Several weeks ago I found what I would consider a real treasure amongst the muck at the thrift store- "Traveling Mercies" by Anne Lamott. A writer friend of mine introduced me to her, encouraging me with much insistance to read "Bird By Bird," Anne's book on how to start writing. I bought it, skimmed through it, got pessimistic about my dreams, and put it away with my skinny jeans and half-done art projects. Something in my soul (desperation, confusion, you name it) provoked me into bringing "Traveling Mercies" with me to Maryland for some light Spring Break brain nourishment. Must to my amazement, however, I found myself drawn to every word spoken in those pages, savoring each chapter like white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory or crab bisque from Jerry's Seafood. I tore through that book, longing for more. By some stroke of God's grace, I arrived back in Pittsburgh to a notice from my local library that the sequel to "Traveling Mercies" ("Plan B Further Thoughts on Faith") was there waiting for me. In just a day and a half, I have completed all 300+ pages and am ivigorated by the fact that Lamott has just published part 3. As I lay here, in awe of her work, and how it has captivated me, with such ease, I wonder what about these books draws me in like this. Shortly before completing the second to the last chapter, Anne quotes from the Christian tradition that "the soul rejoices in hearing what it already knows."
Anne Lamott is a self-professed devout Christian, transformed from a life of addiction and hopelessness by a faith that keeps her going, even during the worst of times. And she says the word "fuck". For me, a liberal, Christ-seeking, deeply sinful woman, longing for a democratic president, world peace, and exhonneration from my multitudinous sins, the literary combination of Jesus with the occasional need to utter four-letter words in chants, reaches way down into my soul and urges me to continue to seek the truth of Christianity in my own way- not necessarily the way of other christians around me. What my soul knows is that the recipe for what I'm searching for lies within me and, like Lamott, I need to seek it from where I stand.