God Land by Lyz Lenz

My favorite parts of God Land, by Lyz Lenz:

“For a young mother church was more than a religious education -– it was her community. ‘Some weeks, I only left the house to go to church,’ she tells me. The women in the congregation shared cold remedies for babies, which, according to Evelyn, involved ‘steam and some molasses.’ …Betty tells me those years were the worst years of her life. And in those years, church with her escape and her sanity.”

“I believe Marilyn is talking in general terms. I think if I told her about my life and my purpose, she’d be on my side. But maybe I’m foolish. And which of us is supposed to bend toward the other? We are worlds away, but at the same table. Between us is an unconquerable space, But for now it’s filled with treats, Folgers, and crumpled and napkins. I lean forward and listen.”

“I’m hurt and angry at a Christian ethic that is so tangled in the politics of the right that voting any other way means I am seen by my family and my friends as going against the very will of God.”