To pass the time, I read the bulk of Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Poisonwood Bible. The book came highly recommended by my fellow mk and college friend Kacie Mann, whose media reviews, idea explorations, and regular blog posts are well worth checking out.
The writing is pretty powerful, but Kingsolver really doesn't like white men. All of her narrators are women, and they are nuanced and relatable, but the white men (except for one) who plague them are hideous grotesques of typical male behavior. They are beyond the reach of hope.
It got me thinking about our work here with refugees. On some level, most of the genocides in their countries (Bhutan being maybe the only exception) can be traced back to misguided activities of white men. So there's good reason to hate us as a general group. However- praise be to God- they seem more than willing to engage and befriend us on an individual level.
"It's all about one on one relationships," my mentor, Tim Cummins, frequently reminds me. In this intimate space, seismic social forces give way to real engagement and the new life of love. It's the incarnation of the command to love our neighbor as ourself.
Please pray for my friendships, that they may grow into living testaments of the resurrection of the Lord of Love.
Very good point! Are you finished with the book? If I remember right, there's one positive male character. I'll tell you what, she certainly doesn't like white male missionaries... the father is one of the ugliest characters I've ever read about...
ReplyDeleteI read this book in 2001 and thought the exact same thing about Kingsolver. I personally think her choice to make the the white men in the story voiceless limited the scope of the book. But I still loved it and found the writing quite moving.
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