Anne Lamott (1954- _____), Lecture notes of Christianity

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Anne Lamott

(1954- _____)

Timeline August 1989, son Sam is born

1990 , best friend Pammy dies 1990's , teaches at University of California -Davis and writing conference across US 1993 , Operating Instructions becomes best-seller 1996 , begins regular column for Salon 1999 , Traveling Mercies 2001 , mother Dorothy dies 2008 , works as Democrat precinct captain; July 20, 2009, Sam's son, Jax, is born; 2012 , Help-Thanks-Wow: The Three Essential Prayers 2014 , Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace 2017 , Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy April 13, 2019 , marries Neal Allen(Deer Park Villa, Fairfax, CA)

April 10, 1954, born Anne Patricia Lamott in San Francisco; grows up in Tiburon, CA (Bay Area), one of three children of Kenneth Lamott, a writer, and Dorothy Lamott, a journalist and lawyer,

1972 , graduates from Drew College Preparatory School, a private high school; attends Goucher College (Maryland) for 1 year, tennis scholarship

1973 , moves back to Bay Area; begins writing for magazines, including Mademoiselle , Woman Sports , and California

1979 , father dies of brain cancer; publishes first novel, Hard Laughter ;

1984 , hangs around St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, near flea market, Marin City, CA

July 1986 , sobriety begins

1987 , baptized at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church

Where to start?? Nonfiction

Where to start?? -- Novels

Her metaphors for religious experience are rich with descriptive

powers, as she experiences Jesus as "the alleycat of heaven,“ as she suggests the placing of prayer supplications in "God's In Box,“ as she warns all about the attractiveness and dangers of "grace lite,“ as she portrays death as "the big eraser." In most of her nonfiction works, she

acknowledges and pays tribute to the saving graces of her home

congregation, the people of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Marin

City, California.

I. Grace can be found in eclectic, humor-

laced, congregationally based,

unflinchingly incarnational Christianity.”

“Earth is forgiveness school….

It begins with forgiving yourself — then

you might as well start at the dinner table.”

“Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison

and then waiting for the rat to die.”

II. Foregiveness is the Key

Regarding her bedrock Christian faith, she always leans toward

• the local rather than the general,
  • simple faithfulness rather than dogmatic certainty,
    • stories rather than theories,
      • grace rather than judgment,
        • God's immanence rather than God's transcendence,
          • sentiment rather than cynicism,
            • community rather than individualism,
              • inclusion rather than condescension,
                • providence rather than randomness,
                  • the mystical rather than the rational, and - forgiveness rather than perfectionism.

IV. 10 of Anne Lamott’s preferences

**1. All truth is a paradox.

2. Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes.
3. Nothing outside of you will help you in any real, lasting way.
4. Everyone is screwed up, broken, clingy and scared.
5. Chocolate with 75% cacao is not actually a food.
6. Every writer puts down terrible first drafts..
7. Creative success are “something you have to recover from..
8. Families are both astonishing and hard..
9. Speaking of food: try to do a little better.. 10.Grace is a powerful thing. 11.God isn’t that scary.. 12.Death is incredibly hard to bear, and you don’t get over losing people you love**.

V. 12 truths she learned from life & writing

RESOURCES

“On Resilience with Anne Lamott”

(Sponsored by Strengthening the Heartland) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df4EPkbpYsw

“Bird by Bird with Annie….”

Documentary Film by Freida Lee Mock https://vimeo.com/ondemand/birdbybird

Anne Lammot on The TODAY SHOW (3/24/2021)

(about her new book Dusk Night Dawn) https://www.today.com/video/anne-lamott-talks-about-finding-grace-and-new-book-

“12 truths I learned from life and writing”

TED Talk by Anne Lamott https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X41iulkRqZU

The Writer Anne Lamott Gets to the Happily-Ever-After Part (NYT article, April 26, 2019) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/fashion/weddings/the-final-chapters-of-anne-lamotts-life-now-include-a-soul-mate.html

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