I haven’t read much of Mary Karr’s work, save for an interview here and there, so what I know about her feels much like fragments drawn out from a fraction—she’s a poet, memoir writer and teacher, a former alcoholic and an agnostic turned Catholic. Lately, I find that I am fascinated by the process in which skeptics come into faith, even as I furiously wrestle within mine. It is not that I am tethering towards complete abandon of belief; in fact, my Christian convictions remain the premise upon which I negotiate my life. Still, I am keen to admit that there is a rift; that the earth has shifted for me in a way that is irreparable, a way that leaves me estranged from what I considered to be true and singular and fixed. I am drawn to Karr because I am compelled by her re-invention of herself—losing the alcohol, finding God; that mid-life switch up that changes us from one person to another; also, her finding of Jesus outside of Sunday pamphlets and institutional dogma; the strength and confidence of her theological individuality even as she throws herself into the history and culture of Catholicism; I am also drawn to the language she has given her spiritual experiences, the weight of her private meditations, that necessary rigor of matching intellect with the metaphysical, it is nothing like what I experienced as a teenager who grew up in a staunch Pentecostal background defined by fixed cultural values and a performative approach towards doctrine and life.
Tochi, this is another beautiful piece and interestingly we were having a similar conversation with friends earlier today; the Pentecostal move somehow came without the reflective and studious life of the Catholic Church and even of the Protestant ethic. So, it wasn't as if it lacked the truth of the former but perhaps it lacked the language... The utilitarian approach to faith, common with this move, particularly as expressed within the African experience is indeed a lot more combative than surrendering... hence it could fail to bring all the letters required to write a complete treatise of the human experience.
You've indeed captured it well; many a good theology is birthed by honest reflections on matters at the intersect of the ideal that Faith is and the seeming imbalance that is the human condition. I believe that it is by so doing that we might see and experience the true joys of that which is believed. Kudos
Reading as I struggle to define what I have become. Catholic? Former Catholic? Still don’t have the right thoughts/language to examine where my faith is
Tochi, this is another beautiful piece and interestingly we were having a similar conversation with friends earlier today; the Pentecostal move somehow came without the reflective and studious life of the Catholic Church and even of the Protestant ethic. So, it wasn't as if it lacked the truth of the former but perhaps it lacked the language... The utilitarian approach to faith, common with this move, particularly as expressed within the African experience is indeed a lot more combative than surrendering... hence it could fail to bring all the letters required to write a complete treatise of the human experience.
You've indeed captured it well; many a good theology is birthed by honest reflections on matters at the intersect of the ideal that Faith is and the seeming imbalance that is the human condition. I believe that it is by so doing that we might see and experience the true joys of that which is believed. Kudos
This!
Reading as I struggle to define what I have become. Catholic? Former Catholic? Still don’t have the right thoughts/language to examine where my faith is
Happy new month, Tochi.
Thank you for this.
I believe absolutely that reflection and questioning are gifts to humanity. They help us understand deeper.
Once we get to the point of asking ourselves existential questions, we have gotten to a dangerous level of freedom.
This also helps us love and understand God more, not out of fear but out of total submission.