Friday, January 21, 2011

On the Death of Reynolds Price

Reynolds Price died yesterday. He will certainly be remembered more for his contributions to American literature than for his contributions to American theology. However, I found his theological writings much more interesting than his novels. His book Letter To A Man In The Fire: Does God Exist And Does He Care was an elegant meditation on the subject. I haven't read his re-interpretations of parts of the Bible, but they sound like they're on par with Eugene Peterson (The Message).

I like his views on prayer, which he talks about in an interview in Parting the Curtains: Interviews With Southern Writers: "And throughout my life, . . . , certainly very intensely during the time I was going through sort of desperate health problems six or seven years ago, prayer has always been a very important part of my daily life. It's so much a part of my daily life that I don't even think of it as prayer. It just seems like the same thing as making the coffee and answering the phone and doing the work. I don't have elaborate, ceremonial ways that I do it. I am not a churchgoing person. But I think I'm an intensely religious person."

To pray as regularly as we make the coffee or talk (or text) on the phone: now there's a goal for all of us.

No comments: