Tonight, I enjoyed an evening listening to Marilynne Robinson speak on The Human Spirit and the Good Society. Robinson won the Pulitzer for Gilead, a read that finds the unique tension of being both peaceful and energetic. I enjoyed Gilead immensely. In addition to her several works of fiction, she is also an essayist and a potent theological voice.
Here are a few of the lines I jotted down this evening:
We have an impulse to conform reality to theory.
We are both terrible and wonderful.
There is no strictly secular language which can translate religious awe.
We are not reproducing a traditional America but rather arming ourselves with an imagination of hostility toward our neighbors.
If you create a symphony, you have done a great thing, but if you are able to sit through a symphony and be moved by it, you have also done a great thing.
If you’d like to read more about Robinson as a writer, Powells has a nice interview, and if you would like to further explore her theological bent, Christianity Today did a recent piece on Marilynne as a “narrative Calvinist” and the Religion and Ethics News Weekly recently interviewed her.
Wow, I too enjoyed Gilead immensely. I have to say I'm jealous you got to hear from her — sounds like quite a treat.