With Madeleine L’Engle's death last weekend, everyone has something to say. I read "A Wrinkle in Time" in 8th grade when a lot of the class stayed far away from it -- mostly the guys. The teacher's description of a girl who saves her family may not have been the most macho thing for a 14 year old to read. However by the end of the quarter, I had convinced 3 or 4 to look into it and they seem to have changed their minds.

I read "Walking on Water" in college and managed to have a few copies of it by the end of class - I'm not exactly sure how. They've been borrowed frequently since. While I'm probably not as "liberal" (a silly, unhelpful, word - I know) as she is, I still get a big kick out of some of her thinking. "If it's Bad Art, it's Bad Religion" has been a mantra of mine for over a decade now, realizing that our efforts in our creativity reflects on our faith and our God not matter how unrelated we think the two might be. The "sacred/secular" divide never did exist, and realizing this seems to open up a clearer view of God.

Newsweek did an interview with her a few years back when a TV movie of "A Wrinke in Time" aired on ABC. (short review: Not as good as the book, obviously, but far better than just about anything else on TV) It's a little salty at times, but there are a few things she says that I love:

So to you, faith is not a comfort?
Good heavens, no. It’s a challenge: I dare you to believe in God. I dare you to think [our existence] wasn’t an accident.

Many people see faith as anti-intellectual.
Then they’re not very bright. It takes a lot of intellect to have faith, which is why so many people only have religiosity.