Transformation
When I was a little girl, my mother and aunt used
to host “heaven & hell” parties at church. Cold cuts,
salads, angel food cake and gospel music were on the
“heaven” side. Chili, spaghetti, devil’s food cake and
R&B jams were on the “hell” side. Truthfully, I hung
out on the hell side because they made it seem like it
was a lot more fun. Little did I know, that’s exactly the
lesson the hell side was designed to get across—play
now, pay later.
As an adult, I did what could be called “the spiritual
chitlin’ circuit”. I’ve been Baptist, Methodist, Baptist
again, then Apostolic for one night (not quite getting
the expected results of the gift of tongues from that
five-hour Tarry Room experience sent me straight into
Islam the next Sunday). From Islam, I went on to Ausar
Auset, New Thought, Non denominational, a dip into
C.OG.I.C. for a few Sundays and even in The Bahá’í
Faith. None of them fully satisfied me because all but
one (Bahá’ís) had the same stance on how women
were treated, which is a major issue for me. However,
through them I gained a world of understanding about
the difference between religion and spirituality.
What I love about novels is that authors tend to weave
a little bit of their spiritual belief systems into the fabric
of the characters. I enjoy the opportunity to glimpse
how someone’s faith, challenges and life lessons end up
on the page. When I was a little girl, the only Christian-
background books that held any interest for me was a
series written by a pastor named John Benton and his
wife. Their ministry focused on teen prostitutes and
addicts. Those stories showed me things I didn’t want