I love Anne Lamott's writing. I first read All New People years ago, and Bird by Bird is one of my favorite books to read about writing instead of doing my own writing. Plan B continues the themes of Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, where she describes her reluctant experience of coming to Christianity as being "hunted down by Jesus." As she says in the acknowledgments page of Plan B: "I am deeply grateful to David Talbot, editor in chief of Salon.com, who published much of this material in earlier form. I am just about the only overtly spiritual person he can stand..." Some of my best friends are spiritual people. I even invite them over to my house for dinner sometimes, as long as they agree not to talk about spirituality. And I won't even start on any of a wide range of possible diatribes about religion and politics and how the last election radicalized me from being self-identified as an agnostic to being an atheist. One of Anne Lamott's many gifts as a writer is to bring sadness and humor together in the way that life does, and bring us along with her. Here is a sample of her work:
I asked a friend of mine who practices a spiritual path called Diamond Heart to explain the name, because I instinctively know that both Sam [her son] and I have, or are, diamond hearts. My friend said our hearts are like diamonds because they have the capacity to express divine light, which is love; we not only are portals for this love, but are made of it. She said we are made of light, our hearts faceted and shining, and I believe this, to a point: I disagree with her saying we are beings of light wrapped in bodies that merely seem dense and ponderous, yet actually are made of atoms and molecules, with infinite space and light between them. It must be easy for her to believe this, as she is thin, and does not have children. But I can meet her halfway: I think we are diamond hearts, wrapped in meatballs.
I would call my path Diamond Meatball: people would comfort and uplift one another by saying, "There's a diamond in there somewhere."
Still, on better days, I see us as light in containers, like those pierced tin lanterns that always rust, that let the candlelight shine out in beautiful snowflake patterns. (p. 160)
As a person clearly on the Diamond Meatball path, it's nice to have a companion like Anne Lamott, and as I finished her book late last night in the after-midnight Alaskan twilight, I didn't want it to end.
Anne is such a wonderful writer. Both my wife and I have enjoyed her books, and I frequently give Traveling Mercies as a gift. Also, Anne is a wonderful person and as quirky as she describes herself.
You see, my wife and I previously lived in the Bay area. We were still dating at the time. I was a "spiritual" (Christian) person and my wife... well, she was from Mendocino, which is to say the redwood forest and the beauty of the coast is where she found her peace. My wife was an avid fan of Anne, and we both read Traveling Mercies when it came out. I was looking for a church in the Bay area, and as my wife describes it herself, she was looking to disprove my beliefs. It was originally my wife's idea to visit St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Anne Lamott’s church home. She reasoned that she might have the chance to meet Anne while simultaneous coming up with ammo to shoot down my faith and evidence it as a bunch of hooey. Anne was present at our first visit to St. Andrews. So was Pastor Veronica. The church is as Anne describes.
To shorten the story a bit, my wife took, as Anne describes, a “lurch” of faith and became a “spiritual” person, originally nursed through her experiences and learning at St. Andrews. We also came to be well acquainted with Anne and her son, Sam.
We no longer live in SF. When we visit on occasion, we always attend St. Andrews. It’s in Marin City, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito. We are always greeted with hugs from Pastor Veronica and Anne and the other church members.
Still, we can’t be there every weekend as we would like. When I miss the spirit of that place, it’s nice to have Anne’s books handy as she frequently has described the uplifting sound of the choir or penetrating words spoken through Pastor Veronica. It brings me back…
Posted by: m. | Monday, July 11, 2005 at 10:50 AM