Review of Lamott's Grace(Eventually)

Grace(Eventually)
Thoughts on Faith
by Anne Lamott
Riverhead Books 2007, 253 Pages, 24.95

Faith and funny don’t usually go together. Sincere Christians are among the funniest people I know, but sadly many Christians hide not only their humor but also their inner lives and sins. San Francisco, Bay Area, Californian, Presbyterian, Anne Lamott laughs at herself, her religion and the peccadilloes of others, friends, families and politicians. In that process she models authenticity. Here is a real person laughing, crying and praying – in her own razor sharp style.

She tackles a hard one. Learn how to assist in killing a friend, read her chapter “At Death’s Window.” Want to know how not to ski? Read “Ski Patrol.” For us interested in church and children, read Wailing Wall.” Read every word of every chapter for joy and sorrow, a human experience.

Churches call for people to confess their sins. We do that mostly quietly, to our selves or whisper the choicer ones to a priest. Not Anne Lamott. She confesses to her readers. Alcohol, dope, child out of wedlock, desire to kill, inability to forgive and on and on are mentioned with wit, self-awareness and not caring about what others think of her. I see her as a model Christian, radically imperfect, sharing herself with her community, open to grace and willing to live an imperfect life fully and with a modest about of adorable whining.

The only thing wrong with the book is that it is too short. It leaves me screaming for encore and more.