Thursday, June 05, 2003
Girl Meets God
by Lauren F. Winner
This, I think, is the literary equivalent of a chick-flick. It was supposed to be a conversion story of this girl who became first an Orthodox Jew and then a Christian. Or at least that's the impression I got from the flyer they gave me at Harvest Logos. But instead I got... well, okay, it is a conversion story... sort of. Okay, not sort of. It is. But it's not a nice, straightforward narrative. No nice, simple tale of a victorious spiritual pilgrimage here. I mean, the spiritual journey is there, but you've got to dig it out. "Out of what?" you may ask. Well, here's the chick thing: Ms. Winner has filled this whole book with relationships! Relationships with boyfriends. Relationships with girlfriends. (Women will understand that distinction. Guys, get your minds out of the gutter.) Relationships with parents. Relationships with pastors and rabbis and friends and classmates and church members. And mixed up in the whole tangled tapestry of her life is a relationship with God. And even that is fraught with sin and struggle. Of course, that's not the worst of it. The worst thing is that I liked it. Even though I was raised in the faith I now embrace, I felt a definite kinship with Ms. Winner. I too, want a deeper relationship with the God who became a human being to save me. And I too end up falling far short of the most simple faithfulness. I grew to enjoy the way she wove together her relationship with Jesus with the everyday things in her life--holidays, customs, personal possessions and, most of all, her relationships with others. To be honest, I even got a bit envious of the way she could see all this in her life and so beautifully express it. She can dwell lovingly on the story of Ruth. Me, I'll turn to the books of Kings and dig Elijah calling down fire from heaven or Elisha playing practical jokes on Aramean soldiers.... Hmmmm, I guess God wrote the Bible for guys, too. Oh, well. As far as Girl Meets God goes, I recommend that you check it out. I'm even half tempted to buy it.
Labels: CheckItOut
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