Hello everyone,
I realize I’m very much in danger of letting this first section become the “Winter Weather Extravaganza” section, but we are on the verge of having three weekends in a row where the Charlotte skies may be filled with snow of some sort. If there is a fourth, I’m not sure what will happen. Don't get me wrong: the daffodils have sprouted (some have buds already), the camellias are blooming, and there was at least one day this week that made it to sixty degrees. But it’s starting to feel like we have an honest-to-goodness winter here. I’m so glad I bought those sleds when all the hardware stores were price gouging!
The Part Where There’s an Essay.
Last fall I dropped by the church office to drop something off. After a few minutes of chatting with the staff, I picked up my keys to go home. One of our interns then asked me the question, “what would you say to someone who thinks it’s not valuable spiritually to read fiction?” I put down my keys. An hour later, I actually went home, and he went back to his seminary homework. This series is inspired by that conversation.
On Christians Reading Fiction: Developing Empathy
"…if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." — Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Here we have a serviceable definition of empathy: considering things from someone else’s point of view. In our current moment of divisive speech and conflict, could empathy get us somewhere better? Biblically speaking, empathy is what assists us to “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)
Modern psychologists have done quite a bit of work on the fact that fiction readers tend to be more empathetic people. Most speculate that the same skill is required: putting yourself in someone else’s spot for a time. When we suspend our daily life to enter into the experiences of a fictional character, we exercise a muscle of living someone else’s life for a bit. If this muscle is strong enough, the argument goes, we are better able to do this in real life, as well.
“We are living in extremely polarized times, even in church, so walking through someone else’s experiences and point of view, that is what we need as the body of Christ to listen to one another, to understand one another, to hold back before we offer our opinion or judgment and to walk through things with people.” - said Karen Swallow Prior, speaking in September 2021.
Though this series is based on reading fiction, I think this same argument for empathy can be made about reading memoir. For example, the last book I read at the end of last year was Daniel Nayeri’s Everything Sad is Untrue. This novel is the true story of Daniel’s childhood. His family fled to the United States from Iran after his mother converted to Christianity. Beginning at age eight, he navigated the already-fraught world of elementary school as an outsider.
Though I have plenty of experience with elementary school, both as a student and a teacher, I’ve never done it as someone displaced from my home, learning a new language, and living in an entirely different culture. As I read Daniel’s story, I was moved by the struggles as he adjusted to life in Oklahoma. Remember what it was like to discover that you had a teacher who was on your side in a unique way? Now imagine how much it meant for Daniel to need someone like that. His book lets us feel that need.
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. -1 Peter 3:8
Related: Why Christians Should Read More Fiction
For the Anglophiles
Last weekend I was introduced to the mystery novels of Edmund Crispin — the pseudonym for Robert Bruce Montgomery. I was told they are “a bit nerdy,” take place in Oxford, and have the flavor and humor of a PG Wodehouse novel. As you might imagine, I purchased one on the spot. Has anyone read any Crispin mysteries? Let me know.
Reads & Listens of the Week
I am very excited that Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy is getting another season. If you haven’t watched season one, I highly recommend it.
I resonated with this short entry from the Upstream podcast: “A Wall is not a Worldview.” (Listen or read right here.) “[we] shift our posture from always being ready to give a reason for our hope to always crouching with our apologetic shield at the ready, prepared to do battle over every tenet of our worldview.”
Chris Martin’s book is available for pre-order this week. I enjoy his newsletter Terms of Service; you’ve seen it linked here a number of times. Here’s an encouraging introduction and meditation.
Closer to Home
Most of you probably know that Jesus is from the lineage of Judah in the Old Testament. Judah was not really the type of person you’d think of as an ancestor of the sinless Messiah. Here’s a piece on the change in Judah throughout his story in the book of Genesis.
You mustn’t wish for another life. You mustn’t want to be somebody else. What you must do is this: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.” I am not all the way capable of so much, but those are the right instructions. (Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter)