Beck describes experiences with the spiritual world using terms like "the Bunraku puppeteers" and "The Seeing Thing". Why do you suppose she chose these terms, instead of more conventional ones? What does she gain by employing them; what does she lose?

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Jennifer Graf Groneberg

Well, she's very careful to not lapse into New Age or religious terminology. She says the books that usually discuss this kind of thing are too flaky for her taste, or something like that. I think she's trying to preserve her credibility with readers who do not embrace religion or spirituality. And I think she's trying to keep things vague so that she can avoid drawing conclusions about the supernatural. I think she's kinda wimpy about it all. I suspect she has more solid ideas about what she experienced than she lets on. But that's just a guess.

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Kathryn Lynard Soper
Mother of Thomas (DS) 10/2005
Sam - 2003
Matt - 2001
Christine - 1999
Andrew - 1997
Ben - 1994
Elizabeth - 1993

Author of The Year My Son and I Were Born: A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self-Discovery



Editor of GIFTS and GIFTS 2

I think you're right, she chooses her words to be the most inclusive, and to offend no one. But I wonder, is she so careful that some of her meaning is hard to understand?

I also wonder if it's a Harvard thing. That she and John are too smart, too educated, to believe in the common God. One of the things I like about Anne Lamott (and MB quotes her in one of the chapters) is how easily she speaks about faith using common terms. It makes her stories more real to me, and more accessible.

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Jennifer Graf Groneberg

I love Anne Lamott. And yes, I think Martha's trying to keep herself excluded from the "opiate of the masses" camp.

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Kathryn Lynard Soper
Mother of Thomas (DS) 10/2005
Sam - 2003
Matt - 2001
Christine - 1999
Andrew - 1997
Ben - 1994
Elizabeth - 1993

Author of The Year My Son and I Were Born: A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self-Discovery



Editor of GIFTS and GIFTS 2

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Anne Lamott. She is my favourite writer of all time.

Good taste, ladies.

Anne talks a lot about 'God' and 'Jesus' and even if one isn't a Christian persay (I'm Unitarian)...she's very accessible that way. You just have to transfer the spiritual term to whatever term you believe in...and that does the trick.

The puppets fall under 'woo-woo' category for me.

I am in LOVE with Anne Lammott! I thought that I liked you all before, now it's sealed! I've always thought, that given the chance, Anne Lammott and I could be "old sames" (to take from Lisa See's book). What do you think, a bit much? LOL

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Gillian
wife to Sergei and mom to Elaina (, Zoya (6) and Polina (2 1/2 DS)
http://lintofpocket.wordpress.com/

I agree that it partly has to do with the "Harvard" thing and not wanting to be "general" with her terms. Maybe it's a reflection of how she wants to be perceived, or maybe it's a relfection of the possibility that she hadn't figured it all out yet.

Maybe it's in her personality to "rename" things to her liking. It's hard to know after just reading a book written by her and not knowing her personally.

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CJ
Mom to:
B (10/96)
E (06/04: DS)
? (EDD: 11/10)







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