Flannery O'Connor

"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it." -Flannery O'Connor

I love reading O'Connor's short stories and novels! They are very different from what I would normally pick up on a dreary day and start reading, but she never fails to draw me in with her style and her characters. All of her stories are harsh and deal with a central theme of dark grace. Yet, she also shows great hope and redemption through the characters. If you have never read one of her stories, read one.

I have found that it is very easy to read her stories and look down upon the characters in them that need to change. Proud, lost, cruel, snobbish, they all need dark grace to shock them into seeing truth. God's truth. I read her stories and think to myself, "well, I'm glad I'm not like that!" I see the grace she puts in her stories and I am amazed at her wonderful faith. Yet, I do not fully grasp the meaning of the story until I am able to apply it to my own life. Which, is very hard to do. That means I have to admit that I am proud, lost, cruel, snobbish, etc.

Well, today I found myself in a place where I realized I could be the main character in one of her stories...and I must say, I wasn't exactly pleased by the realization. Of course it is easy to read her stories and half heartedly think, "sure, I could be like that sometimes." But it is much more convicting when it seems to slap you in the face! It's so easy to see wrong in others when all along it is staring us in the face. I guess that is one beautiful thing about O'Connor's writing. She has the uncanny ability to point out those evils which are in every man's heart. But, she doesn't leave us there. She shows grace. Dark grace that brings us to redemption.

So, like I said, if you have never read one, do!

Some of my favorites:
Parker's Back
A Good Man is Hard to Find
Revelation
The Violent Bear it Away (a novel)