Family

Dec 17 2010

Somewhere More Holy by Tony Woodlief

I have been reading Tony Woodlief for some time. First at this blog, Sand in the Gears, and then in places like the Wall Street Journal, World Magazine and National Review Online.

So when his book, Somewhere More Holy: Stories from a Bewildered Father, Stumbling Husband, Reluctant Handyman, and Prodigal Son, was released I quickly added it to the TBR pile. As usual these days, it took me a little longer than expected to get around to reading it. But as I expected, it turned out to be a powerful read.

A snippet from the publisher’s blurb:

Acclaimed columnist Tony Woodlief pens the poignant and powerful story of his search for meaning in the midst of tragedy. When he and his wife lost their adored little girl, his trust in God turned to bitter anger. As he and his wife struggled to save their marriage and his faith, they discovered that home is more than just rooms and a roof. Home is a place where people are sometimes wounded or betrayed. Home is also where God is strong in the broken places.

Tony is the kind of writer I enjoy: honest, intelligent and always interesting. I don’t always agree with him but I almost always come away appreciating his perspective. He has a sense of humor and an awareness of his own limitations that I find refreshing.

Andre Malraux wrote of Whitaker Chambers that he “had not come back from hell empty-handed.” I think the same can be said of Woodlief.

For more on why, see below.

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By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 2 • Tags: , , , ,

Mar 4 2010

The Family is the cradle of the world’s misinformation

Dangerous radicalism? Subversive? Ironic commentary?

The Family is the cradle of the world’s misinformation. There must be something in family life that generates factual error. Overcloseness, the noise and heat of being. Perhaps something even deeper, like the need to survive. Murray says we are fragile creatures surrounded by a world of hostile facts. Facts threaten our happiness and security. The deeper we delve into the nature of things, the looser our structure may seem to become. The family process works toward sealing off the world. Small errors grow heads, fictions proliferate. I tell Murray that ignorance and confusion can’t possibly be the driving forces behind family solidarity.  What an idea, what a subversion. He asks me why the strongest family units exist in the least developed society. Not to know is a weapon of survival, he says. Magic and superstition become entrenched as the powerful orthodoxy of the clan. The family is strongest where objective reality is the most likely to be misinterpreted.  What a heartless theory, I say. But Murray insists it’s true.

– Don De Lillo, White Noise (Penguin Classics Deluxe Editio)

By Kevin Holtsberry • Views • 0 • Tags: , ,