The Moth

The Moth

Adult nonfiction
The oral tradition, the telling and retelling of stories was a
well loved form of connection, communication, and entertainment
through much of human history. For awhile rapidly proliferating
electronics threatened to take over. But reports of its demise were
quite premature. There is something bone deep, soul deep in us that
is fascinated by the lives of those with whom we share this planet.
We want our stories.
In 1997 The Moth began. Celebs and not-so-famous people would
tell interesting real life stories to avidly attentive audiences.
"At The Moth, people tell intimate stories, stories that are
sometimes so private you could have known a person for five years
without hearing them. Your neighbor who you think you have nothing in
common with gets on stage, and you discover that you actually share a
good deal. When you see them on the street the next day, your
perspective of them is changed because you know something imortant
about them."
Now those of us who can't get to The Moth venues are in for a
treat. The Moth (the book) brings together fifty stories chosen out
of thousands. They are well worth reading.
My favorite, Easter in a Texas Roadhouse, is about a minister
who has worked very hard on his Easter sermon, creating a careful
blend of reflections, experiences, and famous theologian quotes. Late
Easter Eve he's lost and out of gas. He ends up in a roadhouse where
he impresses the clientele with his pool shooting abilities. They all
end up conversing. One of the guys asks him what Easter is.
"So I thought for a moment, and then I swallowed and started
in. 'Now, there was this guy named Jesus. He was born to an unwed
teenage mother, and when he grew up he gathered around him twelve
guys--his friends--and they were his gang, and they roamed the
countryside together, and they talked about peace and justice and love
and God. And they did great things. But the authorities wanted to
get him, and so they tried to find ways of either capturing him or
killing him."
Did he get through to his new froends? Guess who showed up in
church to hear the Easter story again?
Bicycle Safety on Essex is a very important cautionary tale for
our times. The narrator tells of observing the police stopping a man
and a boy who are riding a bycicle late at night. The man, who has
worked the late shift, is bringing the boy home from a play date.
There is a lot of interrogation concerning the black man's
relationship with the family, including a covert insinuation that the
man may be a child molester.
"And the kid says, 'If you fucking assholes arrest him again one
more time just because he's black and I'm not, I'm going to kill
myself. You came into my apartment and dragged him out because the
crazy lady next door said he was a rapist, you put him in handcuffs
when he came to pick me up at school, you pulled him away from me at
the street fair and made me wait for my mom! I swear to God, I'm
going to lose my mind!"
Whoa!
Tajic Sonata starts off grimly and carries an unexpected twist.
The author is living in a city at war. A flag telling which side is
in charge tells her how to dress. Her husband and a lot of other men
have disappeared. There is no food and she and her children are in
constant danger.
When she gets to the University where she teaches piano there
are soldiers in the music room destroying the instruments. Although
she's in shock she also has hit the point she can't take any more.
She offers to play music to show how precious the instruments are.
The soldiers get quiet. She begins to play Moonlight Sonata.
"And then one of them came even closer and asked me to play a
Tajic folk song. When I had first walked in, they were all speaking
Russian, but when he asked me to play, he asked in our native Tajic.
So I played it and all of them started singing along. They were like
a choir.
And then out of nowhere, a man came to the door, and he said
something to them, and they stood up quickly, took their armor and
guns, and left, shutting the door behind them."
And there are forty-seven more stories, each drawing the reader
into its universe. This is a perfect read for folks who must grab
their reading time in bits and pieces.
Actually it's a perfect read for any adult with a caring heart
and an open mind.
On a personal note, I had a real Wilson Center Weekend. Saturday
afternoon I went to a program for people who had lost loved ones to
suicide. People had lost friends, parents, a spouse, children... I
had lost a cousin. We talked at soul depth and supported one
another. Sunday after church Wilson Center people joined folks from
other campus faith groups. We went out to Food & Medicine to help
them fill Thanksgiving Baskets. Food & Medicine people are solidarity
champions. They pay local farmers fair prices for food, helping them
stay in business as well as helping good people put food on their
tables. Before we left we had a home made supper.
A great big shout out goes out to all who participated in both events.
jules hathaway



Sent from my iPod