What did you find most insightful/impactful?
One of the
stories in this book I enjoyed was how the grandfather’s eccentricities are
recalled from his youth and how John learns lessons because of his
grandfather’s actions. Examples include the practice of the grandfather giving
all and any of the family’s possessions to others or preaching with a gun in a
bloodied shirt. Over the course of the novel, the true character and intimate
details of the father are revealed in context with anecdotes regarding the
grandfather. The main details were revealed in the search for the grave of the
grandfather. One event that really struck me as prevalent was Ames recount of
the memory of receiving “communion” from his father at the remains of a Baptist
church that was burned by lightning. Ames recalls this as a made-up memory
adapted from his father breaking and sharing an ashy biscuit for lunch with
Ames. Maybe the ashes are a symbolic metaphor of the fire as anger and ashes as
the regret that results from anger. Fire and ashes are components in the
process of grace. He realizes that the lesson is that humans exist as eternal
souls. I thought this was impactful because Ames expresses a viewpoint that the
purpose of life is to look for things to be thankful for and appreciate what
you have in life by living in the moment.
What did you find most troubling?
The idea in the story that disturbed me the most was Ames theological struggles about his relationship with his grandfather. He seemed to have much emotional turmoil due to his grandfather’s engagement in the Civil War. John’s grandfather was prone to visions and got involved with violent abolitionists during the Civil War effort, but in doing so became estranged from his own son. John’s father and his grandfather never reconciled, and once the grandfather died, he and his father even went looking for his grave. Even though Ames’s father prays at the gravesite, John never felt a sense of peace about their troubled relationship. John also had an estranged relationship with his grandfather, yet, he did take him to see a baseball game that was a rainout. John took this to have divine meaning but he just couldn’t comprehend the meaning. He did however respect his grandfather’s need to be useful to the world.
Discussion Question for class
In light of the responses and reactions about COVID19 from ministries, I reflected on how the narrator tells of his grandfather’s fiery sermons urging his congregation to take up arms in the fight to free the slaves. “He did preach those young men into the war. And his church was hit hard.” The narrator’s father, on the other hand, preached pacifism. Which one was right? What is the appropriate role of the clergy in times of war and a crisis like COVID19?