Thinking Out LoudThere are a handful of authors I love and trust so implicitly that I will instantly order – perhaps pre-order – anything they write.
Some, like Marilynne Robinson, write profoundly and gorgeously about the faith that’s central to my life, and that’s partly what I’m drawn to.
Others, such as Liane Moriarty, who’s just released Big Little Truths – her first-ever sequel, to the fabulous Big Little Lies, of Reese Witherspoon/Nicole Kidman fame – bring to life a world in which religion barely seems to exist.
Her characters navigate daily challenges that are instantly, hilariously recognisable, from parent Whatsapp groups to perimenopause, grunty teens to complicated in-laws. That they do so with zero reference to possible spiritual realities is in keeping with the experience of many Australians, even at a time of growing interest in such things.
In Big Little Truths, a religious character does get a brief mention, in one protagonist’s stream of consciousness:
‘… and she needed to call Thea because her mother had recently moved into a great retirement village and according to Thea she’d never looked better, so it might suit Madeline’s mother, although Thea was so God-y, so it might be a God-y kind of place without alcohol, which would not suit Madeline’s mother, but she would check it out …’
We all identify with Madeline, Celeste, Jane – the book’s main characters – but the reference to ‘Thea’ reminded me how tangential we each are to most people we come into contact with. What one identifier might your acquaintances apply to you?
I feel like I could do worse than ‘God-y’, if anyone thinks of me that way. Though that does rather depend on whether my ‘God-iness’ savours of rules – no alcohol, no fun – or of what I wish it would: joy, kindness, peace, grace. In short, of God.
This Thinking Out Loud was first published on Facebook.