There
in the darkness they were quiet for a while, and then he said, "I guess
I've had my time of suffering. Not so much by Ezekiel's standards. And
there might be more to come. At my age, I'm sure there is. But at least
I've had enough of it by now to know that this is grace." His arm was
across the back of the couch behind her, and he touched her hair.
Marilynne Robinson, Lila
 |
| Isle of Skye | July 2017 |
I've just finished reading Lila, one of three books in Marilynne Robinson's saga about a little town in middle America called Gilead. It's hard to put into words the impression the book has made on me, but it's got me thinking more deeply about a number of things: the importance of names, shame, loneliness, grace, the beauty and mystery in ordinary life, and the many different kinds of love people show to each other -- including the fact that human love can sometimes be what helps us to come to understand divine love. The beauty of Marilynne Robinson as an author is that she can do all this and more while telling a compelling, sometimes difficult, story, and writing glorious, lyrical prose. Stop what you're doing and read it now, if you possibly can.
