Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back
by Frank Schaeffer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Frank SchaefferEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-30
ISBN: 0306817500
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Book Reviews of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back
Book Review: I Love This Messy, Flawed, Beautiful Family
Summary: 5 Stars
It would take me a week to describe all the emotions I felt reading Crazy for God; but by the end of the book, I just wanted to embrace every member of this all-too-human but incredibly gifted family.
The scenes of Frank painting picture after picture beside his dying father's bedside to cheer and remind Francis of the best memories they shared; Frank taking his 92 year old mother to a restaurant where she can now -- free from former mental or religious constraints - dance to the music her heart has always loved, but most of her life felt she had to avoid (to please God)... were transcendent.
Frank observed, poignantly, that maybe God answered all his mother's prayers for her family because all along God saw THIS childlike Edith, free to laugh and dance and relax, even during the years when she was working so hard to be saintly. (And sometimes driving the kids crazy as a by-product of a ministry that took over nearly every moment and nook and cranny of their lives as a family.)
To me these scenes sum up a grand theme in the story of Every Family. We are ALL a mess, some of us more than others but still.. a mess. The Schaeffers, to their everlasting credit, have stayed a family, continue to meet, talk, love through conflict and at this juncture, are a living portrait of redemptive love within their ranks. All God's children have issues. Some, like Frank's, lean toward the Prodigal Son perhaps. Others, like Francis and Edith, leaned too much toward the superiority complex of the Elder Brother. But we all need saving from ourselves. That's what Christ came to do.
What I do not understand is how so many Christians can be so reactive to Frank, walking in lockstep of near-hatred, as if he isn't allowed a viewpoint or his own story of growing up Schaeffer and beyond. Every person in this family drama is gifted and flawed. My parents studied at La'bri in the 70's and to this day, live out what they learned in those years. So I have enormous affection and admiration for Francis and for Edith, their books dotted my life for many years.
But living in a home that is never uninhabited by hordes of "seekers" does something to a family that is hurtful and unhealthy psychologically to all the children, though they acted out their pain in very different ways. (In fact, Edith counseled my parents to do it differently: to make their family their number one ministry. She admitted the toll their life had taken on their children.) Still, each Schaeffer deserves to be deeply listened to, with compassion, for what shaped each of their experiences.
Having collaborated on a book about the brain with Dr. Earl Henslin, recently, I also view some of the "sins and flaws" revealed in this book as potential organic brain imbalances, that could have shown up on a brain scan and been treated, balanced, and probably saved everyone a lot of mental agony. I feel compassion, not judgment. Empathy not anger.
From a purely literary viewpoint, in my opinion, Frank is far and away the best writer in the family. His books are a hundred times more readable and creative than his "don't edit my golden words" parents -- even if you disagree with his conclusions. (I'm scratching my head over Christians who gave him a one star review in spite of the many good things they noted about his fine abilities as a writer. That just seems small and spiteful. Is this really what Jesus would do?)
In healthy families each member gets a voice and viewpoint, to be seen as whole person with flaws and gifts... and reading some of these reviews reminds me why the Christian Family is so unhealthy as a whole. Even when I disagree with Frank, I feel like I just want to throw myself in front of him to protect him from Christian bullies who have attacked him for opening a vein and being as honest as a human can be (which is what good memoirists do), admitting over and over that this was his view, he could be mistaken, and humbly offering up his authentic experience without throwing pink paint over realities. Sometimes those realities included using profanity,rage, and stories of a sexually virile and rebellious youth. (His father was a man with a temper and high needs for sex, according to Edith. So anger and high testosterone may have run in the family!) Yes, some of the stories made me squirm. But not enough to stop reading. Even the tough scenes were a part of Frank's emotional tapestry. Right or wrong, these experiences were the threads of his life.
He gave pages to his siblings and children to tell their views as well, an extra attempt at fairness. Actual letters from his mother and father help to validate much of Frank's experience as their son.
Frank is now in his sixties, a father of a marine who served this country, and doting grandfather. He's now nearly lived as long as his famous father. I think Dr. Schaeffer would be enormously proud of where his son has arrived as a human being, even if he disagreed with some of his conclusions.
It is pure wonder to me that Frank is still open to the possiblity of God and Christianity, still attending church of any kind, still praying -- when so many of God's kids have been so immature and hateful as he wandered through his own oft-painful journey. I side with Mother Teresa here: If you are too busy judging people, how will you have time to love them?
(I apologize for the length of this review! I just can't summarize the boatload of thoughts into a short paragraph when it comes to this book.)
More Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back reviews:
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Summary of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back
By the time he was nineteen, Frank Schaeffer?s parents, Francis and Edith Schaeffer, had achieved global fame as bestselling evangelical authors and speakers, and Frank had joined his father on the evangelical circuit. He would go on to speak before thousands in arenas around America, publish his own evangelical bestseller, and work with such figures as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Dr. James Dobson. But all the while Schaeffer felt increasingly alienated, precipitating a crisis of faith that would ultimately lead to his departure—even if it meant losing everything.
With honesty, empathy, and humor, Schaeffer delivers “a brave and important book? (Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog)—both a fascinating insider?s look at the American evangelical movement and a deeply affecting personal odyssey of faith.
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