Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith

This book, like the others, will make you laugh in recognition of the humanity we share. I, of course, really like Anne Lamott's writing. She has a way of starting a sentence and you feel pretty much like you know where it is going to end up. Surprisingly it ends up somewhere you didn't expect. My fantasy is that somewhere along the way as she is writing the sentence she's been thinking ahead to where the sentence is going. But as she keys along toward the end of the sentence a new word or view pops into her head. It's not just an alternative, it's the essence of the thought. Something that just comes out of the keyboard that is so funny or insightful that you almost gasp in recognition. She's got it, and in doing so she helps you to understand life and your own reactions to what is going on. The other benefit of reading Anne Lamott is that she gives you so much to think about. I recall a story in a previous book where she is talking about Sam and their relationship. Anne Lamott feels life to the full. Too much of the time, perhaps, she has been telling her son that she loves him. One night at bedtime he asks her to stop saying that. She asks what should she say, and Sam suggests that she likes him would work fine. So what is the difference between love and like? For the child that Sam is, maybe it's just not repetitive. For me it was an insight that was worth pondering. Love is very much about me, about my feeling for you. Like, on the other hand, is about you: your hair, your personality, your dreams...all of that. Maybe that was in Lamott's head. I don't know. She doesn't tell you. It sure is something to think about though. What does all this have to do with the new book? If you like Anne Lamott, if she makes you smile at life and the human race, well, this is another good book for you. Read the second chapter about teaching an "energetic" Sunday school class. It's pure Lamott. The answer is always, "Yes." The question is "how."

My first impression was Anne Lamott's easygoing, easily understandable yet wonderfully and thankfully unannoying writing style, but what on earth is it about book covers with iconic (without a doubt) white (or thereabouts) clapboard church buildings plunked down and settled in amidst verdant Midwestern or New English (doubtless) shade trees? Is there any other possibility? At first I thought this is kind of coolly about real life, but next I thought, "I think I'm just as clever, brave, honest, mellow (no, not that one yet), wise and perceptive as Ann(i)e Lamott, and I'd love to be published between covers rather than just on a blog screen, too." A week ago, when I read half the book (picking and choosing the next chapter according to how intriguing the title seemed), I kept thinking, "we all are not all that f***ed up, are we? She so seems to be into total depravity! It will take the world 1,000 years to recover from GWB? I thought this book was about grace!" But the further I got, the more I knew she was writing about me, and with such credibility: not only is it an actual printed hard-copy (because after all, so is the National Enquirer), but it's a bound book by a non-sensational author. That rocks! A person cannot be fully human without the interwoven fabric of connectiveness, belongingness, participation, recognition and acknowledgement. Because it's real and alive, it can be torn, tattered, ripped apart, rewoven, mended and appended to other pieces (remnants) of cloth. Call it "being networked!" In the first paragraph of Wailing Wall the author writes, (page 25) "You say that we don't have to live alone with out worries and losses, that all the people in their tide pool will be there for them. You say that it totally sucks, and that grace abounds." That sounds a whole lot like a whole lot of my own writing, teaching and preaching, but where is the community with that promise for me? "Near the Lagoon, 2004" (in the "Forgiveness" section of the book) is about the writer's return to the scene of her earlier life after a long time away. From page 141: "I almost immediately got a Twilight Zone feeling. First, I was going back to the place from which I had fled, and that is usually a signal to me that something mythical is in the works. And second, instantly a hobgoblin of a man appeared in our path...He asked...'Do you know where you are going?'" And in Ski Patrol, on pages 18-19, toward the book's beginning, Annie Lamott asserts "...God always hears our cries, and helps, and it's always a surprise to see what form God will take on earth..." Amen, amen! Despite the immense varieties of human experiences, my best guess is most people have had or eventually will have similar experiences to Annie Lamott's and even experiences not dissimilar to mine. Take a trip through this book and remember some of the stories; I predict they'll do well by you and for you!

no question, i'm an annie lamott fan. more specifically, i'm a fan of anne lamott's non-fiction. i've tried her fiction, and continue to find it ok, but not brilliant. but her non-fiction: ooh. traveling mercies, lamott's first autobiographical book about faith, remains in my top 5 books of all time (not that i actually maintain such a list; but if i did, it would be). and operating instructions, lamott's autobiographical reflections on her pregnancy and the first couple years of her son's life, should be suggested reading for all humans, and required reading for all parents (especially expectant parents). lamott's last non-fiction, plan b, was a bit of a let-down. i really wanted to love it. so i found myself loving parts. but, other than a horribly repetitive titling and cover treatment (and, really, that's more of a publisher's gaffe than a reason to wag my finger at anne lamott), grace (eventually) brings us back nearly to traveling mercies (notice i say "nearly"). yes, some have complained that this book is another collection of mostly already-published essays. i say: i don't care. they're great; they hold together; and i hadn't read them elsewhere anyhow. why do i love lamott's writing so much? well, i can't deny the fact that she makes me laugh out loud. and they're not those "slowly creep up on you laughs" that move from smile to tiny "huh" sound to low chuckle to pleasant and appropriate laugh. no: my occasional laughter while reading anne lamott is more the out-of-the-blue cackle, one that surprises me as much as it would anyone within painful earshot. reason two for loving anne lamott's non-fiction: she is unevenly insightful. what i mean is, there are moments when i'm reading, and i have to stop and breathe for a moment, and think about the profundity of what i've just read. and then there are lots of moments in-between those moments that aren't so insightful. but here's the thing -- the uneven-ness of the insighfulness somehow works. it's almost as if it creates a reading culture where the insights catch me off guard that much more. i'm always hopeful of stumbling onto them, but never quite expecting them when they appear. reason three for loving anne lamott's non-fiction: there are books -- maybe 1 in 30 books i read, where the very act of reading is joy. the choice of words, the structure of sentences, the odd metaphor, they leave me smiling or astonished. christopher moore writes this way. anne lamott writes this way.

This book is the best Anne has published since Traveling Mercies. She is so upfront and real I feel like I know her. Since I am also in a 12-step recovery program, I could identify with much of what she says but what really touched me was her wonderful way of approaching her son's adolescence. The chapters on becoming a mother and how the feelings change over the course of that child growing up - always loving even in the face of increasing emotional distance - reflected much of what I have experienced with my own children and grandchildren. If one hangs on, eventually grace arrives. I loved the book.

I'm in alcohol, drug addiction recovery. I recently did a 5th step with my sponsor. We uncovered my tendency to dwell in the dark and negative side of my nature. Could it be that reading voraciously and watching on television nothing but crime, serial killers and heinous acts that humans perpetrate on one another have something to do with my feeling of disconnectedness to the joy of life? My sponsor thought perhaps, she instructed me that for every heinous item I watched or read I was to read something spiritually uplifting. I had read Traveling Mercies and Brand New People years ago. I decided to delve into Lamott's writings again. Four books later I say thank you Anne. Thank you for the reminder that yes, the human condition is tragic, ugly, heartbreaking and cruel. Yet, the opportunities fro redemption and healing are frequent, present, joyous and victorious.

Anne Lamott does it again; after reading "Traveling Mercies" I just couldn't wait to read another of her books, and I was not disappointed. She has an irreverant faith that is captivating, funny, and encouraging. For all of us mere human beings, her message is one of hope and love. i hardly ever read a non-fiction book all the way through, but can't get enough of hers.

It's ok. Read better, read worse.

Until a few months ago I had never heard of Anne Lamott. Someone loaned me a copy of Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, and I've become a fan. I am working my way down her list of non-fiction publications. Anne writes with truthfulness, insight and passion. She doesn't deny her own shortcomings and is not judgmental of short-comings in others. She writes about joy and grace as well as the grit and grime of living. Highly recommended!

love this author

Faith is a hard subject to engage with for many writers. Either they write cautiously, apparently trying not to offend their chosen deity by stealing any creative limelight, or else te whole offering is just too heavy a read to sit well with our modern blog shaped desire for accessibility, relevance and the brevity of the executive summary. Anne's book, however, gets it just right. It's funny, poignant, deep, light and well worth reading. Whether you're gravitating cautiously towards faith or running away from its persistent clutches Anne Lamott writes books that will warm your soul. this one is ni exception.

very pleased, will deal again!

Loved reading this book and gave it away to a friend who I am sure will be as amused and inspired as I was.

happy with book