It was a delight to preach at the Evening Service at Royal Holloway (University of London) last night. Their Co-ordinating Chaplain, Cate Irvine, is exploring signs and symbols this term - and in anticipation of Bible Sunday, I was speaking on 'The Book'.
I loved English Lit at A-level - and despite not being a very good linguist, studied French and German for the sake of the literature. My love of books started somewhat earlier. I loved stories from Mr Men and Fairy Tales to reading Black Beauty, Watership Down and Tarka the Otter (although my primary schools didn't believe me!). I loved Ann of Green Gables and remember reading Jane Eyre with my mum (out loud, a chapter each; discovering the meaning of words like 'ubiquitous').
I discovered D H Lawrence as a 6th former; and Tolstoy during my PhD. Fiction continues to offer the kind of escape which draws us more deeply into what it is to be human. Thinking about the value of books - and the celebration of The Man Booker Prize - made me think afresh about our imaginative engagement with Scripture - revealing the depths of love and wisdom human and divine.
The anthem was 'O where shall wisdom be found' by Boyce; the psalm was 119:89-104 and the text Colossians 3:12-17.
There’s a shelf in my living room containing the ‘great unread’: the stack of novels including recommendations, gifts, spontaneous purchases; things I ‘ought’ to read.
Admittedly, long train journeys, looming book group meetings and holidays are opportunities to make rapid progress. And however many books there are, it’s guaranteed that the winner of The Man Booker Prize will be making it’s way to that pile!
Last week it was announced that George Saunders had won with Lincoln in the Bardo. Since the prize was launched, it has aimed to promote the finest fiction writing by rewarding the ‘best novel’ of the year written in English. The words used to describe Saunder’s work certainly fulfil that criterion.
Baroness Young, the Chair of Judges, said: it’s ‘utterly original’ in form and style; witty, intelligent and deeply moving. She continues, it’s a ‘tale of haunting and haunted souls’; a book which is ‘both rooted in, and plays with history’. which ‘explores the meaning and experience of empathy’.
For the author, it is career transforming: the award bring recognition, rewards and readership. For book sellers and those in the publishing, demand for the shortlisted and winning novels, gives the industry a much needed boost.
But there is more to books than personal acclaim and economic benefit: we read because ideas form us and inspire us. Other worlds and characters enable us to think about our own identity and values. Novels give a frame of reference to explore possibilities and to critique the misuse of power.
One critic, the author Hari Kunzru, described Saunders as a writer who is ‘expanding his universes outwards’. That’s a wonderful description of fiction writing: something expansive and outward looking; something which makes think afresh about our responsibilities and mortality.
Fiction sometimes confronts us with the truth of human agency - it’s potential to bring hope or perpetuate despair. It is an attempt to grapple with the questions which confronted Job - distilled in today’s anthem: where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
In last week’s speech, Saunder’s acknowledges that ‘we live in a strange time’. He says, ‘the question at the heart of the matter is pretty simple, do we respond to fear with exclusion and negative projection and violence? Or do we take that ancient great leap of faith and do our best to respond with love?’.
William Blake (c. 1803)
Job confessing his presumption to God who answers from the whirlwind
Taking that ancient leap of faith and responding to love, is at the very heart of book of books which we know as the Bible. Job takes that leap of faith; finding wisdom in the love of God.
Saunder’s celebrates the international culture of The Man Booker Prize - calling it compassionate and activist. In the biblical language of the poets, prophets, chroniclers and gospel writers, such compassion and activism is the stuff of God’s Kingdom.
In Scripture we rejoice in the diversity of creation - in the opportunities for companionship. We name injustice and self-interest. We are repeatedly called back to the needs of the orphan, widow, and stranger; to the most vulnerable.
It is the stuff of the psalmist: remembering God’s precepts, ordinances and commandments of love. To meditate on love is to orientate our lives in such a way that we bring life to others. God’s words are sweeter than honey - not just because they satisfy us, but because they shape a more equitable world.
Our love of words of love delight us and shape our vision for the common good.
In his acceptance speech - addressed to the glittering illuminati of the world of literature - Saunders addresses them as a ‘room full of believers in the word, in beauty and in ambiguity and in trying to see the other person’s point of view, even when that is hard’.
This is not just an attribute of writers - it is the calling of all God’s people. We believe not only in the power of words, but in the gift of the Word. God with us. In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we see love made perfect in human weakness.
We believe not only in beauty, but in the beauty of holiness: seeing God’s light and love refracted in our world in art and music, biological science and law, in ingenuity and entrepreneurship; in the pursuit of wisdom to which the university is committed from geography to classics, languages and economics.
To be committed to that task is also to deal with ambiguity and debate; with history and empathy; with resources and sustainability; with conversation and seeing the point of view of the other person, even when that is hard.
Such concerns also run through Paul’s letter to the Colossians. He is seeking to encourage the community in two ways: in their worship and daily living.
In worship, they are to mediate on the wisdom of God revealed in Scripture; they are to praise God in the beauty of holiness. We too participate in that this evening. In the power of the Spirit, we worship Christ who embodies the fullness of God’s love.
In daily life, we are to reflect that Christ-like-ness. our habits of worship shape our habits of living. Whatever dilemmas and choice we face - whatever our contribution to the life of this University and the wider community of which we are part - God’s Holy Spirit is at work in us. Breath by breath, gesture by gesture, word by word. God’s Word made flesh shapes our thinking, and is embodied in us afresh, for the sake of God’s Kingdom.
Paul describes this as be ‘clothed’ with virtues or characteristics of God’s love. The Bible speaks of God’s desire to bless all nations through the faithfulness of Abraham and Sarah. Through Christ, we too become heirs of that lineage: chosen, holy and beloved.
Through us, God’s blessing and love continues to reach to the ends of the earth. Much of this won’t be through attaining glittering literary prizes, but through the ordinary face to face encounters of our personal relationships.
Compassion and kindness extends God’s love and mercy: to the aged and infirm, to the lonely and vulnerable. It raises the bar on human behaviour calling us to resist and name actions which are cruel, demeaning or abusive.
To be self-controlled challenges us to consider when our anger is justified at harm done to others. To be patience is the wisdom to resist despair and cynicism. Given our human propensity to mess things up, how do we reflect God’s patience to keep loving? How do we entrust others with responsibility that they might learn and flourish? When do we need to set firm boundaries to protect others from harm?
Humility reminds us of the essential ‘creatureliness’ of humanity: there can be no room for arrogance; there can be no exploitation of the created order. How do we live wisely and sustainably knowing that our planet is a precious and finite gift of God?
We are members of one body: a body which lives and moves in our world.
A body which gets stressed and anxious.
A body which is held together in fellowship through the love and peace of Christ.
A body which is rooted in the words which testify to the Word made flesh.
We seek wisdom in scripture, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; and whatever we do in word or deed, we do in the name of Jesus.
In the power of the Spirit, may we expand the universe outwards; may we build God’s Kingdom moment by moment. Amen.
© Julie Gittoes 2017
