Frederick Buechner was too literary for many Christians and too Christian for the literary set, writes NYT columnist David Brooks.
New York Times columnist David Brooks at the University of Chicago, Jan. 19, 2012.One morning in the fall of 1936, 10-year-old Frederick Buechner and his younger brother were playing in their room. Their father opened the door, checked on them, and then went down into the family garage, turned on the engine of the car and waited for the exhaust to kill him.
Many decades later, after his mother had died, Buechner wrote of her: “The sadness of other people’s lives, even the people she loved, never seemed to touch her where she lived. I don’t know why. It wasn’t that she had a hard heart, I think — in many ways she was warm, sympathetic, generous — but that she had a heart that for one reason or another she kept permanently closed to other people’s suffering, as well as to the darkest corners of her own.
His books are understated, not narcissistic. By and large, they don’t make arguments. Buechner’s books tell stories, let you experience another person’s experience, let you get involved with the deep parts of one person’s life to see where it rhymes with and differs from your own. His first novel was a great success. After his second, he came to faith. He was attending a church service in New York where the pastor was talking about how Jesus is crowned amid confession, tears and great laughter. “At the phrase, for reasons that I have never satisfactorily understood, the great wall of China crumbled and Atlantis rose up out of the sea, and on Madison Avenue, at 73rd Street, tears leapt from my eyes as though I had been struck across the face.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
Garth Brooks lends voice as narrator for NatGeo docuseries 'America's National Parks''You'll feel like you're there.' Garth Brooks narrates a new NatGeo docuseries, offering breathtaking looks at 'America's National Parks.'
Lire la suite »
Garth Brooks lends voice as narrator for NatGeo docuseries 'America's National Parks'Garth Brooks serves as a travel guide and lends his voice to a new project as the narrator for the NatGeo docuseriesk, 'America's National Parks.'
Lire la suite »
Garth Brooks lends voice as narrator for NatGeo docuseries 'America's National Parks''You'll feel like you're there.' Garth Brooks narrates a new NatGeo docuseries, offering breathtaking looks at 'America's National Parks.'
Lire la suite »
L.A. Dodgers TV/Radio Reporter David Vassegh Injured On Slide, Refuses To Be Called Out – VideoIt was one hit that Dodgers baseball reporter David Vassegh didn’t enjoy. Vassegh recorded a bit Wednesday night showing him taking a ride on Bernie Brewer’s slide an attraction at the Milwau…
Lire la suite »