The Brothers K

I just finished reading a novel by David James Duncan entitled The Brothers K. If I were to do a review of the book I would, among other things, speak of the evocative language the author uses in many chapters. The opening scene in chapter one is particularly good; also the scene outside the pulp mill one foggy morning is incredibly touching and emotional. I might also speak of the unevenness of the writing because there is a whole section in which the author purposely uses poor grammar and weak logic to portray the emotions of some of the brothers (the technique did not really work for me). Overall, the book is very good and the parallels to Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamozov, are present but subtle enough to leave the reader wanting to explore the themes to a greater extent. At certain points I found I wanted to read Dostoevsky in one hand and Duncan in the other hand to compare the characters.

Having said that I will not give a complete review of the book, what I would like to do is draw our attention to one section in which the author explores concepts of giving, trust, faith, and salvation. The book has many themes worthy of exploring but one of the more significant is the nature of the spirituality of Laura "Mama" and Hugh "Papa" Chance. Laura Chance is an extremely devoted Seventh Day Adventist Christian who is very severe and legalistic in her faith. In most of her life she speaks her mind in no uncertain terms and says that some in her family are destined for heaven and some are destined for a fiery hell, unless they change their ways and become members of the Adventist Church. At one point she sets up a system of merit and rewards in which the faithful church attendees are cared for with meals, laundry, and cleaning while those in the family who do not attend are left to fend for themselves. There is a reason for her hardness; but we do not get to know the reason until the final scenes of the book. Hugh Chance, on the other hand, is not a religious person; unless one counts his devotion to baseball. Laura "knows" that her baseball pitching, beer drinking, chain-smoking husband is destined for hell. She continues to love her husband, although her actions do not show it, and shows greater tenderness toward him in the months leading up to his death. The following excerpt is taken from a time when Hugh has died of cancer and, against Adventist theology and Laura's wishes, but in compliance with Hugh's demands, his body has been cremated.

He'd left it to Mama to select his container, and she'd chosen – of all things – the same blue ceramic jewelry box in which she used to keep her Sabbath tithes and offerings. It gave me a turn to see it, full of powdered Papa on our dinnertable there. But once my intestines swung back around, it began to feel about perfect. Because what is an offering really? What can human beings actually give to God? What can they give to each other even? And what sorts of receptacles can contain these gifts? Work camps and insane asylums, Indian trains and church pews, bullpens and little blue boxes . . . Who belongs in what? When do they belong there? Who truly gives what to whom? These were questions we were all struggling to answer not in words, but with our lives. And all her life Laura Chance had placed ten percent of all she'd earned in this same blue box before offering it – in full faith that it would be accepted – to her Lord. So now, just as faithfully, she'd placed a hundred percent of her husband in the same box. That was her answer to the questions. And I'm hard put to think of another that would do greater honor to her husband, her Lord or her little blue box.1

As a final "offering," Laura Chance "offered up" Hugh Chance in a blue box trusting that God would know what to do with him. We sense a softening of her fierce legalism and perhaps a willingness to admit that she did not have all of the answers and that God still held some mystery for her. There is much we can learn from the Chance family and I encourage discerning readers to consider the lessons inhabiting this work.


1 Duncan, David James. The Brothers K. New York: Random House Inc., 2005 (originally published in 1992), p. 620, 621.

A Cautionary Tale

Charles Wesley, who lived from 1701 to 1788, was a clergyman and an early leader in the Methodist movement. As such, he was a significant leader, contributing greatly to the history of the evangelical church in the west. He was the youngest of three brothers, the other two being John Wesley and Samuel Wesley. The three of them were close and worked side-by-side in outdoor preaching, training of people for the work of the church, and training in spirituality. Charles also wrote over 6,000 hymns; many of them are still well-known today. He wrote "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," and "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing."

Charles was the son of a rector and, along with his brothers, followed this course and became a clergyman in the Church of England. During his training at Oxford, around 1727, Charles formed a prayer group with his fellow students, his brother John, and George Whitefield, another notable preacher of the day. The group was notable because of two features: methodical Bible study and encouragement toward holy living. They developed a very detailed system of study, discussion of the Bible, and disciplined lifestyle. Some continue to follow this structure today. Take a look at examples here and here. It was because of these methodical processes that the followers of the Wesleys came to be known as Methodists. The Wesleyan movement or Methodists would eventually break from the Church of England to become a separate denomination. John was convinced of the necessity of this split but Charles was not as certain.

What I find striking about the life of Charles Wesley is that, after many years of serving the church and following the methods of his own movement, he would say that he did not experience conversion to the faith of Jesus Christ until May 21, 1738. His brother, John, confesses to having had a similar experience just three days after his youngest brother. Charles had come to see his methods as legalistic. He felt he had missed out on the freedom of Christ in his attempts to structure his spiritual life around the Methodist techniques. Around the time of his conversion he wrote the words to one of his greatest hymns: "Amazing Love: And Can It Be." The lyrics (of the four most popular verses) are here below; note especially verse three.

Amazing Love: And Can It Be
(verse 1)
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood
Died He for me, who caused His pain
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

(verse 2)
He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace
Emptied Himself of all but love
And bled for Adam’s helpless race
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free
For O my God, it found out me!
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

(verse 3)
Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light
My chains fell off, my heart was free
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God shouldst die for me?

(verse 4)
No condemnation now I dread
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine
Alive in Him, my living Head
And clothed in righteousness divine
Bold I approach the eternal throne
And claim the crown, through Christ my own
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou my God, shouldst die for me?
Words by Charles Wesley (1738), music by Thomas Campbell (1825)
Public Domain.

Verse three in particular shows the sense in which Wesley felt bound. He speaks of chains which fell off. He speaks of the amazing love which he sensed from God. The caution for our own lives may be obvious; yet, let me expand upon it for just a moment. Holiness, disciplined living, service for God, and methodical Bible reading are important aspects of our life in Christ. They must never take the place of a genuine relationship with the God of the universe, His Son who rescues us from sin, and the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Shortly before he died, Charles Wesley sent for a Church of England rector and asked that he be buried in the church cemetery. He said to the rector, "Sir, whatever the world may say of me, I have lived, and I die, a member of the Church of England."1 His request was granted. His legacy of methods, although important to church history, was not as important to him as the unity of the church and freedom in the love and grace of God.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley#Ministry