Excerpt from

The Literate Spirit: Suggested Reading for Believers and Seekers By Lea Mathieu.

To be published fall 2008 by Daily Bread Press.

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WHY BOTHER TO LIVE?

Look.

There are frosty days when I wake up and wonder whether I should just shoot myself. It seems so much easier than getting out of bed.

Life is such a hassle.

And I’m still fat.

I haven’t shot myself, and very probably won’t, for a variety of reasons.

I wake up at 5 AM on school days, which is not a good time for irreversible decisions.

My beloved brings me coffee in bed, so I know I will soon be very happy.

I have children.

I have friends.

I have students.

I have unused frequent flier miles.

God would frown.

I haven’t written all my books yet.

I haven’t even read all my books yet.

I haven’t been to Machu Picchu.

I still can’t play the cello.

So yes, I should live. It’s a matter of gratefulness and anticipation – for love (above all), for joy, for awe, for meaning, for dark chocolate served with champagne and a side of sweet orange slices.

I’m not the first person to realize this. Writers have debated “to be or not to be” for a very long time. Hamlet didn’t end it all because he feared hell. I don’t fear hell so much as God’s disappointment, which may be the same thing. So here we are. How about you?

People despair of life, or are bored to death, or become the living dead, because they find neither joy nor meaning at this limited level of reality. They can’t see or feel the transcendent truth, only the sad façade that too often passes for Life.

The following writers understand this. Some describe the movement from despair to hope, from confusion to clarity, from selfishness to love. Others seem to have known it all along. And here’s the point:

Yes! Get out of bed.

This is the day the Lord has made.

THE COLOR PURPLE

By Alice Walker

First Published in 1982

Genre: Fiction

You wouldn’t think a book that begins with the rape of a child by her father would be fit to blossom your spirit.

But this one is.

I am so in love with Celie’s soul, because she let it soar when everything around her wanted it dead. I get teary-eyed just hoping that such courage exists.

This is a redemption tale: a story of a good person enslaved by oppression who breaks free with the love of someone stronger who inspires her with wisdom, joy, and courage. In other words, it’s about God. Maybe it’s about you.

I quoted The Color Purple in my first Easter sermon in a small rural church; afterwards I was repeatedly advised not to say “pissed” from the pulpit, so I fear many listeners didn’t get it. But I stand firm in my choice of this canonical text.

The point of that sermon was that God’s gift of resurrection is offered not just at death, but continually throughout our lives. Here is joy, in a field of purple flowers, and how often do we pass it by unnoticed? Here is love in the new stranger come into your life, and at first you are overwhelmed and threatened by her strength and beauty. But like so much of life, it’s sheer gift.

And that’s what the book is about – God pleasing Celie by sending her purple flowers, love, family, tried and tested faith, a resurrected spirit, and community, even in the midst of great suffering and despair.

The structure of the book follows Celie’s spiritual development: first she writes to God, because no one else will listen to her. Then she discovers love on earth, and God is replaced by family. Then in the end … well, it’s an Easter story. Perfect.