Customer Reviews

The Rock That Is Higher - Story As Truth

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L'Engle's work is a tribute to the senseless attitude many of us have toward the apparent mindlessness offered to us by the world. Story as Truth is her search for meaning in moments of trouble. Not only do the accounts of her soul-searing tribulations mirror the anger and hurt of the reader, the ways in which she seeks the goodness of God during these times bekons us to seek the same. Yet in seeking that, she finds the God of peace sitting behind a veil of experience. We seek passionatly life, truth, and the good in life, yet in reality (as L'Engle points out) we can only come to this through a thoughtful experience of substance; not necessarily a foul experience, just one real enough to weigh upon our own mortality. A thoughtful look at the experiential side of our lives.

"The Rock That Is Higher" is an important book that many Christians need to read. It not only asks great questions, but it makes you think in ways that you never have before. Sometimes, you won't agree with Madeleine...but really, I don't think that agreeing with her all the time is really the point.

I question myself when I read a book and seem to be agreeing with everything the author is saying. Either they are not challenging me to think hard or I'm not challenging myself to think hard enough about what I've just read. Either way you look at it, reading books like that, is rarely helpful in forming who you are as a person.

However, this book is different. It is great and different and challenging and inspiring and odd and unique and indifferent and just plain brilliant. So don't pass this book up. Get hooked on Madeleine.

This is a very good book talking about how stories can hold little slices of truth. Fiction isn't truly fictitious b/c it has whispers of truth in it--much like the writers of the Bible may have felt. Her attitudes on religion and the Bible are right on imho. She doesn't worship the Bible (written by man) or the religion, but sees the slices of truth that story can hold. She loves God with all her heart, but she's not super-dogmatic and doesn't use overly complicated religious language. She is a breath of fresh air while remaining steadfast in her faith. Anyone interesting in writing or finding sources of inspiration will enjoy this book or especially "Walking on Water". She further proves that real and true people are never dated, but rather timeless b/c of the soul and spirit within them. She is a free spirit and an inspiration.

Leave it to a master storyteller to remind us that the Bible is indeed a book of story - more specifically, the story of God and God's relationship with humanity.

In the Christian world, we have become guilty of confusing faith with a set of doctrines and beliefs that we must affirm in order to "be saved." L'Engle says, "a lot of the world, including the Christian world (sometimes I think especially the Christian world), is hung up on literalism, and therefore confuses truth and fact."

For example, it would be completely factual for me to describe myself to someone by telling them my name, height, weight, age, hair color, and eye color. In one sense, those things would truthful statements about me, but is that the truth about who I am? Can a list of facts capture the complexities of my personality, the motivations behind my bad habits, the essence of my being? No. If I wanted to get at these things, I wouldn't turn to a list of facts, I would turn to the narrative of my life. We live our lives in narrative, not in lists of factual accuracies. This is truth the L'Engle is trying to capture.

L'Engle writes, "Karl Barth wrote that he took the Bible far too seriously to take it literally . . . There is no way that you can read the entire Bible seriously and take every word literally." Truth is far deeper than a literal rendering could ever possibly capture.

With chapters such as Story as Homecoming, Story as Family Affair, Story as Affirmation of God' Love, Story as the Search for Truth, Story as Scripture, Story as the Lord's Prayer, Story as Community, Story as Joy, Story as Good News, Story as Creative Act, Story as Redemptive Act, and Story as Resurrection, this book is a gem to be treasured.

Recently, in an episode of This American Life about mapping, Ira Glass commented, "creating a map means ignoring everything in the world but one thing . . . maps have meaning because they filter out the chaos in the world and focus obsessively on one item." Narratives have the power to filter out many of the nuances and subtleties of the world and help "map" the lives of individuals (as well as God). Such is surely the case with the distilled versions of the Gospels found in the Bible - theology is given the chance to take over from biography. L'Engle offers us a gift of truth not inextricably wedded to the limitations of fact.

Other great nuggets from the book include:

"We hear a lot about evangelism today and how the church must pay more attention to evangelism. But mostly evangelism is not what we tell people, unless what we tell is totally consistent with who we are. It is who we are that is going to make the difference. It is who we are that is going to show the love that brought us all into being, that cares for us all, now, and forever. If we do not have love in our hearts, our words of love will have little meaning. If we do not truly enjoy our faith, nobody is going to catch the fire of enjoyment from us. If our lives are not totally centered on Christ, we will not be Christbearers for others, no matter how pious our words."

"Too much concern about Christian art can be destructive both to art and to Christianity. I cannot consciously try to write a Christian story. My own life and my own faith will determine whether or not my stories are Christian. Too much Christian art relies so much on being Christian that the artist forgets that it also must be good art."

"As I read and reread the great stories of the Bible it seems more and more clear that sin is separation from God, and one way to separate ourselves from God is to over-define God. If Jesus was like us, but sinless, it wasn't that he never did anything the moral majority of his day considered wrong. Indeed, he did many things that they considered sin, such as breaking the law by healing people on the Sabbath. But he was never separate from the Source, while we, of our essence, separate ourselves over and over."

"It is easier for a single human bieng to be open and willing to change than it is for an institution, but if enough of us single creatures are open to God's amazing revelations, our institutions will ultimately come along with us. . . . An institution, be it religious, medical, legal, or educational, tends to move very slowly, holding on to the status quo, afraid of rocking the boat, loath to accept that familiar ideas may have to be left behind. We shouldn't wait for the institutions to do the changing, but be willing to change ourselves, for in the end it is we who make up the institution, and if we become more open, more loving, more interdependent through the lavishness of God's love, then we can and will make a difference."

You cannot "force people to be Christians. Story does not force. Facts are the merest beginning of my understanding of the Christian story. That there was indeed a man named Jesus who lived around two thousand years ago and who was crucified is about the only fact that we are assured of. That fact is far less important than the story, and that fact will be of little importance unless I have love in my heart and take that love into the world with me wherever I go."

Outstanding look at the truth in story and myth. Reading this book is a joy. It is almost like talking to Madeleine face to face. She wrote this book soon after she recovered from a serious car accident and while she was working on research into the life of David. She speaks of how the Bible is filled with stories (and myths), but that doesn't not mean that it isn't true, because story is a great way to learn truth about God, ourselves, and our lives as children of a Loving God.

This is one of my favorites of L'Engle's non-fiction. It is an excellent introduction to her "theological" writings. It's a much easier read than the Genesis Trilogy but every bit as interesting and thought provoking.

The book is well-written and grabs the reader right from the beginning. Very interesting and thought provoking.

This book makes you both think and feel. It really does take you to a higher place!

The book, I am certain, left the seller's location in perfect condition. It arrived as though it had been tossed around (bent corners).

I bought this book all excited that she was going to be writing about stories, and how stories are "true" whether or not they are factual, because I had seen her talk about this in several interviews.

This book is not really about that though. It's more about like her own personal life journey in her later years, and how she uses stories from the Bible to give her inspiration.

I guess if you're a pretty serious Christian, this book would be cool. Personally, I couldn't even finish it, and I hate to leave books unfinished. Instead I gave it to my mom.

I especially agree with one of the reviews on the cover. The guy says something about how reading it feels like you are going on a walk with your grandma through the garden. Afterwards, you don't really remember what you talked about, but you know it was important. That's a very accurate depiction of this rambling book.