Dear friends and members of University UMC:
There are a few authors I follow, and when I hear they have a new book coming out I get excited. Barbara Kingsolver is one of those authors. I was first captivated by her writing when I read “Poisonwood Bible” over 25 years ago. Thanks to a recent issue of The New Yorker, I learned about her latest novel, “Partita.” I also learned more about Kingsolver than I previously knew. If you get The New Yorker or can get your hands on the article “Writing Home: Barbara Kingsolver’s Faith in Fiction” by Casey Cep, it’s worth a read. What really caught my attention was her generosity. I’m sure it piqued my interest because at University UMC we are in Stewardship Season, a time when we are intentional about renewing our commitment to giving. It was heartwarming to read about the good work Kingsolver has been engaged in and made possible because of their generosity and kindness. Passing along book royalties seems second nature to her now. Through the years, she’s contributed to the Environmental Defense Fund, Habitat for Humanity, Heifer International, and started a scholarship fund for medical students in the Congo. More recently, royalties from “Demon Copperhead”, a New York Times bestseller and one of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize winners are doing more good things in Kingsolver’s beloved Appalachia. If you’ve read the novel, you learn about the devastating impact of the opioid epidemic. When researching for the novel, Kingsolver built relationships with medical professionals and social workers to educate herself about the epidemic and people’s experiences with addiction and recovery. When hearing about the critical need for a recovery house for women, she and her husband opened one. Sometimes called “The House that Demon Built," the place offers sober housing and resources for healing and wholeness.
Each year around Stewardship, I think about the people in my life who are generous. My parents, who often lived paycheck to paycheck on a school teacher’s salary, but still prioritized financial giving to the church. Saints, both living and deceased, from the church of my childhood; churches I’ve served; and certainly from University UMC. If you are reading this article, I’ve learned about generosity from you. Sometimes a person’s generous spirit takes us by surprise. This certainly happened to me as I learned more about Barbara Kingsolver. Listen to how she describes the difference between charity and generosity:
