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<\/a>PETE: For those who do not know you, prior to 2012 you were an active blogger on the Patheos Atheist channel. In 2012 you converted and moved to the Catholic channel. Can you tell readers who have not read your book yet about your conversion?<\/b><\/p>\nLEAH LIBRESCO: <\/b>I can give a short summary \u2013 I have space for more details in the book. \u00a0I grew up as an atheist and the way I made sense of ethics was very rule-based (deontology). \u00a0As I grew older and started reading more philosophy, I switched to understanding ethics not just as a matter of getting the right answers but by being changed by the choosing, and building up a gracefulness in my moral instincts (virtue ethics). \u00a0This new position was harder to ground in a conventional atheistic framework, because I had trouble with the problem of how I wound up having knowledge of a transcendental good. \u00a0After a lot of arguments, book swaps, and blogging, I wound up thinking it was more likely that God was real than that some kind of Virtue Ethics-y thing wasn\u2019t<\/i> (and those felt like the choices!).<\/p>\n
PETE: Three years later you have now written your first book <\/b>Arriving at Amen: Seven Catholic Prayers That Even I Can Offer<\/i><\/b>. Did you ever think you would write a book let alone a Catholic one?<\/b><\/p>\n
LEAH LIBRESCO: <\/b>I didn\u2019t expect to write a book; I usually write in shorter formats (and I had a lot<\/i> of trouble finishing my college thesis on time). \u00a0Ultimately, I used the same strategy for the book as I did for the thesis \u2013 I broke everything down into small stories to tell: Why is the repetition of the rosary like the basic of ballroom dance? \u00a0How did praying in ASL help me get a handle on reading the Bible? \u00a0And so forth.<\/p>\n
Plus, I took the advice from one of the books on writing I read: skip the boring parts! \u00a0If something is a drag to write, it\u2019s probably a drag to read, so I wrote only the things I knew about prayer that were really a delight to share and (as the how-to predicted) wound up not needing anything else.<\/p>\n
PETE: Of the seven practices you offer in your book whoch one has been the most transformational for you in your faith journey?<\/b><\/p>\n
LEAH LIBRESCO: <\/b>I\u2019d have to say Confession, because it\u2019s the most obviously transformational<\/i>. \u00a0Before I was actually participating in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (and for a little bit after), I thought of Confession as being a sort of rolling back the clock\/wiping the slate clean; it restores me to who I was before my most recent round of sins.<\/p>\n
But that wouldn\u2019t do me much good at all! \u00a0Who I was right before my recent sins was\u2026 a person about to succumb to sin. \u00a0It\u2019s not enough to be cleansed, I need to be transfigured, to grow and be closer to Christ. \u00a0So that\u2019s one way I think about Confession, not simply the healing of the wounds of sin but a transfiguration of them, so that the breaks wind up being a reminder of God\u2019s love and closeness to me, not something that vanishes and allows me to pretend I\u2019m just taking another shot at my choices alone.<\/p>\n
All of Christian spiritual life is the practice of choosing to accept the growth and transfiguration that God offers; confession is where that\u2019s most obvious to me and I can do it with the most gusto.<\/p>\n
PETE: For those struggling with the Catholic faith what advice can you offer as a convert?<\/b><\/p>\n
LEAH LIBRESCO:<\/b> It depends a little on the nature <\/i>of the struggle. \u00a0If you\u2019re making your mind up about the Catholic faith, I can give you the advice that Eve Tushnet (author of the splendid Gay and Catholic<\/i><\/a>) gave to me: try to seek out both the things that really attract you and<\/i> the bits that really repel you \u2013 that\u2019s where you have the most to learn.<\/p>\n I\u2019d add that, while you\u2019re in a period of decision making\/discernment, don\u2019t be afraid to go slowly on actually making up your mind. \u00a0Cultivate that Tushnet brio<\/i>, engaging deeply with whatever confuses you, but feel free to give yourself time to come to a conclusion. \u00a0Decisions should be made from a place of consolation, and don\u2019t be shy about doing what you need to get there (taking a retreat, sleeping on a more reasonable schedule, asking friends to think things through with you, etc).<\/p>\n If you already are<\/i> Catholic and pretty settled that way, but you\u2019re having trouble being<\/i> Catholic\/praying\/etc on a day to day basis, I\u2019d say: don\u2019t be embarrassed about making things easy on yourself! \u00a0It\u2019s more important to find a baby step you can take than to wait around until you can do a big, more impressive thing.<\/p>\n I was really intimidated by lectio divina<\/i>, the prayerful reading of the Bible, and I kept not doing it because I didn\u2019t want to be bad at it, so, naturally, I didn\u2019t get any better. \u00a0I wound up just setting a 20 minute timer, promising myself I could stop after that, no matter what, and it gave me a little more courage to begin, since I wouldn\u2019t need to worry about being stuck doing something hard indefinitely or constantly interrupting myself, wondering if I\u2019d done enough.<\/p>\n PETE: Your first book was a fine one indeed. Do you have anymore in you and what would you like to write about next?<\/b><\/p>\n LEAH LIBRESCO:<\/b> Well, I\u2019d<\/i> like to write about using Stephen Sondheim\u2019s musicals as guides to the Four Loves<\/a>, but I\u2019m a little doubtful that that\u2019s really a plausible book. \u00a0I have found that hosting viewings of them has been a great way to open up discussions of romantic love and friendship\u2014the shows have helped me and my friends think about what these loves look like, when directed to their proper ends, and how we wind up going awry. \u00a0Plus the shows are great, period.<\/p>\n (I\u2019ve done some posts on Company <\/i>and Passion<\/i><\/a>, plus another series on Merrily We Roll Along<\/i><\/a>)<\/p>\n PETE: Time for my signature ending question. This is a blog about books. What is currently on your bookshelf to read?<\/b><\/p>\n LEAH LIBRESCO: <\/b>I have two book discussions coming up with friends. \u00a0One on Dostoyevsky\u2019s The Idiot<\/i> and the other on Fr. Henri Nouwen\u2019s The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming<\/i>, and I\u2019m really excited about both! \u00a0I\u2019ve read the Nouwen before and loved it, and I can\u2019t wait to discuss it with others and get the chance to try to live up to the calling that Nouwen describes. \u00a0On my own, I\u2019m excited for Max Gladstone\u2019s Last First Snow<\/i> (coming out in July) and Mary Norris\u2019s Between You & Me : Confessions of a Comma Queen <\/i>\u00a0(I\u2019m getting ever closer to the front of the waiting list at the library).<\/p>\n _____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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