Summary: A theological novel about a woman grappling with God about her life.
Recently I recommended Lila to someone that I thought would enjoy the novel. I recommended it, not just because it is a well written novel, but because of the theological content. I thought they needed to see someone else grapple with God about wrong done to them as a way to reframe the way that they thought of God.
It has been just over 10 years since this novel came out and since I read it twice in quick succession. I have said a number of times that Lila is probably my favorite novel, or at least in the top ten. And I am not changing my mind with that on this third reading. But I think I am more aware of some of the weaknesses of the novel. Just like Gilead (a novel based on John Ames, the husband of Lila), this is a novel without any chapters. There are pauses and breaks in the narrative, but as someone that does a lot of reading at night before I fall asleep, not having a clear chapter break means that I tend to keep reading too long. That structure makes sense of this being a stream of conscience novel mostly in the head of Lila. When you are thinking, you often jump from topic to topic without clear logical progression.
Lila reveals much of her history (and trauma) as the novel progresses, but it is not a linear retelling of her life. We get a glimpse of one period of time and then a different look at a different time once Lila is able to processes and look again at that event with new eyes. Lila is uneducated, but as John Ames can see, that does not mean she isn’t smart. She is wickedly smart, but her lack of training and her lack of confidence means that she assumes that her thoughts are invalid. She has to gain language to describe her life and then process her experiences through that new series of lenses which she did not have previously.
As I said, this is also a theological novel. Part of what Lila is doing is grappling with the problem of evil, the concept of heaven and redemption, and of grace. This God who John Ames loves has allowed many awful things to happen to her. And some of those awful things she had a role in choosing. Generally, I don’t find apologetics or theological discussions of the problem of evil useful. I don’t think there is a solution to the problem of evil. I don’t think God ordains evil. I also think that God has the power to directly work in our lives. But if God has the power to act, and does not, then is God responsible. If not, is that because there is some “greater plan” or because God has chosen not to act. There are no real answers here, which I appreciate, but the ideas are grappled with seriously. One of the problems of much problem of evil discussion is that it is abstracted from real life. In real life, people have bad things happen and part of the way forward in thinking through them is fiction.
I was more conscious of the theology and less of the story of grace in this reading. It is not that grace isn’t present here, but this third reading I knew the grace was there and so I was more aware of how theological the novel was. I don’t want to scare away anyone from the book, because it is a well written novel that I want to encourage people to read, but it does take on hard issues.
Another aspect of the novel that I just didn’t appreciate as much with my prior two readings is how much of the novel concerns thinking because for the first time in her life, Lila isn’t scratching out her survival. There is food in the house. There isn’t much cleaning because it is just her and her husband. She doesn’t have to work 14-16 hour days to be fed or have a place to stay. She isn’t living outside or in a virtual slavery as she has at points in her life. So there is space and part of that space is that she essentially has to grapple with the past that won’t leave her alone.
I know there is a pushback against therapy speak and some of that push back has valid concerns. But it still feels to me like what is happening her is healing from trauma. She has repressed pain and suffering from most of her life. And now that there is space, things just keep coming back up. She has been told for so long that she is worthless (through words and deeds) that John Ames’ words of love and affirmation and grace need lots of time to sink in and change how she thinks of the world and of herself.
Change takes time and we are often impatient. I keep returning back to this prayer by Teilhard de Chardin, a 20th century jesuit. I had it recommend to me when I was on retreat about eight month ago and I keep returning to it. If there were a prayer that captures the theme of the novel Lila best, it would be this one.
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Lila: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson (Third Reading) Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com audiobook