A Wrinkle in Time: 50th Anniversary Interview with Madeleine L’Engle’s Granddaughter

Posted on February 13, 2012 at 8:00 am

Madeleine L’Engle’s classic book A Wrinkle in Time celebrates its 50th anniversary this week with a sumptuous new edition. It includes photos and biographical information about L’Engle, an introduction by US Ambassador for Children’s Literature Katherine Paterson, discussion questions, pages of the original manuscript, L’Engle’s thoughtful and inspiring Newbery acceptance speech, and an essay by L’Engle’s granddaughter, Charlotte Jones Voiklis.

L’Engle’s book was turned down by a number of publishers because it did not fit into any genre. It is the story of a teenaged loner named Meg Murray and her precocious little brother Charles Wallace who travel to another planet to rescue their scientist father. It has elements of science fiction, religion, science and mathematics, adventure, coming of age, family drama, and some teen romance. When it was finally published, it was an instant classic and it was awarded the highest prize in children’s literature, the Newbery medal. It led to four sequels and continues to be loved by each generation of children.

Dr. Voiklis spoke to me about her grandmother and the origins of the book and about L’Engle’s faith, which is the subject of some of her books, including Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art and The Irrational Season.

I love A Wrinkle in Time. I read it as a kid and then I read it aloud to my children.

My grandmother wrote it in her early 40’s. She always described her 30’s as a decade of rejection, very hard for her. She felt nothing she wrote was getting published. She and her family were living in northwestern Connecticut and she wasn’t your typical housewife or a published writer making money and she had intense guilt about that. She started writing A Wrinkle in Time during a period of transition when they were moving back to New York, a period of transition. And she first got the image of Mrs Whatsit and Mrs Who when they were driving through the Painted Desert area. The landscape was just so otherworldly. She said herself that she really couldn’t explain it except that it came during a period of transition and doubt and that it was a way of affirming a vision of the universe in which she wanted to believe.

I was charmed when I read that she argued with her publisher that she did not want to have a period after Mrs for Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Which, and Mrs Who as they do in Europe. Why was that important to her?

She felt that those little typographical details would convey a great deal. For American readers, that little signal would show that these women were not typical.

You said you helped her answer her mail from readers. What were some of the questions she got asked most often?

“Where do you get your ideas?” She liked to quote Papa Bach, who said he couldn’t get up in the morning without tripping over ideas. What to write about was never a problem. More than questions, the letters that touched her deeply were the ones from readers who were so moved by what they read in her books that they felt that they could trust her. They shared a lot of themselves. The Facebook page for A Wrinkle in Time has a number of comments from people who say, “This book changed my life.” She really felt deeply honored by that and took it very seriously.

Meg is somebody everyone can identify with. Everyone feels misunderstood and alone some of the time.

And the fact that its her faults that save her, that’s important, too. She really was like Meg, the passionate intensity, the emotionalism. If she felt something she had to say it. That kind of authenticity was totally her. She wrote fiction and non-fiction and there were elements of non-fiction and truth-telling in her fiction and elements of fiction in her non-fiction, the narrative of it.

What about Charles Wallace, who is only five but is so wise and knowledgeable?

He’s a leap of imagination. It’s not like she knew anybody who was like that. In one of the early drafts, she calls him a mutant. In the final version they just say, “he knew.”

He might be the next level of evolution.

Exactly.

Your grandmother was so prolific. Do you have a favorite of her books?

I have a very strong connection to The Small Rain, which was her first book. She was always a little disappointed when I told her that. “Well, I hope my books get better!” But I thought Katherine Forrester, who was the protagonist, was terrific, and that book tackled young womenhood with great insight.

What did she teach you?

One of the most important things I learned from her was her sense of discipline. And discipline as a way of creating order so there would be opportunities for growth. She practiced the piano religiously. She went to bed every night at nine o’clock. She took a bath and shut the twelve shutters in her bedroom in a very methodical way. When I was a teenager, I didn’t get that! But the sense of order that an outward discipline gave her helped with the internal discipline needed for writing and using her writing to make sense of the chaos that is in everybody’s life.

The religious discipline worked the same way, the liturgical calendar, the liturgical year. She read the Bible every night. She liked to quote Karl Barth, who said, “I take the Bible much too seriously to read it literally.” It gave her a framework.

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Books

Interview: Ali Landry of ‘Me Again’

Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:00 am

Have you ever wished you had taken another path? We all wonder what our lives would be like if we had made a different choice and movies like “Me Myself I,” “The Family Man,” and “Sliding Doors” feature characters who get a chance to see the road not taken. The latest film to explore this idea is “Me Again,” a funny and inspiring film about a middle-aged pastor (David A.R. White) who gets a chance to see himself in several different lives, from a wealthy businessman to a model and even a fish.

I spoke to the beautiful Ali Landry about her role as the preacher’s estranged wife and her faith as a sustaining force in her life and her relationships.

Why was this film something you wanted to do?

Me Again is a great little family film and very witty and funny and I liked the topic it tackled.

Is it important to you that your work be family-friendly?

Yes. There are a lot of things I consider when I look at a project, but the most important is the takeaway for the audience. Does it inspire them to take action? What is the message behind it?

What is the takeaway for this film?

They say it several times in the film — happiness is a choice and before you start looking outside the place you are in, think about the blessings that you do have in your life. My husband and I talk about it all the time. We don’t understand how a marriage can survive without having God in it. All you have to do is reach out and He will answer. He is there for you.

What do you and your husband do to keep God present in your marriage?

We go to church of course. We have a Bible study we go to — that’s where we met. We surround ourselves with like-minded friends. And we like to do business where everyone is on the same page. My husband knows that his producing partners will hold him accountable and have his back in every situation.

Tell me a little about your faith journey.

I grew up Catholic and I was practicing to a certain extent but I was not walking the walk. I was going through my life with blinders on. I am very clear on the changing moment. Before I met my husband I was in a relationship for six years. There was infidelity and it really caused me to re-evaluate and change my entire life. That was the moment I began seeking out God and needed Him to help me put one foot in front of the other.

Do you have a favorite Bible verse?

I didn’t have a favorite verse at the time when I was seeking God but I would pray before opening the Bible and ask a question and the passage I would read would give me a wave of peace and I always thought, “My questions were answered.”

How do you balance your home and work life?

That is the big question. Every day I try to figure it out. I go into every day with the intention of being the best I can be for my husband, for my children, for my work, for my friends. But I try to give myself a break. As a mom there’s the overwhelming guilt you always have about not doing enough but the next day is a new day and I will start fresh and try again.

Do you, like the character in the movie, sometimes wish you could see what your life would be if you took another path?

I don’t even go there. I honestly feel like in that situation I told you about I heard God’s voice more clearly than I ever had in my life. That’s where I was seeking Him out the most. Even with the choices I’ve made since then I’ve felt I was swimming against the tide and out on my own. I had a lot of pushback from my agents and managers when I gave them limitations on what I would and would not do. But it gave me strength and I know I am doing exactly what I need to be doing in my life. Any time I see a glimmer of “what if” or “I wish,” it’s about switching the gears in your mind. I know I am where I am supposed to be and I’ve never been so happy and content. That’s the difference in having the Lord in your life. It keeps you in check.

Is it difficult to be a person of faith in show business?

Absolutely! I have to say no to a lot of projects. Thank goodness my husband and I are on the exact same page and he encourages me. I was working working working for ten years with no breaks. As soon as I took a stand, everything stopped and that was shocking. But he encouraged me to take on my own projects and and I am working very hard and very excited and happy.

Tell me about your newest television project.

It’s called “Hollywood Girls Night.” It was originally “Hollywood Moms Night.” Alison Sweeney and I started it about 18 months ago. We would invite our friends, other girls in the business and celebrity moms once a month, pot luck at each others’ homes, to be a support system for each other. On television you see women so many times tearing each other apart. One of my friends is actually on one of those shows and they pull her into meetings and say, “There’s not enough drama, you need to confront each other!” We wanted to do something where we just showed up for each other, a support system both professionally and in our home lives. People really responded to that and said they wanted to start their own groups. So we decided to create a television show, and it premieres on March 5. And I have another project called Spokesmoms, where every mom is a spokesmom, giving moms that really strong voice about the products they love.

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Rebecca Cusey Responds to Christian Complaints About Movies

Posted on January 23, 2012 at 3:00 pm

My friend Rebecca Cusey has a very thoughtful piece on the outstanding Patheos website titled, “Christians and Movies: Recognizing the Danger Within, Not Without.” She writes:

In Matthew 15:10, Jesus states, “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” In the passage, He taking religious people to task about their rigid dietary rules, but I think the words apply more broadly. It applies to all makers of dairy products, as Monty Python would say.

We must each do the hard work of recognizing our own weaknesses. For some, it may be that sexual content does indeed feed a weakness within. Others may revel in the dark side of violence or evilly enjoy gruesome scenes. For many women, the danger is a false depiction of romance, as in ‘Titanic,’ which feeds the selfish dissatisfaction in our hearts with our spouses and families.

It’s not only entertainment media, but all aspects of consumer culture that can light the warning lights in the dashboard of our hearts….We give media too much credit for having power over us, and let ourselves off the hook in the process. It’s much easier to blame media for our strayings and discontentments than to recognize they come from within.

I appreciate this point of view and her emphasis on the importance of taking responsibility for ourselves, our actions, and our responses to what we see. On one hand, we must acknowledge that we are influenced by media and culture. A multi-billion dollar industry is devoted to using the latest and most sophisticated techniques of psychological conditioning to get us to buy things (Cusey acknowledges that she is as or even more likely to be led into temptation by a catalog as a movie). The artistic and commercial focus behind any movie or television show is on engaging our emotions and directing our thinking. And part of responsible, mature behavior is protecting our minds and spirits from toxic influences as we protect our bodies from harmful substances. But Cusey is right that too often religion-based fears about media fixate on the wrong questions.

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Interview: Nancy Stafford of ‘Christmas with a Capital C’

Posted on December 15, 2011 at 8:00 am

The beautiful and talented Nancy Stafford (“Matlock”) stars in the heartwarming Christmas with a Capital C, now available on DVD. She spoke to me about the movie and about the way her faith leads her to projects that share her message of faith and God’s love for each of us.

Tell me about the character you play in this movie.

I love this movie and I love my character! I play the heart and soul of the film, all due to the fabulous work of Andrea Gyertson Nasfell, who wrote the movie. I play the wife of the mayor of a small town in Alaska, played by Ted McGinley. We’re the kind of town where everyone gathers together at Christmas big time and we have a tradition of putting the nativity scene in the city park. And then a long-time childhood friend comes back to town and challenges us with a legal battle to remove the religious display from city property and gets an injunction, the town is split. Some people think we ought to make it more inclusive and get rid of the name “Christmas” but others say “we can’t let these folks to roll all over us.” My character is the one who brings some reason and some heart. She says instead of being combative and argue our way into agreement, why don’t we put our feet to faith and allow our actions instead of argument be the thing that is louder? Why can’t we be Jesus with skin on and do what Jesus said He had come to do, to be Emmanuel, the God with us, and be the heart and soul and mind of Christ for the people around us. The whole city launches a Christmas with a Capital C campaign of acts of kindness and service. We give away hot chocolate and wash people’s windows and do things for the homeless and those who have a little less. It changes the heart of the Grinch character but it also changes the whole town. I love the film because it makes the world recognize how ridiculous it is to try to take Christ out of Christmas but it is also a message to the church. It’s not to say we should not stand up for truth and righteousness but it is to say that our positive actions, our loving response to the people around us, even those who don’t agree with us, that changes people’s hearts.

Your character really tells people to start with themselves and that will change people more than arguing with them.

I got to say the best speeches in the film!

Tell me about your “Grinch” character.

Daniel Baldwin, one of the bad Baldwin boys. He’s a lovely guy, but plays a hardened character who grew up in the town but has gone off and seen the world and has had some unfortunate run-ins with Christians who have turned him off big-time. I can relate to that. I grew up in the church myself but when I went to college and didn’t have to go to church I chose not to. I had some issues with what I saw as hypocrisy in the church. So I get it! I was a prodigal for 15 years before I darkened the door of a church again. So I know there are a lot of people who don’t have a problem with Jesus but they have a problem with the church. So this guy comes back and he is hurt and disappointed and he does not want to participate or have it in his face. But he is a hurting and broken man. He has some vulnerability. So in the story when our daughter gives him cookies and it’s such a literal picture of her peeking in the window and seeing what was really happening in his house, like peeking into his soul and seeing that he is destitute on the inside.

Is it important to you that the projects you work on reflect your faith?

Yes, it is terribly important to me. I have been blessed to do two faith-based projects. For a lot of years I did not want to do them. I have been lucky enough to have some success in secular marketplace and only in the past few years I have seen Christian films that can hold up in the marketplace of films, that are looking better and better. But even though I have done secular work my faith has still been the driving force on what I choose to do. It dictates everything I do in life. I am not going to do anything that is counter with a Kingdom value. Over the years, as a result, I’ve worked less and less, but God is gracious and won’t let me leave the business. Part of it is the projects I turn down and part is just the roles for women over 50 in Hollywood. But I am speaking a lot and doing conferences and retreats and writing books and ministering to women, so my world is more spread out.

Do you have a favorite Bible verse?

There are so many! But I love Isaiah 61. They are life verses for me. They resonate to my heart and have been transforming for me. When the old prophet Isaiah is telling of Jesus coming, the pre-incarnate Christ talking through this prophet saying. “I’ve come to preach the good news, bind up the broken-hearted…oil of gladness instead of despair.” The great exchange we get when we have a life in Christ continues to touch me.

I’d love to hear about your new book.

I love this book! It’s called The Wonder of His Love: A Journey to the Heart of God. It’s a 30-day devotional that invites the reader to dive into the heart of God and discover 30 aspects of His love we might not always see or understand. Each one is on 30 different ways that God loves us. It’s really personal but people really seem to respond to it. I love women and I minister to women and my first book was for women but this one is for everyone, men and women, not a chick book. I write what I need. When I started writing Beauty by the Book: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You it was because I desperately needed to be reminded of who I am in Christ. I needed to assured and reminded of my value and my true worth, not based on what I look like or what I have or how I perform but on how He says about me me. The same thing with this book. I needed in my own life to be reminded of God’s actual, unshaking, immeasurable love for me. As I pored over scripture, I just saw it flying off the page. I started writing down a list of the aspects, the qualities of God’s love, His nature. I thought, if I need this, maybe someone else needs encouragement. When I’m walking through shadow times and in heartache or pain or disappointment, when it seems He cannot see me, when I can’t see His love at all, it is steadfast and always there.

Have a Little Faith

Posted on November 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Writer Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson) got a very unusual request. A terminally ill rabbi asked if Albom would write and deliver his eulogy. “As is often the case with faith, I thought I was being asked a favor,” Albom says. “In truth, I was being given one.” At around the same time, Albom met an African-American drug addict and drug dealer turned pastor leading a ministry to Detroit’s homeless population. Albom’s experiences with these two inspiring men led to the book Have a Little Faith: A True Story, now a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, starring Martin Landau and Laurence Fishburne that will be shown tonight on ABC.