes, "I suppose Jesus could have chosen a strategy that worked better (evidenced-based outcomes)—that didn't end in the Cross—but he couldn't find a strategy more soaked with fidelity than the one he embraced” (173). Boyle's embrace of a life that is full of “with-ness” is incredibly inspirational and instructional. By the end, readers will agree that part of the Christian life is this: "You stand with the belligerent, the surly, and the badly behaved until bad behavior is recognized for the language it is: the vocabulary of the deeply wounded and of those whose burdens are more than they can bear” (178).
jesus freak: feeding healing raising the dead by Sara Miles
Whereas Tattoos on the Heart focuses on an aspect of life most of us don't deal with on a daily basis, jesus freak takes on a topic that's likely closer to home: feeding the hungry and helping hurting people. Much of the book describes Sara's work at The Food Pantry and other food ministries in San Francisco, a food distribution ministry connected with her Episcopal congregation. Other sections focus on additional ministries she has been involved with, particularly a lay ministry pastoral care program, and anyone who doesn't get around to finishing the book will miss some of the best stories of all.
Most of the stories in Miles' book are far less memorable than those in Tattoos on the Heart, but they are no less powerful. Her prose is beautiful, with an informal style and short paragraphs that give the reader the feeling she's right there in the room with you having a conversation. Interspersed with the stories are her interpretations of stories and teachings from the life of Jesus, “The Boyfriend” (as she calls him) in the life of this theologically-progressive lesbian woman.
In particular, the book is continual reminder that Jesus said that we're the ones responsible to feed, heal, forgive, and cleanse, wherever we are. Thus, the book would be a great gift for—well, pretty much everyone who wonders how they can make a difference in the world and live out a faith that matters. She writes, “It doesn't take a special kind of person—the selfish and obtuse are welcome, too. It doesn't take a lot of equipment, or training—little kids can lead. Jesus is still with us, which means we can say yes to God's call, without knowing what the outcome will be. We can jump right in, instead of waiting for a committee to authorize our work. We can come and see what God is doing, all over the place, instead of worrying that we're not good enough. We can get over our fear of strangers, free ourselves from superstition, and find sweet streams of mercy in the middle of the world's driest places. We're not alone.” (19-20) It's exactly because Sara seems so much like us—a layperson who wrestles with God and the many things in life that just don't make sense, but forges ahead anyway—that jesus freak is a book your congregation members need to read.
I want to be left behind: finding rapture here on earth by Brenda Peterson
I want to be left behind uses the biblical imagery of the rapture and end times to interpret and frame the stories of the author's life. Peterson grew up in a conservative Southern family who was active in a Southern Baptist Congregation and who were convinced they'd be whisked off to heaven before long. Peterson, though, decided fairly early in her life that she was more “enraptured” by nature, and over the course of her life she moves further and further from her family's conservative faith and closer to a more nature-centered, loosely Christian theology.
Although I thought it was the least engaging and thought-provoking of these three memoirs, I want to be left behind one that many progressive Christians will relate to if they have rapture-ready relatives and friends or have struggled to leave that theology behind themselves. In Peterson's stories, the reader is likely to discover the many ways that a belief in the “end times” shapes our family lives, our politics, our views of the environment, our churches, and our views of God and one another. Conversations about the end times can be really uncomfortable for those who don't personally believe Jesus is coming back in the manner described in the best-selling Left Behind novels. But her story—in which she at one point realizes that the thing she'd truly miss (if the rapture did happen and she was left behind) was her family—offers us a glimpse of a way of loving people despite the fact that we can't possibly agree with their theology or politics.
Peterson seems to have an incredible memory for conversations and details, and the vast majority of the book contains stories from her life rather than her reflections on their meaning. It's not the kind of book I'd be likely to want to read a second time, but I enjoyed it enough that I'd love to read some of her other nature-focused books. Still, there are gems I made note of for the future, especially from the final chapters, like this one: "[E]ven if these might be those last days, what alternative do we have in this world but to hope, to imagine—keeping our watchful eyes on what is most beloved and beautiful? To be grateful for an earth we share with what is still wild, still trusting." (264-5)
Here are a few more recommended faith memoirs. If you know of a great one, please add a comment below.
~ by Tim Gossett
Copyright ©2010 Different Voice