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Last night I watched an early screening of the new film Wildcat. Based on the life and writings of Flannery O’Connor, it’s directed by @ethanhawke and stars his daughter @maya_hawke Literature is my first love, but I appreciate the art of filmmaking as well. However, I’ve always felt that those two art forms would be better off kept apart. Stories intended for one medium don’t always translate well into another. After all, we don’t run around turning poems into paintings, or paintings into songs. And yet, I’m a writer who is very influenced by all forms of artistic expression. It’s complicated. And watching this film last night, I felt so grateful for the complexities, and so grateful to see Flannery‘s life and work honored with this fierce and wonderful film.
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Flannery’s work is disturbing. I don’t “like” her stories, I need them. I can’t wait to see this film again (after all, the script is made up almost entirely of Flannery’s own words), and I am now hungry to read her letters and prayer journal. One more note on the film (recognizing that IG is no place for a full review): the actors who play Flannery and her mother (@itsmelauralinney is incredible) also depict characters in the stories Flannery wrote. I don’t like the hunt for biographical details in a writer’s work, but I don’t think that’s what we find in this film. Rather, because Flannery shows up as herself and as some of her characters, we are better able to recognize and marvel at the mystery of how one artist’s imagination can give birth to such powerful multitudes.
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#wildcat #flanneryoconnor

Perhaps you feel a bit torn this week, as I do, between the glorious and the mundane, between Holy Week church services and the grocery list we are drawing up for Easter lunch. On the one hand, we stand on a precipice in the year, and a drama of grief and glory will soon unfold. In many of our churches, we will be invited to participate in moments that are at once finished and past but also ever-present: “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31).

On the other hand, some of us must also remember to buy chocolate eggs for the children’s baskets and the ingredients for authentic southern banana pudding. In my house at least, it’s a family tradition for Easter and only homemade will do.

If Holy Week seems to have its head in the clouds while we must keep our feet firmly on ordinary ground, consider this: on the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus does not explain his death with a sermon or a parable. Instead, he offers his followers a meal.
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#maundythursday #sacredtriduum #springcomestomaplehurst