i'm reading my latest Time magazine issue cursorily. Anne Rice is featured in the 10 Questions regular column. Her vampire stories, her GAY vampire stories, captivated Ex previously. As I was reading this, i was surprised to read that she had converted from atheism to Christianity.
How did you evolve from writing about vampires to writing about the life of Jesus? —Tonya Solomon Flushing, Mich.
It was a personal conversion. After 38 years of being an atheist, faith came back to me. I had to stop writing about vampires, because they had been a metaphor for lost souls. Instead, I made up my mind to concentrate on Jesus Christ.
i'm personally amazed at this conversion after 38 years, after much success as a writer. as you read the article, you will note that this conversion was a culmination of a search of many, many years. 'wrestling with theological questions' as she puts it. and that search ended with a simple 'I love you', (to Jesus).
Amazed because i see her as a very intelligent woman grappling with such deep philosophical/theological issues. many others reject Christianity or believing because they 'reason' otherwise with their high intellect. She used her intellect to find her faith.
A beautiful Easter message...
9 comments:
Dear CC, I stopped being a practicing Catholic when I decided for myself that there was no unbiased source the divinity of Jesus. I love many of his teachings like the Beatitudes and the many moral lessons in the parables but I realized that for me, worship is only for a supreme being worthy of it - God. Worshiping a being less than God is just not "right". And ironically, although worship is such an integral act to a believer of God, I realized that I cannot do anything to actually deserve the grace of God. God's mercy is the only reason everything exists. The sun shines on both those who are "good" and those who are not. For me, turning my back on Catholicism didn't mean a loss of faith. It was a deepening of faith, a greater trust in the mercy of God, and to humility and gratitude. It also meant trying to live a more moral life. I guess all I want to point out is that reason does not negate faith, and that organized religion and faith are two different things.
oh my god. kaya gustong-gusto ko ang blog mo CC kasi i can so relate to it. i was supposed to write a blog about this topic too.
i went to atlanta for holy week. then last saturday, i attended the easter vigil in one catholic church which was a two-hour ceremony. part of it was baptism of converts. it was totally amazing! naisip ko kasi parang talagang it's personal to them as compared to us who were born catholics. and this one particular touched me. so he was called in front for his conversion thingy. and the lady said that this guy was a baptist minister for 20 years. and i was so amazed and touched. imagine giving up your religion and even he was a minister. that must be very very personal for him. i was looking at him the whole time (gwapo rin kasi siya. hahaha). iba talaga ang conviction niya.
hello anonymous one! thanks for the comment. i certainly respect your faith and understand where you are coming from. i suspect a lot of christians/catholics may feel the same way you do.
hey gharyjohn! thanks so much! i forgot to mention that i witnessed the same thing hearing mass in NYC last year. and the new converts had a fervor i couldn't begin to understand. i guess also because they embrace the faith with their eyes open, with their minds mature and ready.
For what its worth, I'm a practicing Catholic. There did come a time that I had to wrestle my being gay with being a Christian but in the end, I believe that God made me this way and being gay is the personal challenge that God gave to me: what I do as a gay man will reflect upon my spirituality.
hate to defile your blog. but since i am not a holy one ... more of a vampire, just wanted to talk about Anne Rice's books.
am sad that she is now a goodie christian, for i really enjoyed her Beauty Trilogy. 3 books about Sleeping Beauty set in a world where S&M, BDSM sex between FF, FM and MM are all there. Of course not to forget her other S&M erotic books. The Beauty trilogy is the most explicit of her books i think ... thus not available in SG. I had to order it from Amazon. But her other erotic books can be found in some book shops.
hello vince. its worth a lot, to me at least, that you are a practicing catholic. i dont meet a lot these days! i know that whatever the circumstance, we all manage to 'rise up' to the challenge that God gave us, including making productive, helpful lives
hey mavey! no, you did not defile the blog! no judgments here! i didnt know about those other books. thanks for the info!
Ang galing naman ng conversion nya. I'm proud of her. Sana she'll get to know more about Jesus through the Bible. =)
I'm a regular reader here. Hope you don't mind =)
much more than that, mr schizo! she writes about Jesus now, more than Lestat!
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