Between the Pages
Flannery O'Connor Book Club • Philip Yancey Ponderings • 2026 Bible Reading Update
It’s a scary place, but this week, I’m inviting you into my brain 🤯 to see what’s been stewing…
A Good Man…
The first meeting of the 2026 Short Great Books reading group met last night at Landmark Booksellers. I selected A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor to kick off the year. Twenty of us got together to discuss this shocking short story. I came in feeling a bit embarrassed that this was my first encounter with Flannery’s fiction, but was quickly relieved to learn that over half of the attendees were also experiencing her writing for the first time. Living in the south, I had assumed reading Flannery O’Connor was some sort of right of passage.
My favorite thing about reading groups is experiencing the book multiple times over through the eyes of others. My reading of the work (quite sympathetic to the grandmother) was not shared by the vocal majority last evening. Many considered her to be manipulative and self-absorbed. That caused me to reconsider my own reading of the story to weave the pieces of the story together.
Some other observations:
A Good Man is Hard to Find reminded me of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. Both stories are shockingly violent to the point where a second reading is required. The first reading will shock you out of your comfort. The second reading will open you up to receive what these authors are trying to say.
One of the attendee’s mother had written her college thesis paper on literary reactions to Flannery O’Connor. The attendee read from different portions of his 97-yr-old mother’s thesis and it was just delightful. That made the evening extra special.
While the main group discussion was occurring, I attempted to draw out thoughts from each attendee. Some of the most beautiful and heartfelt observations occurred from those who remained quiet until I specifically asked them for their thoughts.
Philip Yancey
I was deeply saddened to learn about author Philip Yancey’s 8 year affair. We had him in for an event at Landmark Booksellers in 2023. My point here is not to dog on Yancey but to make an observation based upon my main takeaway from this reading project. That takeaway is that our lives move in a direction. Public failures or successes almost always start with small, seemingly insignificant choices made alone and in the privacy of our own heads. Each one of those decisions sets a particular direction for our lives. I see this show up all the time in works of fiction, biography, non-fiction, and others. And I see proof of choices setting a direction in my life on a daily basis.
I could be wrong, but I would venture to guess that were you to ask Philip the exact moment that led to his affair, that he would be able to identify it. I’m not talking about the point 8 years ago when the affair began. I’m talking about a point much earlier on, maybe 16, 24, 32 or more years ago. A specific decision or compromise that occurred in thought, word, or deed. I suspect that if he were to disclose the single compromise that set his course, we’d find it was no different from the small choices you and I confront countless times each day. That’s where the decision is most important.
In our social media age, it’s tempting to put the work into the visible and shiny. But we (and I) need to be constantly reminded of the importance of our very next decision. That is what sets the direction for our day, our year, and our lifetime.
Cherubs
I start each year reading straight through a different version of the Bible. This year, I’ve kicked off the Five Books of Moses and the Early Prophets with the Intertextual Tanakh Vol I shown above. This is my 5th year starting with the Bible and each year, some topics or ideas take root in my brain and I become very interested in following them throughout the entire Bible. I usually can’t control what sparks my interest. It just happens.
This year, I’ve been very interested in following mentions of angels and cherubs. So far, to the best of my recollection (and I’m in the book of Numbers), the word angel hasn’t been used in this particular translation. Each time, it has been messenger. But cherubs have shown up and it made me wonder about the difference between the two. Cherubs are set to guard against re-entry into Eden after mankind has been kicked out of the garden. They are also the winged creatures sitting atop the Ark of the Covenant on each side.
In the commentary, it was fascinating to learn that a similar ark was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. I look forward to marking other mentions of cherubs as I read through the rest of the Hebrew Bible, Apocrypha, and New Testament over the next few months.