“…life is a very deep mystery, and… finally the grace of God is all that can resolve it.”

“‘On Sundays you talk about the Good Lord, how He does one thing and another.’

“‘Yes, I do.’ And he blushed. It was as if he expected that question, too, and was surprised again that the thing he expected for no reason was actually happening. He said, ‘I know that I am not — adequate to the subject. You have to forgive me.’

“She nodded. ‘That’s all you going to say?’

“‘No. No, it isn’t. I think you are asking me these questions because of some hard things that have happened, the things you won’t talk about. If you did tell me about them, I could probably not say more than that life is a very deep mystery, and that finally the grace of God is all that can resolve it. And the grace of God is also a very deep mystery.’ He said, ‘You can probably tell I’ve said these same words too many times. But they’re true, I believe.’ He shrugged, and watched his finger trace the scar on the table.”

Part of an early conversation between an Iowa church pastor (widower John Ames in the fictional town of Gilead) and Lila, a poor homeless drifter who visited the church to get out of the rain and gradually opened up to him, pouring out her difficult past. In the story, Lila ends up marrying this pastor and together they struggle to deal with her past in the light of the Christian faith and worldview. The book is titled Lila and the author is Marilynne Robinson. If you have never read her novel Gilead, you ought to before reading this one. Her characters are rich and her stories complex, and all written within a Christian context, with Calvinism lurking (sometimes critically) in the background. This is one of two end-of-summer novels I am reading – a good, thought-provoking “lighter” read.